A message from Carolyn...

Hypnosis is, perhaps, one of the most misunderstood and controversial methods of psychological treatment. The myths and misconceptions that surround hypnotherapy mostly stem from people’s ideas about stage hypnotism. The truth is that stage hypnotism is essentially a theatrical performance and has about as much in common with bona fide clinical hypnosis as many Hollywood movies have with real life.

The fact is that hypnosis is a genuine psychological phenomenon that has valid uses in clinical practice.  Simply put, hypnosis is a state of highly focused attention or concentration, often associated with relaxation, and heightened suggestibility.  While under hypnosis (i.e., in a hypnotic trance), it seems many people are much more open to helpful suggestions than they usually are.

The positive suggestions that people are given while hypnotized are referred to as “post hypnotic suggestions” because they are intended to take effect after the person emerges from the trance and is no longer under hypnosis.

As explained above, you are not asleep or unconscious while in a hypnotic state. Therefore your conscious mind is awake and aware and able to monitor its surroundings and what is being said to it. If something is "suggested" to you while in a hypnotic state that you do not like or which goes against your moral and spiritual character then one of two things will happen. Your mind will either dismiss the suggestion the hypnotherapist has given you or you will open your eyes and come out of the trance. To put it simply a person has to want what is being suggested to them. The person in a hypnotic trance is always in control, just as someone who is daydreaming can decide to go on or stop at any time. While the practitioner serves as a teacher or guide, the only person who can hypnotize you is you, since trance is a latent potential of your own mind. Therefore, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

Carolyn Beauchamp, ACCHt