Is Hypnosis Real or Fake?
If you're interested in learning more about hypnosis, I highly recommend you check out Mike Mandel Hypnosis for Self Hypnosis CDs, or head over to Igor Ledochowski's site for his ultra-powerful conversational hypnosis course. Both are excellent resources. Thanks for visiting!
Whether we’re talking about covert hypnosis, stage hypnosis or therapeutic hypnosis, people are always asking, “is hypnosis real of fake”. It never ceases to amaze me how people will ask this question even when faced with obvious evidence that hypnosis is very real. My belief is that people will often refuse to acknowledge the power of hypnosis simply because they don’t understand it, or because they think it is something they cannot control and would therefore rather avoid discussing. It is these people who will say hypnosis is fake, a big show, blah blah blah.
Here is how I know hypnosis is very real:
- When I first saw a stage hypnosis show in the 1990s by one of the best hypnotists in the world, a guy literally peed his pants because he thought he was on a planet that was about to blow up, and “Scotty” from Star Trek would not beam him up because he was on a coffee break. This guy was an ordinary guy and not an Oscar-winning actor. He couldn’t possibly have acted this well (or he’d be a movie star)
- I witnessed a guy getting his memory back after another stage hypnosis show where the post-hypnotic suggestion was to forget everything only until entering the washroom. Then all memories would safely and enjoyably come back. We took the guy into the washroom and he literally looked like he walked into a brick wall. As soon as he got past the door he stopped and started blushing in a way that cannot be consciously controlled. You have to think about these things to realize people cannot fake these reactions.
- When my wife was pregnant with our second child the morning sickness was unbearable for her. We were about to go on a trip. I took her to a hypnotherapist who was trained by my teacher (it’s often hard to to therapeutic hypnosis on someone you know, better to take them to an “authority”). After that day my wife had no more morning sickness for the rest of the pregnancy
- I’ve been using self-hypnosis for years now. I have put myself into some VERY deep trances and had some very wild experiences. I don’t need any more convincing than this
I could go on and on about hypnosis and how I know with absolute certainty that it is real. But if you still need convincing then ask yourself if you have ever noticed, while watching a movie, that your entire body was tense during a scary scene, or an action scene. Why would your body become so tense? The only explanation is because you are unconsciously reacting to the movie as if you were actually in it. Your mind sees the movie, gets into a particular state, and then physiologically responds as if you were in that movie. There is a level of separation, you won’t get the same adrenalin rush as if someone was actually chasing you, but you get a milder version of this response. That is, in a sense, a form of hypnosis.
Covert hypnosis is simply one method for using hypnotic skills. You learn the skills and you employ them in regular conversation. The goal is to induce trance, or to simply cause a state change within another person and implant a particular suggestion.
Some people are naturally skilled at covert hypnosis and they don’t realize it. If you are one of those people, fantastic. But if you are not, and you’d like to become a better communicator, then you should consider learning these skills.
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3 comments
josh on March 17, 2009 at 11:47 am
ok i have a question. i was part of a stage hypno show and he put us into trances etc. but, i thought i was faking it for some reason but i went along with everything he was telling us to do without a doubt.
but i felt like i was sort of tired and my sight was like sort of blurry.
so was i actually in a trance or i faked the whole thing because it felt pretty real to me
or am i just dumb?
thanks
admin on March 19, 2009 at 9:34 am
Josh – it’s hard to say if you were in trance or not, because I was not there and this whole thing is probably new enough to you that you won’t know the signs. My guess is that in this case you were NOT hypnotized. There are a lot of crappy stage hypnotists out there, and there are enough wiling participants who simply fake it as you described.
Not all hypnotists are created equal. Even in hypnotherapy, there are massive numbers of hypnotists trained by the national guild of hypnotists. Usually they are poor at what they do. They know how to read scripts. They don’t understand how to customize a therapy session. Ericksonian methods are the way to go, in my opinion. Stage hypnotists who understand Erickson’s methods are usually much better.
Matt on April 8, 2010 at 10:54 am
i am an amature hypnotist and i have a book “fun with hypnotism” but i dont feel like it is good enough. i want to do better and most of my attempts end with failure. do you have ay suggestions?