Learn How to Hypnotize Someone

Learning how to hypnotize someone is not a magical experience for the mystics, nor is it a skill acquired through years of schooling. Hypnotherapy training can easily be done with a book or two, a subject and the desire to learn hypnosis techniques. Maybe there is somebody in your life you would like to help through hypnosis.

This method is said to relieve pain, reduce anxiety and help folks with weight loss, smoking cessation and emotional issues. On the other hand, maybe you would like to make some extra money on the weekends performing hypnosis sessions for small audiences. The basic gist of hypnotizing somebody is to get them to relax, at which point their brain waves will slow and their creative, unconscious side will emerge.

Induction is the first step in successful hypnosis sessions. Learning how to hypnotize someone is based on convincing that individual to ditch his or her waking state and slip into a more suggestible state of trance. Not everybody can be hypnotized and definitely not without their permission, but you will discover that most folks are willing to relax, breathe deeply and visualize certain things. A common script for visualization centers on the parts of the body you want your subject to relax. You might say,

"Begin by relaxing all the muscles in your forehead... let all the cares, the stresses, the anxieties of this day melt away... feel your forehead relaxing deeply to feel the tingling of relaxation... feel your neck become warm with the deep relaxation as you take a deep peaceful breath and just let go...”

Once your subject has been relaxed into a state of trance and you have learned how to hypnotize, you will need to know what to do with your subject. You may want to plant a hypnotic suggestion that the subject can come back to in his or her waking state. For example, you might tell a story about a beautiful garden and say,

"I am giving you the trigger word 'Eden.' Whenever you wish to relax in the future, you can take three deep breaths; remember your trigger word 'Eden' and come back to this beautiful, relaxing place."

You may also go into the next stage of hypnosis by issuing instructions, such as,

"I want you to try to get up, but your right leg is so heavy you can't move it."

Once the subject is in this deeper level, clinical hypnosis may be performed to alleviate mental and physical pain. Next, you will need to prepare the subject to awaken.

Learning how to hypnotize someone can be a very enjoyable hobby. You will likely find yourself feeling more relaxed and better about yourself as you help others. You may use your relaxation hypnosis techniques to help yourself fall asleep at night too. If you are engaging in this as a hobby, then books and CDs will probably be all the resources you need. However, if you are serious about pursuing a career or making money in hypnotherapy, then it is best that you attend something like the four-day American Society of Clinical Hypnosis workshop to engross yourself in the discipline. Stage hypnotists can benefit from the Ultimate Stage Hypnosis Seminar, which features guest appearances and training from some of the masters, such as Jerry Valley, Tommy Vee and Alex Mitt.

Clinical Hypnotherapy

Today, clinical hypnotherapy is used for acute pain in the cases of burn or trauma victims and women going through childbirth. Clinical hypnosis is also used for chronic pain conditions like cancer and fibromyalgia. Children with migraines and adults with bladder problems are also being treated by this method.

Hypnotic suggestion may help you lose weight, quit smoking, think more positively, open yourself to the possibility of fostering healthy relationships and deal with anger or fear more effectively. While little is understood about the mind's inner workings, many studies are illuminating the way.

The mechanisms behind clinical hypnotherapy and pain reduction are yet to be scientifically proven, although there are a number of viable theories. One school of thought is that the brain shifts its attention to increase its pain threshold. It is possible that the brain can train itself to disassociate from the pain and focus on other things to circumvent the feelings of discomfort. Another theory suggests that the deep state of trance and relaxation induced by clinical hypnosis actually triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters, acetylcholine and dopamine, which is similar to what happens as we fall asleep.

An additional form of clinical hypnotherapy is known as hypnoanesthesia, which is a practice that dates back to the 1800s, before modern day anesthesia was developed.

In 1990, researcher Eron Grant Manusov found that hypnoanesthesia, which is anesthesia without chemical induction, is only possible in around fifteen percent of the population. However, if the patient is suggestible, that number increases considerably.

Different studies discovered that patients who were given chemical anesthesia were able to receive hypnotic suggestions while in a state of trance. This resulted in those folks having reduced hospital stays, requiring less medication and needing less anesthesia in future procedures.

A 2005 clinical hypnotherapy study done at the University of Iowa found similar findings using magnetic resonance imaging, that there is reduced activity in areas of the pain network and increased activity in other areas of the brain.

The primary sensory cortex, the brain's pain center, showed limited functioning. On the other hand, the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia lit up with overwhelming activity. The left anterior cingulate cortex is the area of the brain associated with heart rate, blood pressure, reward anticipation and decision making processes. The basal ganglia, which are a group of nuclei in the brain, comprise the motor control, cognition and learning center of the brain. No wonder clinical hypnotherapy can change a person's beliefs and behaviors!

The researchers concluded that these regions maybe an inhibition pathway to block pain signals from reaching higher cortical areas responsible for pain perception. The limitation of hypnosis techniques is that it is believed only ten percent of the population is highly hypnotizable, while eighty percent may be hypnotizable and the remaining ten percent cannot be hypnotized at all.

Why Learn Self Hypnosis

Perhaps you are wondering if you should try hypnotizing yourself. According to Bruce Goldberg, author of Self Hypnosis: Easy Ways to Hypnotize Your Phobias Away, this procedure can eliminate unwanted habits, get rid of phobias, slow the aging process, enable you to be more creative, improve concentration and memory, eliminate chronic pain and improve your love life. While it may sound unlikely that folks can simply learn self hypnosis, there are a number of books written on the subject and an even larger inventory of self-help audio tapes, downloads and videos aimed at teaching you just that.

A lot of self hypnosis is all in the wording. NLP hypnosis posits the theory that flowery, artful language is better than authoritative commanding. For instance, you might say to yourself,

"I really look forward to learning how to sky dive," rather than the more authoritative "I'm going to learn to sky dive."

Secondly, you will want to use visual imagery. Often successful self-hypnotists will use phrases like,

"I see," "I hear," or "It feels like."

Images from nature work particularly good, such as waterfalls, fields full of flowers, streams, clouds, trees, beaches and auras. You should also try to choose attainable goals. So instead of telling yourself,

"I am never going to eat chocolate chip cookies again," you should instead phrase it, "As I begin to make healthier choices and choose more nutritious foods, I will begin to feel lighter and more at peace with myself."

There are several common mistakes folks make when they first learn self hypnosis and try to hypnotize themselves. You might find that you are trying to force yourself to imagine something that does not come naturally or are over-analyzing the process. Instead, you will want to be sure that you are completely relaxed first, before you allow your mind to wander.

Start by counting backwards while breathing deeply, as this is a classic trick to deepen relaxation. With each count, you are going deeper and deeper, and before you know it, you will be in a state of trance!

Now that you are in a suggestible, emotional state, you can begin using "I" phrases to affirm what you wish to learn.

Some folks prefer to spend this time imagining themselves achieving their goals instead. Others still might want to play a tape with someone else's voice guiding their positive thinking here. To awaken from your trance, tell yourself you will feel refreshed and fully awake at the count of three.

Another commonly practiced form of self hypnosis is done with the help of trance music. This fast-tempo genre inspires folks to dance as a means of letting their inhibitions go, which gets the heart rate pumping so the dancer experiences a dissociative sort of exercise high. At the same time, the progressive trance music inspires the mind to be more imaginative, much as classical music and the dancer will feel a marked spiritual shift toward an overwhelming feeling of connectedness in the presence of others. Practiced at clubs, raves or workshops, trance dance hypnosis has its roots back in ancient shaman rituals and African dance. There is no right way to dance, so it is easy for anyone to do. The important thing is that you close your eyes, focus on the beat of the music and let your mind wander freely.

How Does Hypnosis Therapy Work

The term hypnosis stems from the Greek word hypnos, meaning sleep. Hypnosis Therapy or Hypnotherapy employs several techniques that create a feeling of deep relaxation in patients, which then leads to an altered state of consciousness known as a trance. Therapists use hypnosis techniques to open a gateway into the mind, where they can actually influence folks on how to change their embedded behaviors.

While it has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt, a number of patients have reported the use of hypnosis sessions to quit smoking, lose weight, overcome obstacles in their marriage and find a sense of empowerment.

In a hypnotherapy session, the patient's body relaxes, blood pressure decreases, heart rate decreases, oxygenation of the blood increases and brain wave activity may be altered. By contrast, the mind becomes more attentive, more focused and more awake. While patients are in this deep concentration, they are more in touch with their emotional side, the left and right brain hemispheres are communicating better, mental gatekeepers open up and they are highly responsive to suggestion. A patient may be given a list of reasons to stop smoking or convinced to eat smaller portions. Perhaps a series of coping mechanisms can be directed into the subconscious realm to help a person calm down and overcome anxiety, anger disorders, stress or depression.

Hypnosis therapy is used to treat a wide host of ailments, both mental and physical. Most recently, researchers discovered that the mind plays an important role in pain management, particularly with cancer patients or those undergoing surgery.

Studies show that hypnosis meditation can lessen one's need for medication and shorten recovery time. Thinking negative thoughts can lead to stress, which has powerful ramifications on the body. It can disrupt a woman's menstrual cycle, create a cold sore, make a person ill with a cold, disrupt sleep patterns, generate ulcers, facilitate hair loss, exacerbate psoriasis, lead to heart disease and contribute to obesity.

Nowadays, hypnosis sessions are used in treating obesity, asthma, anxiety, pain, sleep walking, thumb sucking, nail biting, smoking, inflammatory bowel disease, insomnia, addiction, warts, bedwetting, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, psoriasis, acne, migraines, stress, tinnitus, cancer pain, obesity, anorexia, bulimia, indigestion, phobias, depression and the pain of childbirth.

The problem with hypnosis therapy is that not everybody is susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. The subject must be an open-minded, willing participant who pledges to remain attentive, suspend disbelief and go along with what the therapist is saying. A common misconception is that hypnotists can mesmerize somebody against his or her will, plant suggestions and cause the subject to act against his or her free will. The process itself is mysterious, although there must be a certain level of agreeableness before healing can occur.