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You may have some questions about hypnotherapy and the subject of hypnosis. I will answer the most frequently asked questions, because when you know the facts, the myths just disappear!
But first let me start by telling you that I am just a normal man and this is a job like any other, I trained in Hypnotherapy, just like another person trained in engineering etc.
Sometimes people have the idea that a ‘Hypnotist’ (I'm not too happy being described as this!) is a person dressed in black that has the ability to control minds, This is an image from old B movies of yesteryear and has been dramatised for maximum effect, just as giant Gorillas don’t climb sky scrapers! I prefer to be called a Hypnotherapist.
So here are the FACTS…
Q. “Can anybody be Hypnotized”
A. Yes anybody! but they have to be WILLING to do so. Some people are heard to say “I bet he can’t Hypnotize me” Well if they are going to deliberately resist, then of course they won’t, no more than a dentist can forcibly work on their teeth without them AGREEING to open their mouth. YOU MUST WANT TO COME for YOUR OWN reasons but first of all I will only agree to help you if YOU book the appointment and YOU have decided you need my help.
The fact is ALL hypnosis is SELF Hypnosis but the word ‘Hypnotist’ implies I ‘do it to you’ NO!, I just guide you to achieve it yourself
Q. “Will I go to sleep”
A. Hypnosis or ‘trance’ is not sleep even though the word “Sleep” is heard by a STAGE Hypnotist just before the subject goes into trance, yet again this is to add drama to the show, he could just as easy use the phrase
“You will relax comfortably” But that has no ‘Pizzazz’ to it! Hypnosis is something WE ALL DO EVERY DAY (See pictures) like the times you get so engrossed in a film that you almost feel as if you’re in the scene complete with the emotions. It is when you daydream to the point where someone waves their hand in front of you sometimes followed by them saying “Hello” to regain your attention to the here and now. How many of you drivers have been sat at traffic lights and your mind wandered until the driver behind honks at you because the lights are green and you were ‘Miles away’, have you noticed we even have our own phrases for our own trances e.g.
‘Miles away’, ‘Away with the fairies’, ‘Daydreaming’, etc.
Q. “Will you make me do silly things?”
A. I CANNOT make you do ANYTHING against your will or your own morals because a suggestion of this nature would cause you to immediately reject it just as if I asked you to do it out of the trance and you would come out of trance all by yourself, but more to the point why on earth would I even try, you are coming to me for help you and THAT IS ALL I CARE ABOUT!
YOU ARE IN FULL AND COMPLETE CONTROL THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TIME!
Q. “So if that’s the case how come Paul McKenna gets people to act silly?”
A. At the risk of repeating myself you must actively want to be guided into hypnosis and once in trance he will only give ‘Playful’ suggestions that your mind will accept within your moral and ethical framework, Dancing like John Travolta is just for a laugh that some of you might find quite fun but the hypnosis can allow you to feel that dancing on stage is no big deal. Anyway some of you drink a few pints to achieve the same thing! as I jokingly tell people if I could get you to hand over your wages willingly how is it I’m still working! (it's just a joke, but it makes a serious point)
Q. “How does it feel and how will I know when I’m hypnotised”
A. I can tell you that it is very pleasant and very relaxing but you won’t FEEL hypnotised just relaxed and aware of your surroundings with a little daydreaming mixed in, so you will be just fine! some people say
things like “Did you have to bring me out so soon, that’s the most relaxed I’ve ever been, it was wonderful!”
Q. “will I blurt out any of my secrets”?”
A. NEVER!! if ‘Secret extraction’ against your will worked, we would have no need for courts, just Hypnotists.
Q. “Can I get stuck in a trance”
A. NEVER!! the fact that you are reading this means that you have ‘come out’ of many thousands of trances
and you will continue to do so all of your life. REMEMBER TRANCE IS A NATURAL STATE OF MIND!
Q. “How does it work and why doesn’t willpower work for smoking, phobias, overeating, low confidence etc.
A. This is a huge subject but the overview is that we all learn certain habits, some good, some bad, so a habit of avoiding fire is learned and this is good, but persistently smoking creates a bad habit that the unconscious mind protects, because protecting habits good or bad is what it does. Even though consciously we know smoking is bad for us, because of it’s repetition it is a guarded habit and the unconscious will create a bad feeling when we try to stop smoking (Cravings). Why does it guard habits or learned behaviours? Well losing a behaviour like avoiding vicious dogs is dangerous, so a loud dog bark creates a fear feeling and you back off. It is nearly impossible to ‘override’ the feelings generated from the unconscious but Hypnosis can carefully retrain it to help you to FEEL better about things, fears lessened, bad habits banished etc. I’ll explain more when I see you.
If you have a question that I have not covered here then ask me when you visit and I’ll reassure you.
