Hypnosis - What Do I Need to Know Before Using It?

The AMA accepted hypnosis in 1958 as an effective avenue for treating nervous strain, and stress related symptoms. But does it really work, and what should a person look for when seeking a hypno-technician, or procuring hypnosis tapes & CDs?

There are many different hypnotic methodologies that are used to reach the subconscious mind to invoke change. Each method has its pros and its cons. We are all different, so it stands to reason that the best results will be gotten by utilizing the methods that each person will react favorably to.

Most therapists who sell hypnosis tapes offer programs that consist of standard traditional hypnosis methods.  A few vendors offer much more up-to-date and effective Ericksonian Hypnosis methods.  And fewer still offer NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming methods.

The newest and possibly most effective technique available is video hypnosis. Video hypnosis makes use of the latest NLP thought patterns to trigger instant change in a person. Video hypnosis techniques are not subliminal in nature.

With "Traditional Hypnosis," we simply make direct commands to the subconscious mind. In case you are wondering, as far as I'm concerned, the term unconscious, and subconscious are indistinguishable -- they refer to the same part of the mind. This type of hypnotism works well for an individual who generally accepts what they are told without having a lot of questions.

Most recorded hypnosis programs sold today are based on "Traditional Hypnosis" methods. This reason is it doesn't really take much training or experience to create a script and just command a person to do something. Unfortunately Traditional Hypnotic suggestion is not very efficient for people who are critical or analytical in their thinking processes.

By contrast, Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-linguistic programming techniques work far more effectively for most members of today's generation! This is because today people are taught to analyze everything, rather than just copy what everyone else is doing. So these technologies do work very well on people who are analytical or critical in their thinking processes.

While it's true that these methods have a much better rate of success at reaching and influencing the subconscious, it's also true that it can years of experience and study to learn how to apply these methods effectively. So this is a chore accepted only by dedicated hypnotists.

With "Ericksonian Hypnosis," we use little stories; we call hypnotic metaphors, to introduce direct suggestions to the unconscious mind. This is a powerful system, because it usually eliminates the mental blockage of suggestions that is often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, "Isomorphic," and those of the imbedded command or "interspersal" nature.

Isomorphic metaphors offer direction to the unconscious by telling a story that has a moral. The unconscious draws a one-to-one relationship between ingredients of the story and parts of a problem situation or behavior. For example, if a child is telling a lot of lies, the hypnotherapist might tell the child the story about the "Boy who cried wolf." The subconscious would draw a parallel between the boy in the story and the child, and realize that telling lies could lead to disaster, so the child would probably stop lying.

With the Embedded Command technique, the hypno-therapist tells an enlightening story that distracts the conscious mind. The story includes secret direct suggestions that are usually accepted by the unconscious. For example: During the time the client is in hypnosis, he can hear the hypnotist say something like: I'm going to tell you a story about a [beach that has feelings. Isn't that] strange to [you]? It's a warm summer's day, and the beach [feels great].

The hypnotist pauses, shifts his voice tonality, and emphasizes the bracketed text. The unconscious recognizes a "Selectional restriction violation." Beaches can't have feelings. So it's like the subconscious says to itself: "Wait a minute, a beach can't feel anything, so that must mean that I'm supposed to feel something, and I'm supposed to [feel great]." Since the suggestions are embedded in a theme that is distracting the conscious mind, its unlikely that the conscious will realize that it has just received a command, so it won't block it or resist it.

"Process Instructions" direct the subconscious to remember the experience of an experience from the past where something appropriate was learned, and then apply that appropriate experience to making a change in the present.

With "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" (NLP), rather than using hypnotic suggestions, we use the same thought methodologies that are creating a problem, like insomnia or stress, to cast out the problem. NLP in the hands of an experienced NLP'er can be very effective.

NLP Anchoring: Have you ever heard an old song and had it trigger feelings from the past? When you originally listened to the music, you were experiencing those feelings, and they subconsciously became attached to the sound of the song. So the song became an Anchor for the feelings. Now when you hear the song, it triggers the same feelings again.

Anchoring can be a very effective methodology. Suppose that you have a memory of being commended for a great accomplishment in the past. If you get back inside of that memory, you'll be able to recall the feeling of self-esteem that you had at that time. If you touch two fingers together while you re-experience those feelings of self-esteem, that touch will become an anchor for the feelings of self-esteem.

Now suppose that you want to create motivation to stick to a diet and lose weight. If you make a mental image of yourself with a thin, sexy body, and simultaneously trigger the anchor - (press the two fingers together again), your unconscious will connect together the feelings of self-esteem to the mental image of you with the thin body and your level of motivation to lose weight will increase exponentially.

NLP Flash: This is a very effective and powerful Neuro-linguistic programming methodology that can be used to "flip" things around in the subconscious, so that thoughts and experiences that used to trigger feelings of stress actually trigger relaxation instead.

The NLP Flash methodology is also a fast way to erase conditioned responses. For example: If a smoker has a cigarette while drinking coffee, his/her subconscious will pair the two behaviors together so that he/she automatically gets a strong craving for a cigarette anytime he/she has a cup of coffee. The Flash will cause the smoker's mind to disassociate the image of a cigarette from the cup of coffee so that he/she does NOT feel a craving to smoke just because he/she is drinking coffee.

With "subliminal" tapes, the recording has two tracks. One track contains a cover sound that is heard by the conscious mind. The cover sound could be anything from music to the sound of a running stream. The second track contains direct commands that are listened to by the unconscious mind. These post-hypnotic suggestions are repeated hundreds of times during a session.

Subliminal programs can be played while you are watching a movie on TV. You don't have to stop what you are doing and relax like you do with hypnotic suggestion or NLP. Subliminals can be used in addition to hypnotic therapy. But Subliminals will never replace Hypnotherapy or Neuro-linguistic programming because they are not as effective! They don't even come close!! Some experts claim that it can take up to 80 hours of listening to a subliminal CD before it will have any effect on many people.

The last hypnotic methodology that we're going to talk about is "Video Hypnosis." Video Hypnosis is the most efficient form of hypnosis! The techniques used in video hypnosis are based on the Neuro-linguistic programming technology, which works based on the utilization of a person's existing patterns of thought instead of hypnotic commands.

Over seventy percent of the human race learns much more quickly and automatically by seeing, rather then by hearing. Think about it. If you feel a compulsion to eat of smoke when watching TV, it's because your unconscious recorded the video image of either food in your hand, or a cigarette in your hand, and then incorporated that image with the picture of the TV. You never spoke to yourself and told yourself in words to associate them together, correct?

And that's why the Video Hypnosis mechanism is so efficient. Video Hypnosis is not hypnotic in the traditional sense, relying on the spoken word. But if you've ever shed a tear when watching a sad film, then you know how efficient Video Hypnosis can be at reaching the subconscious mind. With this methodology, results usually start with the very first viewing!

© 2006 By Alan B. Densky. This technical document can be re-printed as long as it is not altered and the author's name and clickable web address are retained.