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You’ve probably seen some of those shows on television where people can control others’ behavior with hypnosis. When hypnosis is used for therapeutic purposes, it’s called “hypnotherapy,” and it is not at all like stage hypnosis.
Most people who visit a hypnotist for the first time are curious about how it works. Is it like passing out or falling asleep? They may even wonder if someone can do something to them while they are hypnotized that would cause harm?
In truth, hypnosis is neither dangerous nor harmful. It’s a natural state of focus, concentration, relaxation, and heightened awareness. In fact, it can condition you to experience positive changes in your life.
Here’s a list of frequently asked questions, with detailed explanations, about hypnosis to put your mind at ease if you’re thinking of visiting a hypnotherapist.
How Do You Feel When Hypnotized?
Hypnosis differs from sleep, reverie, and meditation. It is more like a trance-like state where you become especially open to suggestions. Hypnosis can lead you into various altered states. These altered states may be mental, emotional, or physically oriented.
However, a trance state is not an unusual state. It is a natural state of mind you experience every day. For example, you might experience a trance when you’re driving if you’re thinking about the show you watched last night, the list of groceries you need to make, or your argument with your boss.
You are more open to suggestions from a hypnotist in a trance because your mind is in a relaxed state. You are in a state of heightened and concentrated mental awareness and open to positive change.
Why Do People Think Hypnotism Is Dangerous?
As with many other medical and health practices, there are risks associated with hypnotherapy. Rather than the hypnosis session itself, most risks are associated with the hypnotist or practitioner.
Because of feeling uncomfortable during a hypnotic session or feeling disappointed in the lack of results (because they resisted all positive suggestions while in trance), many people come to all sorts of erroneous conclusions about hypnotherapy.
The following are some reasons people might worry about hypnosis:
- They believe that hypnosis can have some potential side effects. Side effects are possible since not all hypnotists are skilled enough to avoid them completely. But they are rare, weak, and temporary.
- They have many misconceptions about hypnotherapy. People, for instance, believe that they will lose their free will and might reveal some deep dark secret.
- They mix hypnosis and hypnotherapy up. While they are similar in some ways, they are different in that hypnosis is a “trance” state that can be used during various treatments, including hypnotherapy. Using hypnosis on stage can, for instance, lead to people doing silly things to entertain the audience, like clucking around the stage.
While hypnosis can be potentially dangerous if done by an unskilled hypnotherapist. Someone anxious, for example, may not get rid of their anxiety at all.
You are at minimal risk when working with a certified hypnotherapist. The benefits outweigh the risks when considering hypnotherapy over taking anti-anxiety medication for extended periods of time.
Can Hypnosis Be Dangerous?
Hypnotherapy is often misunderstood by people. Some people, for instance, claim that while hypnosis can be effective in treating stress and anxiety, the practice should be carefully monitored because of the possibility of causing false memories. There is an ad hoc theory without sufficient clinical evidence to establish it as a fact.
Rather than being dangerous many people who have experienced hypnosis in a clinical setting say it was helpful when they were struggling with mental health problems, such as depression or stress-related symptoms.
One common reason people believe being hypnotized is dangerous because they don’t understand how the conscious and subconscious minds work. These people fail to understand that all they have to do is pay the fee, relax, and tell the therapist what they want to be, do, or experience in life.
The patient’s expectations determine whether the treatment will succeed. When the treatment fails, patients may feel bitter and resentful about paying for their hypnotherapy session.
Disappointed patients may, for example, not only claim that the hypnotherapy accomplished what it was supposed to do, but it left them feeling worse.
In other words, they would rather blame the hypnotist and hypnotherapy than take any responsibility for completely resisting any positive suggestions that the hypnotherapist gave them.
Hypnotism is considered dangerous by many people. This is far from the truth! A certified hypnotherapist will be able to hypnotize you to promote psychological well-being.
People are often wary of hypnosis, but the practice is safe and fun—and can achieve real results. For example, you can use it to change a bad habit into a positive one. It infuses your mind with positivity, which could help you feel energized and better about yourself. If you change your way of thinking, you could improve many other aspects of your life as well.
Can You Get Stuck in a Hypnotic Trance?
Some people think being hypnotized is very dangerous. It is not. A few even go so far as to claim that hypnotherapy poses some risk of becoming “stuck,” but hypnosis is safe. You are simply listening to positive suggestions while in a trance state.
It is not possible to go into a permanent hypnotic state; rather, hypnosis is only a temporary state of suspended belief when you are open-minded enough to change long-entrenched limiting beliefs and negative attitudes.
In the beginning, hypnosis can seem unsettling, since you don’t know how deeply you will relax. As you enter hypnosis, your thoughts and beliefs about yourself are altered—often dramatically for the better.
Once you’ve reached a point when you can relax completely without resisting the suggestions you’re hearing, the state will continue effortlessly without you needing to exert any effort to enter deeper into it or stay in it.
While exploring this deep state of trance, you may discover new possibilities and begin to enjoy yourself more and more. You may even get to a euphoric state where you feel you can go on forever, experiencing different emotions and levels of consciousness.
After the positive suggestions have been implanted in your mind, it may take some effort and determination on your part to leave the pleasant state of deep relaxation you were in.
The key to getting out of hypnosis is to break your concentration of the present moment and pay attention to what’s happening within; what you’re feeling, thinking, sensing. A skilled hypnotherapist will gently lead you to a state of full awareness of your surroundings, the office you are sitting in listening to someone talking to you.
Will Others Be Able to Control You?
Hypnosis has a few steps: going into trance, accepting suggestions in a deep trance state, and returning to a state of full alertness and present-moment awareness.
During the induction, a patient is made to feel as if he or she is going to fall asleep. During the induction, a hypnotherapist will use a script to evoke beautiful scenes and happy memories. Engaging the imagination in this way stops the overanalytical mind.
During a session, the hypnotist can change a person’s sense of reality. For instance, if someone believes that they can’t do anything right, they will start recalling many incidents when they handled situations, even challenging ones, remarkably well.
Hypnosis, then, is a method of relaxation and suggestion.
Rather than pushing yourself to the limit and beyond, forcing you to accept suggestions that go against your sense of right and wrong, you are shown how to handle yourself better in your life. Your job is just to be open to letting the hypnotherapist guide your thoughts and behavior in a more positive direction.
Once the induction is complete, a patient is free from the influence of the hypnotherapist, regaining complete awareness of their own thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
Is It Necessary to Protect Yourself When Being Hypnotized?
Protection is unnecessary. The worst that could happen is you resist all positive suggestions, jump to erroneous conclusions, and blame the hypnotherapist for not resolving your problems.
You are not in danger and you will not be harmed. Instead, you are being helped in many ways.
Hypnosis is a form of relaxation and meditation. Usually, it involves a series of visual and auditory exercises designed to reduce stress and help you relax.
This relaxation often occurs naturally as you play a mental game. After a few minutes alone in a quiet room with a calm and empathic hypnotherapist, you may already feel relaxed even if you haven’t experienced hypnotherapy before.
Often after completing a series of hypnotherapy exercises, clients report feeling more energized and attuned to the world around them—even slightly euphoric!
Hypnosis helps people overcome problems they may be experiencing, improve their physical health and improve their ability to interact with others.
It’s not possible to completely lose your free will or sense of identity when you are in a trance state.
If a hypnotist suggests anything that you consider immoral, wrong, or harmful in some way, you will automatically reject it. Often, you might simply snap out of the trance state itself into a state of feeling fully awake and alert.
Conclusion
Many fears about hypnosis are unfounded, based on rumors, urban myths, and misinformation about hypnosis. Hypnosis is not dangerous. You will not get stuck in an altered state of consciousness. You are not vulnerable and cannot be controlled by someone with malicious intentions.
In truth, hypnotherapy can help you overcome fears, remove limiting beliefs, and get rid of bad habits that could be ruining your life. In hypnosis, your mind enters a state of increased focus and concentration, which makes you more relaxed and receptive. This open-minded state can help make more positive changes in your life.