THE DEFINITION OF HYPNOSIS:
Self-Hypnosis is a condition of hyper-suggestibility where the conscious mind and the unconscious disconnect. It is a state of mind where the subject is more likely to acknowledge the Hypnotherapist's suggestions.

You have been in the state of hypnosis many times in your life without even recognizing the state. Hypnosis is the Alpha state of consciousness that we pass through every night as we fall asleep. And we pass through it again as we awaken in the morning.

WHO CAN BE PLACED INTO HYPNOSIS?
It has been discovered that all normal people can be hypnotized to a greater or lesser extent. People with the I.Q. of the moron level of intelligence or less generally are not hypnotizable. People who are in an active state of psychosis by and large cannot be hypnotized. Most senile people are difficult to hypnotize.

DO I HAVE TO BE A "DEEP" HYPNOTIC SUBJECT TO BE SUCCESSFUL?
For the restorative applications of hypnosis that are usually dealt with in therapy, depth of any kind is not required. One can be the lightest possible subject and still obtain all of the benefits from hypnosis that the deepest subjects will obtain. I believe that over the years, far too much importance has been placed on how deep a subject is. If the subject is deep, it could be of benefit. This however, is not necessarily the case. In fact, with the latest hypnotic methods like Ericksonian hypnosis and state of the art "NLP" (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), depth is one of the least important aspects, which create a successful outcome.

ARE THERE ANY DANGERS IN HYPNOSIS?
There are on the whole no dangers to the practice of hypnosis. It is impossible to "get stuck" in hypnosis. The most terrible thing that could possibly happen while a person is in hypnosis is that she might fall into a natural state of sleep for twenty or thirty minutes. She would wake up rested and no longer in the state of self hypnosis.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SELF-HYPNOSIS:
There are many misnomers about hypnosis. Most of them are due to stage and television acts. Ironically, it is on account of the fact that the television can hypnotize you that these misnomers are so strongly ingrained in people's minds.

IS HYPNOSIS SLEEP?
The largest misconception about hypnosis is that it is the state of sleep. Not anything could be further from the truth. If you are asleep, you are unconscious. If you are unconscious, you cannot hear anything. If you cannot hear anything, then the hypnotist cannot help you. Hypnosis is a state of keen awareness. The subject is wide-awake and aware of everything around her.

IS THERE A HYPNOTIZED FEELING?
The second largest misconception about self-hypnosis is that there is a hypnotized feeling. There is no specific hypnotized feeling. Most people feel very relaxed when in a hypnotic state, as relaxation seems to be the essence of the hypnotic state. Some people feel heavy. Some people feel light. Some people have other sensations and feelings. Other people have absolutely no feeling that they are in self hypnosis, and believe they have not been hypnotized when they most definitely have.

CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST CONTROL ME?
NO! A hypnotist cannot make you do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the therapist make a suggestion that is offensive to you; this observing ego state would reject that suggestion.

CAN THE THERAPIST MAKE ME DIVULGE MY SECRETS?
You won't divulge any secrets while in self hypnosis unless you want to do so. The hypnotherapist doesn't have any control over the subject. Quite the contrary, the subject has more control over herself since at this time she can directly communicate with her own unconscious. The subject can easily decline any suggestion the hypnotherapist makes, no matter how simple or complicated the suggestion might be. The subject can open her eyes, exit from the state of self-hypnosis, and walk out of the room at any time she chooses.

MUST PEOPLE TELL THE TRUTH WHEN IN HYPNOSIS?
NO! People can lie when in the state of self hypnosis.

DO HYPNOTISTS HAVE SPECIAL VIBRATIONS?
This is a common misnomer. The hypnotherapist doesn't have any special powers, nor does he have any special vibrations with which to propel you into the hypnotic state. Actually, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The hypnotherapist leads the subject into a state of hypnosis. In other words, the ability of self-hypnosis is within the subject.

WHY DO PEOPLE FAIL TO REACH THEIR GOALS USING HYPNOSIS?
Perhaps the principal reason for the inability to reach one's goals through self-hypnosis is an insufficient amount of practice where self-hypnosis is concerned.

The greatest reason for the return of a symptom or "relapse" is the premature discontinuance of hypnosis with the Hypnotherapist or recorded program. While self-hypnosis is important, it is generally the hetero-hypnosis with the hypnotherapist or hypnosis recording which has the greatest impact upon the unconscious.

This is because of the experience that the hypnotherapist has vs. the lack of experience of the client. Some people are penny wise and pound-foolish. They mentally set an amount of time that they are willing to spend for help. And then they prematurely abate their sessions because; "I didn't lose 50 Lbs. in two days, so it isn't working." Self-hypnosis should be an ongoing affair on a daily basis. Ultimately, YOUR SUCCESS IS UP TO YOU!

WILL I BE BETTER OFF HIRING A HYPNOTIST, OR WILL PURCHASING A RECORDED PROGRAM WORK BETTER?
That is a wonderful question. Normally I would recommend that you employ the services of a reputable hypnotherapist. The reason is that by meeting with you, a good hypnotherapist / NLP'er will be able to customize his approach to your personality and your favored representational system -- the way you favor taking in information through your senses to make sense out of it and react to it.

In my opinion, ninety-nine percent of the pre-recorded hypnosis programs available today are strictly Traditional Hypnosis, and consist of only one or maybe two sessions of it at that. Traditional Hypnosis is nothing more than a set of direct commands: "If you eat a brownie you will barf." "You won't have urges," and so forth. This technology has a very poor track record of success because everyone of our generation has been educated to question everything they are told. That's why you, your friends, and your kids usually do the opposite of what they are told to do. This is called a polarity response.

That being said, having personalized sessions with any hypnotherapist / NLP'er who has enough experience to be able to actually help you can cost a great deal of money. There are some hypnotic programs available on the Internet based on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that have overcome those shortcomings. They've accomplished this by utilizing a mix of Traditional Hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, NLP, and the highly regarded Video Hypnosis technology.

These are all technologies that are designed to overcome the resistance factor. In fact, Video Hypnosis and the NLP technology that it's based on do not utilize suggestion at all. These technologies rely on using the thought processes that have created a problem, to eliminate it!

Look for companies that offer these methodologies in multi-session products. These are programs that generally have six to eight different sessions, so you are exposed to a broad range of methodologies. It takes a lot of work to make this type of program, but the high success rates achieved are well worth the trouble.

Stay away from the "one size fits all" -- "do-or-die" hypnosis CDs and downloads. Many are attracted to these programs because they are very cheap, usually under $10.00. But is it cheap if it just wastes your valuable time and does not work?

If you purchase something and it does not work, then you get wary and start to expect the next approach to fail. And you get what you expect. Do you really think that the same exact commands will work for everyone? Do you think that they will work for you? Do you usually do exactly as you are told to do? Or do you generally feel the strong desire to do the opposite of what you are told to do?