Questions Clients Ask

What is Hypnosis? No one has ever been able to adequately define hypnosis. Perhaps the legendary psychiatrist/author Dr. Milton H. Erickson described hypnosis as, “a narrowing down of one’s field of vision (thoughts) to a fine point, to the exclusion of all other distractions.” It’s not unlike attempting to define electricity. All we can say is that it works. Why does it work as it does? Therein lays the mystery. Perhaps, it’s a learning process between teacher and student. In a trance, one’s senses are greatly heightened and the subconscious mind becomes dissociated from the conscious. Though aware of one’s surroundings, a subject’s only concern is the suggestions and ideas given by the hypnotist. No two people experience hypnosis the same way and, quite often, a client will not go into a trance the same way each time he is hypnotized. In sum, it is a state of total mental and physical relaxation, to the exclusion of all unimportant, external stimuli. How long does a session last? Normally, a session lasts about one hour, or slightly longer. It depends on both the pre-induction interview and the trance itself. It is also predicated on whether a client has used hypnosis previously. How many sessions will I need? In my practice, I’ve found that if a client is highly motivated, he will need no more than five sessions to quit smoking, improve study and concentration, alleviate stress, sleep like a baby, pass examinations, and stop bedwetting. Stuttering also fits into this category (as well as the next paragraph). Weight reduction takes, on average, about six to eight sessions. Resolving relationship and emotional issues are dependent upon the outcome of age regression to find the source of traumatic events in one’s past. How do I pay for the sessions? Sessions are paid at the end of each visit. I do not expect prepayment for multiple sessions, as there is no way to determine how many sessions one needs. How much is each session? My charge is $100 per session. Since I’ve been asked to travel a considerable distance for some clients, those expenses are additional. Hypnotists in the USA charge between $50 and $125 per session, depending on their location. Should I prepare for my session? You should wear comfortable clothing, try to get a good night’s sleep and make sure you are totally motivated in regards to the issues you want to resolve. It is important that you have the desire to change or modify your behavior, not do it for someone else’s reason. Since I work every day, when can I come in for my session? Wednesday and Friday evenings and Saturdays are available for those who work during the day. Will I become unconscious, or asleep in a trance? One becomes much more alert and discriminatory when in hypnosis than during normal waking hours. This is due to the narrowing down of one’s field of vision. Even in the deepest state, a person is fully aware of his environment, and his subconscious can accept or reject each suggestion. The client is rarely concerned with anything else.  Can children be hypnotized? Actually, most children between the ages of eight and eighteen are very good hypnotic subjects. They have not yet formed any negative opinions regarding hypnosis. They are usually very curious about the concept. Children under eight do not need a formal technique, as they are in a trance most of their waking hours. How can hypnosis help me? Hypnosis is a natural state of mind, wherein new ideas can be offered to help modify or eliminate unwanted habits and behaviors. In addition to the most requested reasons for using hypnosis, it works extremely well for increasing athletic ability, alleviating chronic pain, overcome stuttering, resolve fears and phobias, ease menstrual cramps, and sexual dysfunctions. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Can you list specific examples of sessions you’ve done over the years? Bedwetting in twin boys aged six, and a fourteen-year-old girl; a four-pack a day smoker; these clients pass their exams—a pest control operator, aspiring law graduate, a corporate secretary, court reporter; depressing young lady over fiancé’s cheating; a thirty-three-year-old woman who had been lost in the woods when she was three; an agoraphobic forty-two-year-old woman; a pee-shy man of twenty-two; a woman with bone spurs in both heels; a meek, terribly shy sixteen-year-old girl; nineteen-year-old girl who’s mother died just after she was born; numerous men and women with nightmares. This list is endless, but you get the idea. What are the Conscious and Subconscious minds? Researchers estimate that the conscious mind (generally the left half of the brain) consists of approximately 12% of one’s mental power. The rest is called the subconscious, or, to some, the unconscious. It is further postulated that of that 12%, most people use only half. So, in reality, over 90% of the brain is operating under its own power. Nearly every action is performed via rote memory; putting on clothes, tying shoes, driving, operating a machine, etc. Stored away in the subconscious are emotions, creativity, imagination, and one’s deeply ingrained habits and behaviors. One’s feelings of love, hate, envy, anger, guilt, shame, all dwell in the subconscious’ realm. The right brain is similar to a video recorder, recording all that one sees, hears, feels, smells, tastes, thinks, and acts upon. This is where our long-term memory exists. It also listens to one’s self-talk, building us up or tearing us down, according to the words we use. The conscious mind helps by reasoning things out, enabling us to speak by putting our thoughts into words, and by making important, life-saving decisions. It also contains the short-term memory which is limited to about 1½ hours. Can anyone become emotionally unstable from using hypnosis? Occasionally, an already unstable client may experience crying, hallucinations, amnesia, and fugue-like states. These may be so fleeting in nature that they evade the attention of the hypnotist or even the client. Countering the idea that hypnosis may be harmful, Dr. Ernest Hilgard, one of the nation’s foremost researchers on hypnotic phenomena at Stanford University, wrote the following; Out of every 1,000 inductions, only about 4 or 5 people endured some curious disruption or emotion. These adverse reactions to trance induction or after hypnosis were so rare that the experimenters had no evidence that hypnosis was any more dangerous than a variety of behavioral studies in the field of psychology. “More disturbing is the fact that from time to time, ominous admonitions about hypnosis are issued by a few respected members of the medical (and helping) professions. If a person lives on the edge of psychosis, he would presumably be influenced just as easily by an off-the-cuff remark or by watching a television show or movie.” (Psychiatrist Lewis Wolberg)  Can one become dependent upon hypnosis similar to a drug? This assumption is absolutely false. There is nothing about hypnosis itself that exaggerates inherent dependency, nor creates it where it never existed. The real problem is not in one developing an addiction to it, but in getting a client to practice self-hypnosis regularly. No matter how much they are encouraged, most clients will give up their daily or weekly practice sessions as they begin to feel better about themselves. A person becomes no more dependent on the hypnotist than he would upon his family doctor or minister. What percentage of clients can be induced into a hypnotic trance? The answer is, every person of normal intellect can be entranced. Normal meaning those who are not psychotic, anti-social, or have intrinsic brain dysfunction. My research indicates that approximately 10% of the population is incapable of deriving any benefits from hypnotherapy.  Are weak-minded people easily hypnotizable? Actually, it’s the other way around. Assuming by weak-minded, one must have an IQ less than 90 or so. Those who use hypnosis to alleviate or overcome behaviors and habits in their life are of average or above-average intellect. They have the ability to concentrate on the therapist’s instructions and will respond more to post-hypnotic suggestions. In reference to weak-minded people, we must understand that they are those who were born with structural brain malfunction or who have received an accidental brain injury. Will a client become dependent on hypnosis or the hypnotist? In both cases, the answer is, “No.” Truth is, while I request that each client practice going into trance at home, many will not. Those who do become dependent on the hypnotist feel that he should do all the work. In other words, they want the hypnotist to, “make my problem go away.” It’s the same as one who runs to the doctor every time he has the sniffles. How nice it would be if clients did their homework; it would take fewer sessions and it would cost less. Are hypnotherapists certified? The subject of certification is one of the most frequently asked questions. The answer is NO! Any hypnotism training school that claims you cannot practice without being certified, is lying to you. In my workshops, I’ve trained teachers, mechanics, law enforcement, nurses, beauticians, dentists, stock clerks, and those who are retired. I’ve always given them a “certificate of completion,” but that is it. It looks good on your bedroom wall, but no one else will be influenced if it’s tacked to your office wall. If there were a law requiring certification for all who give advice (which hypnosis means to most practitioners, then every friend with whom you share a cup of coffee would be required to take a State exam. Hypnotherapy is advice on steroids. Wrap your mind around this for a moment; have you ever gone to your dentist or doctor and, before you allow him to work on you, asked to see his license or how he ranked in his graduate class? We ask to see a cop’s badge, but that’s about it. Have you ever asked to see your auto mechanic’s license? All one needs to be a good hypnotherapist is get your training from a darn good instructor. And, that dear student, is what I am!