Fears & misconceptions
As a certified hypnotist, you’ll find that the general public has some very interesting
ideas about hypnosis. Most of this “knowledge” consists of misconceptions. It is
important that you understand what misconceptions exist about hypnosis and how to
can best counter these fears.
The 3 most common are as follows:
The first misconception: people lose control under hypnosis.
THERE IS NEVER A LOSS OF CONTROL IN HYPNOSIS.
You will never do anything that you would not normally do, or that goes against your personal values, your religion, your ethics, your morals, or something that you would find absurd.
If I told you to stand on your head, you would say no!
“I don’t want to do this, and I won’t cooperate.”
Because of the way hypnosis is presented, many people believe hypnosis is somehow the surrender of the will in that the client submits to the “power” of the hypnotist.
Since hypnosis is a personal experience, nothing is further from the truth than this assumption.
It is important to emphasize that the client is always able to make decisions. You can make the client understand that you, as the hypnotist, are merely accompanying and guiding the process.
The second misunderstanding: people tell secrets in hypnosis.
(do not look the person in the eye at this moment)
“And that’s not true either. If you have a secret to keep in your normal state, you’ll keep it in hypnosis too…
You’re not going to give me your credit card numbers (say in laughter).”
Still others believe you can be forced to reveal secrets about yourself and others under hypnosis. However, since the client is fully conscious during hypnosis, this certainly cannot happen. The subject can speak if necessary, but can also simply fib.
The third misconception: people can get stuck in hypnosis.
“And that’s impossible. In four thousand years of hypnosis, no one has ever gotten stuck. Even if you feel so good in hypnosis and you’d really like to stay there, even if we wanted to, we couldn’t.”
There are some people who fear that once hypnotized, they will never come out of it. Since the clients themselves induce the trance, they can easily bring themselves back if necessary.
Hypnosis is a natural state, you can’t get stuck!
Others can also be these:
Loss of consciousness
This is probably the most common misconception about hypnosis. Many people believe that hypnotized people are unconscious. This misconception can be directly attributed to stage hypnosis as well as the way hypnosis is often portrayed in movies and television.
This fear is countered by letting the worried client know that far from being unconscious, they will actually be more awake during hypnosis than before.
Bullshit
Some believe that only fools can be hypnotized. Because hypnosis requires concentration, the truth is that the best clients are the intelligent members of the population.
Confusing suggestibility and gullibility
This misconception is similar to the one about imbecility, where clients believe that their
hypnotizability means that they are gullible. This misunderstanding has already been
above.
Dominant personality
According to this misconception, someone must have a strong will to be a hypnotist, and that men make better hypnotists than women. This is not the case, and in fact some of the most successful hypnotists are women.
It is of great importance to address fears, misconceptions and misunderstandings in the preliminary interview.
and misunderstandings and to eliminate them
Every normal person can be hypnotized
as long as there is no fear ,
insecurity or misconceptions.
The last few years have shown a change in this respect, to the effect that people who are interested in hypnosis and want to take advantage of it are already very well informed in advance. This makes it much easier for the hypnotist. Furthermore, hypnosis is no longer equated with mysticism or magic. Neuroscience, among other things, has certainly made a major contribution to this.