Hypnosis is not a commodity that can be weighed or measured. Nor surprisingly is it a state that can be defined by a specific type of brain wave activity or other physiological measurement.
Many people use the services of a certified hypnosis professional for self-improvement purposes. A frequent question that comes up is "are you sure I can be hypnotized and how will you or I know if I am?'
Where this becomes problematic is that a large swath of the general public equates being hypnotized with some sort of zombie-like trance state where the person gives up mental volition or self-control to the hypnotist-potentially scary stuff if that were true!
Hypnosis is not really about one person controlling the mind of another. Instead many experienced practitioners have come to realize it is more about creating shifts in perception.
The kinds of problems a hypnotist works with inevitably deal with people's faulty perceptions of themselves or the world around them. All of us are guilty of the mental error where we believe that we perceive reality with perfect clarity. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A hypothetical example: a woman asks a Certified Hypnotist for help in quitting smoking. During the initial interview process she is asked about why she want to quit and what has prevented her from stopping up until now.
The motivation to quit includes health worries, the foul smell of smoke on her clothes and hair as well as the expense. Although these are wonderful reasons to change she goes on to say "but cigarettes are a friend that have always been there for me at the toughest times in my life and I would feel lost without them."
Can you spot the mental illusion at work in this woman's situation? The dictionary defines a friend as "a person somebody trusts and is fond of." For starters, since a cigarette is not a person in any way, shape or form, it cannot be a friend.
And besides, if you have a friend who endangers your health, makes you smell bad and wastes your money, it might be time to raise your standards a bit!
However, perception is what is important and who wouldn't resist losing a trusted friend?
Part of the hypnotist's duties then would include shifting her perception of cigarettes to what they are really are in her life-filthy toxic weeds wrapped in burning paper that harm her health, cleanliness and finances. Once that shift in perception and belief has occurred, quitting should be much simpler.
Now during a hypnosis session many but certainly not all clients will report pleasant feelings of mental and physical relaxation, often reported as either a warm heaviness or a light floating sensation.
The relaxation is a pleasant by-product, but not necessary for positive changes to occur. What really matters is the hypnotist's skill in helping the client alter negative patterns of thought, feeling and behavior.
So to answer the original question, you know hypnosis has taken place when you notice the shift in your perceptions.
James Malone is a Certified Hypnotist from Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey who wants to give YOU some FREE self-improvement e-books. To claim your copies, please visit: http://www.njhypno.com/therapeutic_metaphors.html
