Reea

Clinical & Spiritual Hypnotherapist, Counsellor
Life and Relationship Coach, Psychic Intuitive

Hypnosis

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS OF HYPNOSIS

What is NOT TRUE about hypnosis.....

Only certain kinds of people can by hypnotized
Anyone who can be hypnotized must be weak-minded
Once you have been hypnotized, you can no longer resist it
You can be hypnotized to say or do something against your will
You can become 'stuck' in hypnosis
You are asleep or unconscious when in hypnosis
Hypnosis always involves a monotonous ritual of induction
You must be relaxed in order to be in hypnosis
Hypnosis can be used to accurately recall everything that has ever happened to you
To be hypnotized you must be lying down with your eyes closed
Hypnosis is a magic wand for all your problems
If you are hypnotized you won't have to do anything yourself to solve your problems

Now you know what it isn't....what is it?

Have you ever been totally absorbed while reading a book, cooking or watching a movie? Did you zone out to the point where you didn't notice what else was going on around you? If so, you've experienced a type of trance-like state or focused attention that's similar to what happens to you during hypnosis.

Hypnosis, also referred to as hypnotherapy or hypnotic suggestion, is an altered state of consciousness. This state of consciousness is usually achieved with the help of a hypnotherapist and is different from your everyday awareness. When you're under hypnosis:

Your attention is more focused

You're more responsive to suggestions

You're more open and less critical or disbelieving

You are aware of your surroundings and can hear everything that is said to you

You can bring yourself out of the trance state whenever you want

Your capacity to go into trance is uniquely your own and dependant on your allowing it to happen

The purpose of hypnosis as a therapeutic technique is to help you gain more control over your behavior, emotions or physical well-being. Although hypnosis may have the potential to help with a wide variety of conditions, it's not a magic bullet. It's typically used as one part of a broader, more comprehensive treatment plan rather than as a stand-alone therapy. It seems to work best when you're highly motivated and your therapist is well trained and understands your particular problem, and for this reason it is necessary that your therapist takes a detailed history of your problem and gets to know you.

"Hypnosis that involves simply inducing hypnosis formally
and then giving suggestions directly related to the problem
is the most superficial and least sophisticated use of hypnosis"
Michael D Yapko, Ph.D

There are many ways to use hypnosis apart from inducing deep trance. Hypnosis does not have to be formally induced to occur. Hypnosis at its heart means that you are allowing yourself to be influenced for the purposes of problem solving. There are many elegant ways of influencing that are used in therapy using light trance states and NLP (neurolinguistic programming) while you are awake and simply talking to your therapist that will result in even better results than deep trance induction. To you it may appear that you are just talking with your therapist and when you leave you may notice a change in the way you think about the problem and later you may also notice that you are able to engage new behaviour that you had previously thought impossible.

Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Reea Pawley, unless otherwise noted. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Reea Pawley. Reea Pawley encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.