What is Hypnosis?
Have you ever asked yourself~
”What is hypnosis, or what is hypnotherapy?” or “Does hypnosis work?”
FACTS ABOUT HYPNOSIS & HYPNOTHERAPY:
The definition of hypnosis is “being in a heightened and/or focused state of suggestibility and/or accessibility”.
The greatest benefit of well done hypnosis and hypnotherapy is that it can be a concentrated form of learning. Hypnosis is really about reconditioning or retraining your mind to be more effective in helping one succeed, while at the same time hypnotherapy is the most powerful tool for releasing unwanted habits and patterns, to set you free to live the successful life you were meant to live.
Since hypnosis is really about retraining and rewiring the brain and our responses, the notion of being asleep or out of control is not particularly helpful. Think back when you were in school, if you kept falling asleep in class, how well did you learn? Most people answer, “Not at all!”
Being in the state of hypnosis or hypnotherapy is a natural state of mind (alpha state) that we all find ourself in about 50-80% of our waking day. Hypnosis is a natural state that we experience daily. For instance, when you’re driving your car and you automatically end up in your drive way without thinking about it (being on automatic pilot, if you will); when you’re watching a movie and you feel emotional although you’ve seen the movie perhaps numerous times and you know that it’s just a movie…you still have emotional reactions which means you’re in your subconscious mind. Another example is that twilight time between going to sleep and upon awakening in the morning–we are in our alpha state, where learning most easily occurs, and is a natural and normal state of being. Therefore, the alpha state is the most ideal state for hypnosis and hypnotherapy, as well.
This is where some of our best learning takes place. At Hypnosis Institute International School, however, our students are trained for whole brain learning, not just subconscious learning, which provides an even more potent state of learning and speeds up the learning curve. Remember, the goal of therapeutic hypnosis and hypnotherapy is to help people succeed and set themselves free from unhelpful patterns and cycles.
Besides hypnosis and hypnotherapy being effective at releasing old unconscious programming, the next greatest benefit is that you can have new success oriented programming installed. Whole brain learning, using hypnosis, hypnotherapy, education, coaching, along with appropriate reinforcement can bring about positive changes that clients had almost given up on.
Scientific research has proven that whole brain learning is the most effective way to retrain our mind. Hypnosis, hypnotherapy, education on how the conscious and subconscious work together and how to work them, is really the most effective method of re-hypnotizing a person to have new and effective habits and patterns that increase their ability to succeed.
Universities are taking a new interest in hypnosis by increasing their research on the subject. The truth is that we are already hypnotized in that we are programmed starting in the womb and continuing throughout our lifetime. Brain research is clear that our brains are teachable, trainable, plastic, moldable, and hypnosis and hypnotherapy are among the most effective methods for creating intentional permanent change for people.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy is not about being unconscious nor out of control. Hypnosis is about helping you gain the control, and be open to suggestions consistent with your goals. You absolutely retain complete choice over what you accept in the methods we teach.
Some other benefits of well done hypnosis and hypnotherapy include:1. You learning to gain greater accessibility to your inner conscious mind–the true gold mine of personal achievement.2. Learning self-hypnosis for your daily benefit.3. Becoming more conscious so that you have greater choice to make better decisions.4. Hypnotherapy helps you see options and open yourself to perspectives and new beliefs you never realized you could access, have or be.5. Hypnosis occurs while in deep relaxation (which most people could benefit from learning).6. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy most often are an experience called “being in the alpha state” [8-13Hz], ie., when our brain wave frequency is slower than when awake [13+Hz], but faster than when we’re asleep [<4 Hz].7. Hypnosis will not make you divulge information that you would not want to share. That is why, although hypnosis and hypnotherapy can be extremely helpful, the findings from this experience are not accepted by a court of law.8. Since all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, you retain choice anytime you choose to, and cannot be made to do anything against your will–even in the state of hypnosis or hypnotherapy.
The question is never really whether or not you can be hypnotized, because we are all already hypnotized or programmed from our environment, society, school, family, and our own exposure to ideas and choices we make (both consciously and unconsciously). The better question is what is your experience of hypnosis or hypnotherapy? This depends a lot on how effective your hypnotherapist is for you.
Another way of looking at it is not can you be hypnotized, but are you willing to be trained to be un-hypnotised from your own self hypnosis so that you can learn to become the person you want to be instead of continuing to react to old programs and patterns that do not serve you.
What most people think hypnosis is comes from a lack of studying the subject seriously, and from being influenced by centuries of images from television and movies and misinformation coupled with the fear and misunderstanding that someone can control you. Really ask yourself the following question to set this straight: “How effective are people at making you do something you really do not want to do?” Probably, not really effective at all. We all have a mind of our own.
Remember, if you ever go to a hypnotist or hypnotherapist and they are suggesting ideas that are not in your best interest….you have the ability to simply leave and find a new hypnotherapist that is in alignment with helping you achieve your goals (not their idea of what your goal is). This is why a good hypnotherapist will always give you a good interview to get to know you well enough to really be able to help you and not just guess (those guessing hypnotists and hypnotherapists typically have a poor success rate…so don’t waste your money or your time on them).
Hypnosis or hypnotherapy is not magic, although some people think of it that way because they get the results they often been looking for their whole life…freedom from unhelpful patterns and unconscious habits. Hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and hypnotism is a process; not the snap of a finger or a whirling “mind controlling” piece of machinery that mounted on the wall above you. Hypnosis is a state of mind we go in and out of every day; a natural state and one that you have choice in at all times.
However, we can be easily influenced if we are around someone who seems credible or knowledgeable about a subject. Or, if we want something to be true, we might be “gullible”. These are common human examples of self-hypnosis in that we accept these influences from others, including the news, the media in general, our own “best friend” and family members, to name a few. But, that’s why we have a conscious mind to ask questions and to verify information. That’s where most people don’t use the choice that is available to them.
If fact, we even mis-perceive or make up stuff in our own mind, often inaccurately or as a projection onto others instead of it being reality. Haven’t you, too, been mistakenly accused of doing something that you didn’t do by someone who merely “thought” you did?
The problem humanity has is that we all have a mind of our own. We just don’t know how it works, and therefore, we are unable to use our mind the fullest extent for our own benefit or those around us. At Hypnosis Institute International School, you will learn how your mind works and how to work it better; how to be more conscious, more aware, and therefore, more at choice and creative for your own well being.
Once you understand how your mind works, you can use it as a tool any way you choose to. It is your mind! It is your tool.
With hypnosis and hypnotherapy, practice and exposure to new options (make sure you go to someone who records the hypnosis or new programming that you want and need to reinforce your new patterning–it will save you money and get you to your goal faster)…Repetition is the mother of learning. Well done hypnosis and hypnotherapy includes these tools for you.
When learning hypnosis and hypnotherapy, or being helped by a certified and experienced hypnotherapist, it’s important that you connect with the right instructor for you. Think back in school on those perhaps rare occasions when you had a good teacher for your how you learned more easily and it was more fun, even if wasn’t always an easy class or subject. So, like anything else you want to learn or be helped with, it’s important to find a well trained, experienced hypnotist or hypnotherapist to help you effectively and efficiently and gently to find new and helpful ways of thinking and behaving.
Do not get caught up in the illusion that you should be able to figure everything out for yourself. The reality is that no one comes into the world with an instruction booklet on how to use our greatest asset, our own mind, for our greatest benefit. Brain and behavioral research has begun to open our eyes to significant understanding on the workings of our mind. That’s why education, hypnosis and hypnotherapy can be so effective, so fast, and help us move along when just trying to figure it out on our own and not making much headway doesn’t work.
Often people who come in for hypnotherapy tell me that they know what their problem is, but they are powerless to make it go away. That’s because the “problem or pattern” is in the subconscious. That’s why hypnosis and hypnotherapy is effective; that’s the area that we help transform.
If you are looking to achieve greater happiness, success, health, peace of mind, prosperity, love, joy, creativity, and effectiveness in life, hypnosis and hypnotherapy may be what you’ve been looking for, and a wonderful way to not only help yourself, but help others live the life they deserve.
What issues can be addressed by hypnosis?
Addictions: smoking, alcohol, drugs, shopping, sex, negativity, and more. Allergies. Creativity. Unconscious or Conscious Blocks. Anger/Irritability/Temper. Worry/Anxiety/Phobias/Fears. Bed Wetting. Nail Biting. Thumb Sucking. Hair pulling. Teeth grinding. TMJ. Learning challenges/poor concentration/Memory/Recall/Test Anxiety. Sales performance. Confidence/Low self esteem/Self sabotage/Shyness. Negative self talk/criticism/self doubt/insecurities/poor attitude/shame. Insomnia. Nightmares. Intimacy/Sexual/Relationship issues. Performance issues. Stress/tension/nervousness. High blood pressure. Sickness from cancer treatment. Pain. Phantom Pain Release. Stroke recovery. IBS. GERD. Headaches/Migraines. Fibromyalgia. Skin irritation/problems. Incontinence. Communication. Procrastination. Bad habits/lack of motivation. Perfectionism/Obsessive Compulsive. Sports enhancement. Work problems. Leadership challenges. Lack of energy. Dysfunctional patterns. Weight Loss. And more….Or… Ask Us About Your Personal Interest.
Will hypnosis cause me to do funny things?
Stage shows portray persons who were hypnotized doing a lot of crazy and silly things. People sometimes ask if that will happen to them. First of all, therapeutic hypnosis and hypnotherapy have a completely different purpose. So, the answer is: Absolutely not!
When a person volunteers to participate for hypnosis on stage in an entertainment show, the reason they follow the instructions of the hypnotist is that they have an unspoken contract to participate with the hypnotist. They already know that they are going to be asked to do a lot of silly things and they agree to that at some level of their mind. These same people would never come to our office to do such silly things. The come to get hypnosis and hypnotherapy to help themselves improve in the way they want/need to change for their greater good. If we were to suggest some silly thing, they would simply not respond to any of the suggestions which they had responded to when they were in the entertainment setting.
The understood purpose of the hypnosis and hypnotherapy in the individual’s mind always determines the type of responses that can be elicited. You can not be caused to do anything in hypnosis that you would not choose to do. And, of course, in an office setting all suggestions would pertain precisely to the goal of your becoming more and more competent in your desired purpose(s).
What does it feel like to be hypnotized?
Everyone has a slightly different subjective experience in hypnosis and hypnotherapy so I can only give you some of the common reports. Some persons liken hypnosis to the peaceful feeling they have just upon awakening on a morning when they don’t have to get up right away–fully aware of where they are and what’s going on but relaxed. In therapeutic hypnosis, we’re on purpose with their goals in mind, and they are participating and often discover origins of patterns that without the help of the hypnosis process, they could have never consciously been aware of, nor known what to do about it on their own, if they were. Most people report feeling very peaceful in the state of hypnosis.
As I’ve explained, although most individuals think that hypnosis should be more like the state of sleep itself where we are not consciously aware of anything, I teach my clients the science behind hypnosis so they know what to expect and aren’t getting in their own way by waiting to be asleep. (Remember, it’s really hard to learn when you’re asleep; so we do not actually want you to be asleep. And, because you aren’t asleep, you won’t be “waking up” from anything. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy is simply a very comfortable, natural state of mind we enter into and then fall back out of.
Everyone has their own experience in hypnosis. Some people experience a feel so relaxed as if they were just a ton of bricks that could move if they wanted to, but so comfortable that they don’t care to. Others report a light floating sensation. Breathing tends to slow down in hypnosis somewhat like it does when we sleep at night. There are a number of externally visible signs of hypnosis that a trained hypnotherapist is aware of.
At first, some people just get right into it; others who may not know what to expect, may be so analytical they they never reach that relaxed alpha state of hypnosis. That’s why I make sure that I give a thorough explanation of hypnosis and whey they can expect so they can just let themselves get into hypnosis and hypnotherapy right away. Most people, starting with the very first hypnosis process, enjoy a deeper quality of relaxation than they have ever had before in their entire lives and they will love it. In hypnosis, everyone has their own unique experience that’s perfect for them.
It’s important to learn that what most people have heard about the idea that the deeper you go into hypnosis, the better. That’s old, misinformation about what makes hypnosis effective. The point is, it’s about following the hypnotists instructions and just letting yourself participate. Your imagination is your most powerful tool and a good hypnotist or hypnotherapist will help you use it to your benefit to retrain your neurological pathways to help you attain more appropriate responses to life. Remember, going to sleep will not help you much in terms of learning. In other words, “deep” hypnosis isn’t necessarily better hypnosis. You need only a light to medium state of hypnosis to bring about positive behavioral change. More importantly, in hypnosis, it is the nature of the subconscious mind to respond more easily and more rapidly with each repetition of response. Before you know it, you will be conditioned to be able to enter into hypnosis “just like that” whenever you so desire. Soon you will cease to ask yourself the question, “Was I hypnotized?” and instead just ask yourself the right question. “What does hypnosis feel like to me?”
The question is not “Can I be hypnotized ?”, but rather “Can I be un-hypnotized from my own hypnosis ?”.
What really happens in the mind during hypnosis?
Let’s take the mystery out of hypnosis. It is a completely natural state of mind. Although you may not have been formally hypnotized before, you have experienced this state of mind countless times, daily in fact. You’ll understand that better when you know what it is that really happens in your mind during hypnosis.
For the moment, imagine dividing your mind into two parts. One is the conscious mind, those things you are fully aware of and focusing on at any given moment, and the second is the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind works like a giant tape recorder. Every experience we’ve recorded in our lives is stored there. Of course it would be too much trivia to be constantly aware of so you can think of it as a filing system that is accessible to us through hypnosis and other methods.
The subconscious mind also controls those bodily functions over which we do not need to exercise conscious control like heart rate, breathing, digestion, and so forth. You can, with learning and practice, gain the ability to bring many of these involuntary bodily functions under your voluntary control and this will be valuable in your dealing with specific physical issues.
Habits are controlled in the subconscious mind and this is of major importance to us. The subconscious mind is also the seat of emotions and since certain emotional connections trigger mental and behavioral responses, you need to be able to gain access to the subconscious mind in order to effectively change those responses.
Imagine, if you will, a filter, screen or network which lies over the subconscious mind. I will call it the critical factor. You can think of it as a kind of protective mechanism so that every single thing we are exposed to does not become accepted as truth by the subconscious mind and become acted upon. In hypnosis we are purposely bypassing the critical factor of the mind so that ideas which are beneficial to us can make a deep and lasting impression on the subconscious mind. The critical factor of the mind merely becomes less active through a variety of methods, but it never disappears. It is simply less active and it will return to full activity should any suggestion be made which your mind does not deem to be in your best interest. You are not a blank slate in hypnosis and you will not accept just any suggestion presented.
Think about sometime when you were watching a sad movie and maybe you were crying or at least feeling some emotions coming up. The critical factor was still active enough that you knew it was just a movie and yet it wasn’t bombarding you with interfering thoughts like, “Why are you crying? This lady is not dead. You saw her on live TV this morning.” And yet, if your partner asks if you want some popcorn you can turn and respond and then instantly return to the movie and be right back into it again. We go into and out of our subconscious mind all day long. Every time we are involved in some creative endeavor, every time we daydream, every time we get wrapped up in our emotions, every time we drive along in our car and suddenly realize we don’t remember the last mile we drove, every time we are feeling our emotions or acting out of some previously formed habit, we are in our subconscious mind.
It is estimated that we spend between 50 and 80% of our waking hours in our subconscious mind. I like to remind people that when we enter into that state of mind we call hypnosis that we are not going into uncharted territory where no human has ever set foot before. It is a common and completely natural state of mind that we have all experienced countless times before, we just didn’t call it hypnosis.
How do I know if I can even be hypnotized?
Since hypnosis is a completely natural state of mind, there is no such thing as a person who cannot be hypnotized as long as they have the willingness and ability to learn. A thorough explanation of hypnosis and the careful instruction in reaching that wonderful state of relaxation takes place early on in the work we do together. Remember, it is a natural ability of the human mind and you will find it extremely relaxing and enjoyable.
Will I know what is going on during hypnosis?
Absolutely! Hypnosis has nothing to do with being asleep or unconscious in any way. You hear everything, remember everything, and know exactly what’s going on the entire time. You are always aware and at choice.
Hypnosis Institute International School and Center for Developing Mastery offers hypnosis, hypnotherapy, coaching and education to help you positively take back control and effectively make the changes you want to succeed in life, to set yourself free to flourish on your chosen path.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy can be dynamically powerful to help individuals in many ways including stop smoking, lose weight, anxiety and phobias, procrastination, increase motivation, improve self esteem and confidence, focus and memory, health, realize your Full Potential Highest Self with the dynamic Covington Method that includes a unique and customized combination process of hypnosis, hypnotherapy, coaching and education. Discover our unique, fast, effective, long lasting effects of hypnosis and hypnotherapy and how the can be achieved with Jane Ann Covington’s results focused methods and techniques.
Hypnosis Institute International School
3495 Piedmont Rd NE, Building 12, Suite 112
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 442-8700 Toll Free (800) 927-9618 email: info@HypnosisInstitute.com
Mailing Address: Hypnosis Institute, PO Box 52785, Atlanta, GA 30355
