Here are questions and answers regarding hypnosis that may be helpful 

 We’re going to talk about hypnosis. I get a lot of questions, so these are the ones that pop up most often. I believe that information and knowledge is power. 

First off, you probably realize, I’m a big component of hypnosis not only for myself but for everyone. 

Hypnosis is still underestimated as an alternative plan

Over the years, I’ve had people roll their eyes at it and look at me like I have two heads. I was really surprised when I got my certificate in Hypnosis and I went to work at a hospital as a Nurse. You would be surprised how many medical professionals have no clue that hypnosis helps with over 146 different things.

Yes, 146 different things.

The list goes from bladder control to procrastination. We do stay within our scope of practice because it’s someone’s mental health that’s involved. That being said, we don’t work with mental health issues per se. 

There are still people who think it’s evil, and it’s fake, and bla bla bla, and if that’s your belief system that’s fine- I’m probably not going to change it.

But some of you have questions, and I’m going to do my best to answer them. 

Hypnosis Questions and Answers

I went to a hypnosis stage show and they couldn’t put me under. Besides, I don’t want to cluck like a chicken.

I get it. I wouldn’t want to cluck like a chicken either. I would sound really ridiculous. I’ll explain the chicken clucking in a minute. 

First off, when a stage show is done, they are picking the most highly susceptible people in the audience- people who are very easy to hypnotize. Most often these people can be indirectly hypnotized as well which means that some of them could be hypnotized in the audience.

They are picking people like that because they want the show to go well. These people usually have a strong personality and like the limelight, so they would do things that you and I wouldn’t. 

 You can’t give up your secrets and you’re not going to give up your fundamental beliefs.

 As far as clucking chicken.  

In some of the stage shows, they’ll actually have people clucking like a chicken, or barking like a dog. And unless you want to, you’re not going to.

Jokling, I would tell my clients that chicken clucking is on Sundays- I don’t work on Sundays. I would also say dog barking is Tuesday and meowing is Thursday. Kidding aside, no one is going to worry about that in my sessions. although, you may hear my cat meow.  

I can’t visualize anything. I have no imagination. How am I going to be hypnotized?

Visualizing is when you can see something in your mind’s eye. If I tell you to imagine an apple, even if you can’t see it in your mind’s eye, you know what an apple is. You know the color, shape, and what it looks like. So you don’t need to visualize. You need to be able to listen, that’s really about it.

I have strong willpower, I can’t be hypnotized.

If you really don’t want to be hypnotized, then you won’t be.

I’ve had people tell me they don’t want to be hypnotized because they feel it’s going to make them look silly. Just remember, this is not about losing control-this is about gaining control over the issues that you want to fix. 

This is not about controlling your mind, this is about YOU controlling your mind.

If you have that strong of willpower you’re going to go against it every step of the way and trust me, I’ve had a client or two who have come in and were determined to make it fail. If that’s the case, you need to consider what underlying issues you have behind all that. Keep in mind, you’re hypnotized every day, all the time.

 

My friend went deep into hypnosis, I remembered everything. Why?

Everyone experiences hypnosis differently.

Sometimes it feels like you’re just sitting in a chair listening to somebody speak. Another time, you can feel as though you’ve just sunk down really, really deep, where your arms and your legs feel heavy and you feel like you’re hearing the hypnotist speak but you’re not really paying attention.

Other times you can feel as though everything feels light and your arms feel like they’re floating. Either way is fine. 

Hypnosis works within a light state or a deep state. Hypnosis also works in a conversation format too.

Within the session, most often you have started the change work before you even get hypnotized. We discuss your issues, give you different ways of understanding them, and in some cases do a few powerful techniques before you even go into hypnosis.

So, hypnosis is just an added powerful layer to the work we do with you.

Is hypnosis safe? Does it really work? 

The answer to both is yes and yes.

As in any profession, you can have people who will try to exploit you and do negative things. But if you go to a Certified Professional Hypnotist, who follows strict guidelines, you’re going to be just fine.

They put protocols in place and they have your best interest at heart.

I follow my moral values and the ethics of my hypnosis boards. ICBCH and NGH. 

 

What is the Pre-talk? 

The one thing I do to alleviate any misconceptions or concerns is a Hypnosis pre-talk. This is done in the first session. Most professional hypnotists do this. We explain what hypnosis is, what it does, and what you may expect.

We talk about the subconscious versus the conscious mind. And we may do some testing to see how well you may be hypnotized. 

I also have you fill out a pre-hypnosis questionnaire which is like an intake to find out exactly why you’re coming.

The better I can hone in on your reason for Hypnosis, the better the outcome.

Does it work?

Yes, it works. Hypnosis is a state for change.

 Hypnosis helps you change your mind, so you can come up with a better solution.

Hypnosis gets your critical thinking mind out of the way. Your critical mind is your conscious brain that wants to keep you safe so you can navigate the world to know where you’re going, and what you’re doing, and to help you make decisions.

Your subconscious mind holds all your thoughts, beliefs, and your habits. It filters what’s important and what’s not.

Since you build habits to live easily, these can also get dug deep into your subconscious mind.

We get your critical thinking brain out of the way to work on the subconscious part of the brain.

Since the subconscious part of the brain works differently, we communicate with it differently. It only understands metaphors, stories, and symbolism. It doesn’t understand words like can’t and don’t.

I can give you an example of that below. Ready to try it? Ok, take a few deep breaths in and just read these words. 

Now, I don’t want you to think of an elephant. Do not think of a big gray elephant with floppy ears. Don’t do it. Don’t think of a big gray, beautiful elephant with pink toenails?

Did that elephant pop into your mind? 

Yup. Your subconscious mind doesn’t understand don’t, can’t, or won’t. 

Keep in mind, you are a creature of habit.

You get up on the same side of the bed every day, you have the same routine, you go to work the same way, and nine times out of ten you do the same things you did years ago.

This is habit formation and it’s one of the reasons you are stuck. 

Hypnosis helps you change these habits at the root, which is by changing the neural pathways in your mind. 

In closing, I will say that Hypnosis is powerful change work and it’s natural. 

If you have never given hypnosis a try, you should. Just saying.

If you have any other questions you can put them below in the comment section below or you can e-mail me. 

Cheryl