There are many misconceptions about hypnosis. Here I will answer some of the common misconceptions. Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have so I can answer them here.
Anyone with normal intelligence can be, but only if they want to be hypnotized. People who do not want to can not be hypnotized.
Studies show that people who have above average intelligence who are capable of concentrating and who have the capacity for creativity and vivid imagination usually make the best subjects.
This question comes from stage hypnosis. The hypnotist makes it look like they can make people do something they don’t want to do. People who volunteer for stage shows want to have fun and do not necessarily want to take responsibility for their actions. Even then, when a subject comes up against some thing they really don’t want to do, they don’t and the hypnotist dismisses them to go back to their seat in the audience. Anyway, if it was possible to make someone do something they don’t want to do, then why do they still have to use guns to rob banks?
Hypnosis is not sleep and the person is not unconscious. A person in hypnosis is actually mentally alert and focused while their body is very relaxed and comfortable.
Have you ever watched a fire in a fire-place or a camp fire and felt very relaxed and didn’t want to move or take your eyes off of the fire or even blink? Did you describe this as feeling mesmerized? Feeling mesmerized is the same as feeling hypnotized. The verb to be “mesmerized” comes from the name of physician Franz Anton Mesmer (May 23, 1734 – March 5, 1815) who used hypnosis in his practice.
You may not know at the time. However, afterward you will notice significant changes in the way you think and feel about whatever you wanted to change.
Hypnosis is not mind control. Mind control is achieved when people are deprived of contact with loved ones, sleep, normal food, and many other things.
Hypnosis can be very helpful when finding lost memories but you can also lie in hypnosis. Hypnosis is not truth serum. If you do not want to reveal something I can not make you.
This question comes from lack of understanding and from how hypnosis was depicted in old movies. Hypnosis is simply a resting state of mind. It is a brain wave pattern which is similar to meditation. The medical term for hypnosis is the hypnagogic state. This is the transitional state just before sleep. You are aware of and have control of what you are letting into your mind at all times. This question is similar to asking if we can make you do something you don’t want to do.
