Let me share with you here my own thoughts about suggestibility and hypnosis.
Can every client be hypnotized to a level when pain relief is achieved? Yes, if it is chronic pain.
But how about when an anesthesiologist needs to hypnotize a patient for a surgery because chemical anesthesia is not safe?
The truth is, though hypnosis is a condition of increased suggestibility, only small percentage of people are able to achieve a somnambulistic state of hypnosis which is required for complete anesthesia during a surgery.
So, it is not a hypnosis technique or a hypnotist that makes someone unable to feel pain during a surgery. It is a patient’s own ability to experience a level of hypnosis that is deep enough for painless surgery.
Almost every beginning hypnotist thinks that hypnosis is a condition where suggestions start working.
But in reality, most people can experience only light or maximum medium state of hypnosis. Does it mean that suggestions will not help a hypnotized person to stop smoking, reduce stress, or lose weight?
Well, it depends on a hypnotist’ rapport with a client in the first place. Also, it depends on client’s willingness to solve a problem.
A client with great suggestibility doesn’t need hypnosis.
The question now is: Does a hypnotist have to try to induce deepest hypnosis anyway?
Here is my honest answer: I usually spend a minute or less to help my client to relax and feel sleepy. Then I do a test for an eye catalepsy and arm catalepsy.
But all this is not a some method for achieving a deep state of hypnosis! It just tells me if my client is accepting my suggestions or resisting them.
After this I begin giving my client suggestions that I create according to my client’s specific problem.
Sooner or later my client can even start snoring, but of course, I don’t allow him or her to fall asleep.
Please be aware that even if your client is in hypnosis, the suggestions can become useless, if there is no rapport between you and your client in the first place.
As you now may understand, suggestibility can’t be easily increased to a level called somnambulism, if a person is not highly hypnotizable.
Suggestibility is more important than hypnosis
Hypnosis itself is a condition of a client’s brain activity that achieved by hypnotist’s suggestion.
So, instead of trying to hypnotize your client to a deepest level possible, you can skip this and start giving suggestions to your clients right from the beginning of a session.
Yes, you may think that it is possible to train your client to go under deep hypnosis almost instantly, but it takes time and effort and still be unsuccessful.
Today a consulting hypnotist has to work quickly and effectively, because a client often can’t afford coming to your office 7 days a week just to be trained to go deeper in hypnosis.
Also, it might looks like you want to offer the service that you client doesn’t need.
The truth is, a client can be a person who is not hypnotizable at all, but his or her ability to accept your suggestions is great.
In this case, I just ask my client to keep eyes closed and listen to me. Then I keep working without hypnosis and results are good.
There is no way to measure the level of your client’s suggestibility. Personally, I pay attention to my intuition. I don’t care if hypnosis is not there, I keep working with my client and trance can happen naturally by itself anyway.
But again, your suggestions are important, not hypnosis that usually is just a deep relaxation.
My name is Alexander Ivlev. I help consulting hypnotists increase income by improving service.