How Do I Know That I Was Hypnotized?

Here is a question from one of my hypnotherapy students.

"When I am hypnotizing someone, many times they say, "I didn't feel hypnotized."
"Should I use some of your stage hypnotist phenomena, in order to prove hypnosis?"


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Thank you for writing.

One of the major challenges hypnotists face is when the client says, "I don't think I have been hypnotized."

"I didn't feel different." This is natural.

Even after a stage show, where your skills are clearly proven to all on stage and to hundreds or even thousands in an audience, sometimes your best volunteers will come up to you later and say, "I don't think I have been hypnotized, I don't feel any different." They may have been the most demonstrative volunteers and the most entertaining for the audience.

Much of what they feel is based on denial. They want to believe that they are independent thinkers and can't be controlled by others. Or in hypnotherapy, they have other issues that are holding them back from success that you didn't address before you hypnotized them.

When I first learned hypnotherapy, I used to perform 3 tests of suggestablilty.

1. Eyes locking test

2. Arms raising and lowering test

3. Hands getting stuck test.

Not everyone will achieve success during these tests however. They may do great with tests 2 and 3 but refuse to lock their eyes down tightly.

So I would go on and perform an induction and give that person a hypnotic prescription and guess what? That person was so focused on the test that he/she failed, that the helping words of the hypnotic prescription did not seem to take.

Back in the 50s and even the 60s, hypnotists would give their clients suggestabilty tests, or use time distortion, or amnesia, to test their clients. If the clients didn't pass all of the tests, the hypnotist would exclaim, "You cannot be hypnotized."

This is not true.

You have to find out what your client wants to gain from the experience. If he/she just wants to "feel hypnotized," just hand him a candle, play some New Age music, and have him sit in a room for a couple of hours just staring at a candle. You can leave the room for those two hours and do something productive.

They will get a feeling for something unusual.

But if you want to help them sleep better at night, overcome fear, or control their weight, you need to attack the things that are holding that person back from success, and then give them an induction and prescription that is unique for that person.

Inductions for overcoming problems are not cookie cutter in nature. They should be highly individualized.

Also, during the induction, instead of giving tests which your client may flunk and thus ruin your whole program, say this, "As you are sitting in your chair, relaxing all the muscles of your body, you are thinking, I wonder if I am hypnotized or not." "Just allow those thoughts to leave you." "As you realax and think about the suggestions I am presenting, your powerful subconscious mind is working on a solution to your problem." "You will be successful with ____________. (You name the problem in the blank)

You can always place different phenomena into your induction. However, there are specific sequences you go through that I cover in my Master course.


Also, I go into a great deal detail on how to work with clients in my Master Hypnosis Audio Course at:

http://www.wayneperkins.net/hypnosis/online.html

and with the Self-hypnosis Training, titled, How to Achieve All of Your Goals All of the Time located at:

http://www.wayneperkins.net/hypnosis/self.html

Good luck with your training.

Thank you again for writing.


Sincerely,

Wayne F. Perkins
Master Hypnotist Trainer

"My mission in life is to help you achieve your mission in life."

Master Hypnotist Trainer