Surprisingly, when people find out I do hypnosis and hypnotherapy, this is one of the most often asked questions! I understand where it comes from – from the use of hypnosis in entertainment “Stage Hypnosis” and the fear of losing control whilst in hypnosis.
So let’s tackle these:
Stage hypnosis has been very popular, from being a parlour trick through to the grand stages of Las Vegas. Interestingly, it uses volunteers who are keen to be hypnotised. By successively reducing the volunteers, the stage hypnotist is really selecting those people who most keenly want to participate. Think about the number of people you know who would love to do something ‘crazy’, get fame and attention, and still have the fallback of ‘blaming’ the hypnosis for their actions! In the end, everyone has a great time. The power of the show is in the stage hypnotist putting on an act like he has ‘magical powers’ over other people. In reality, this is not true. All the control lies with the person being hypnotised. It is their experience. It is their state of focus. They can choose to stop participating and come back to full awareness any time they choose.
Hypnotherapy requires the full participation of the client. It is not a process of ‘installing’ things into a person and magically ‘changing’ them. In fact, you would accept and reject the same suggestions when you are in or not in hypnosis. Your morals, ethics and beliefs all underscore your experience and this ensures that everything that happens is completely congruent and appropriate for you. You are aware of everything that happens, and be able to comfortably accept or reject any suggestion made by the hypnotherapist. There have been no reported cases (ever!) of ‘mind control’ or ‘implantation’ of suggestions that go against the person’s moral code. In fact, experiments clearly show that every attempt to do this has failed! So, when people ask if they will ‘cluck like a chicken’, the answer is…”Only if you want to!”