Myths and Misconceptions
Dispel myths to
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Educate clients, groups, the public.
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Allay fears.
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To get better responsiveness.
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Help the client to know clearly what to anticipate – building belief and expectation.
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Increase the reputable nature of hypnotherapy as a profession.
With a client
When educating the client about myths and misconceptions, ask them, “What myths or misconceptions are you familiar with concerning hypnosis?” or “Do you have any fears or concerns that you’d like to discuss?” Elicit the response from them and respond to what they said.
Educate
Your hypnotherapy is only as good as your trance, therefore educating your clients.
Special Powers
Myth #1:
A hypnotist is a person gifted with special, mystical, or unusual powers.
Fact:
A hypnotist is a human being without unusual or mystical powers. A well-trained hypnotist understands that the person hypnotizes himself. A hypnotist uses the effective delivery of suggestions to facilitate an altered state of mind and teaches the client to bring about or selfinduce the hypnotic state
Get Stuck
Myth #2:
A person may not be easily awakened and may remain in the hypnotic state for a long time or get “stuck” in this state.
Fact:
No one has remained indefinitely in a hypnotic state. The state can be terminated at will. It is as simple as opening the eyes. You cannot get stuck in hypnosis and not “wake up.”
Panacea
Myth #3:
Hypnosis affects a cure in just one or two sessions. It is a panacea.
Fact:
In many instances one or two sessions of hypnosis may enable a person to break a habit. However, in most cases it requires several sessions before a favorable result is obtained. – it is not a panacea (it cannot cure all human problems; and it cannot do it instantly.)
Most cannot be hypnotized
Myth #4:
Many people cannot be hypnotized.
Fact:
90% of all people can be hypnotized
Gullible
Myth #5:
Only the gullible or weak-minded can be hypnotized.
Fact:
It takes imagination and a willingness to cooperate and a willingness to accept suggestions. The more intelligent and imaginative the person the easier it is to hypnotize them. People who are gullible are easily deceived or duped. The truth is the more creative and intelligent a person is the easier it is to induce hypnosis. The more analytical and controlling a person is, the harder it is to induce hypnosis.
The best subject is a person who has a definite reason or motivation for wanting to be hypnotized.
Out of Control
Myth #6:
When in hypnosis you are out of control.
Fact:
You cannot be hypnotized against your will. You must “want” to be hypnotized for it to happen.
To be hypnotized
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You must want to be hypnotized.
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You must have confidence in the hypnotist.
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You must be willing to accept suggestion.
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You must be free from fear.
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You must be free from the need to be in control.
“Remove fear-the biggest block of all-and you’ll be able to hypnotize one hundred people out of a hundred.” – Dave Elman
Against one’s will
Myth #7:
A person could be made to do anything or say anything and is under the hypnotist’s control. They could be made to commit a crime or go against their moral principles.
Fact:
In hypnosis a person will not go against his or her moral principles. They will not commit an antisocial act. They have the power to select only the suggestions
they are willing to accept. They will reject any improper suggestions. They will never commit a crime or an illegal act.
You cannot be given a suggestion or posthypnotic suggestion to go against your moral principles.
Unconscious
Myth #8:
Hypnosis is sleep, an unconscious state and when hypnotized a person is not aware of his surroundings.
Fact:
In hypnosis awareness is increased. If a person falls asleep, they that person is not in hypnosis. In hypnosis you are aware of everything that is going on around you. Hypnosis might resemble sleep, yet it is not sleep, and is in fact a state of expanded awareness. You are fully aware of what is being said to you when in hypnosis and can reject any suggestion that is given to you at any time.
The ego never totally dissociates when in hypnosis. The ego is present when in hypnosis and therefore you would never act outside of your moral principles.
The senses are generally enhanced (hyper-acuity) when a person is in the hypnotic state. They hear any sounds in the general area and are quite aware of what is going on. Quite often they are more aware and not less aware.
“I am not here to put people to sleep, I am here to assist in waking them up.”
The need for depth
Myth #9:
A person must be deeply hypnotized to be helped.
Fact:
You do not need to be in a deep state of hypnosis to benefit from it. Beneficial results can come from taking suggestions while in a light trance.
Unnatural
Myth #10:
Hypnosis is unnatural and artificial.
Fact:
Hypnosis is a natural yet altered state of mind.
Only Relaxation
Myth #11:
Hypnosis is merely relaxation and nothing more.
Fact:
You can be relaxed and yet not be hypnotized – and you can be hypnotized and not be relaxed. Relaxation is only one aspect of one kind of trance.
Cataleptic
Myth #12:
Hypnosis is catalepsy and a person cannot move when in that state.
Fact:
Catalepsy can occur in or out of trance and is not hypnosis in and of itself. The apparently “catatonic” state known as the hypnotic coma is not an unconscious or cataleptic state but is such a state of profound relaxation that the person does not want to move, think, or speak. However, participants are fully conscious and can terminate the state anytime they want to.
Eyes Closed
Myth #13:
The eyes must be closed for hypnosis to be present.
Fact:
Closing the eyes does not imply hypnosis. The eyes can be opened in a hypnotic state.
Brainwashing
Myth #14:
Hypnosis is brainwashing.
Fact:
Brainwashing – The American Heritage Dictionary defines Brainwashing as “Intensive, forcible indoctrination, usually political or religious, aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs.” Brainwashing involves an altered state where some form of deprivation is present. A hypnotist cannot make someone do something that they would not do normally and empowers the client to access this state and to make their own positive changes.
Stronger and Weaker Souls
Myth #15:
Hypnosis is a surrender of one’s will to the hypnotist. It is one “stronger soul” having power over a “weaker soul,” where the hypnotic subject is under the power of the hypnotist.
Fact:
A hypnotist does not have power over another person. Modern hypnosis uses the word “in” when describing hypnosis, in that a person is “in” a hypnotic state. Modern hypnosis does not use the word “under” as if the hypnotic subject is “under” the power of the hypnotist. This old model has been found to be untrue. In modern hypnotherapy both the hypnotist and the client are seen as equals where the hypnotist facilitates process but does not control it.
Clients resolve their issues from their own inner resources – i.e., from their own subconscious mind.
The hypnotherapist is a “facilitator.”
Truth Serum
Myth #16:
Hypnosis is truth serum. A person could be made to say anything, reveal secrets, or say embarrassing things.
Fact:
You can lie in hypnosis. You can edit and withhold information in hypnosis. You do not have to reveal secrets. When hypnotized, you will not do anything against your will. You can reject any suggestion that is given to you. A client will never divulge or do anything that he or she would not say or do in a regular waking state.
Anti- Religious
Myth #17:
Hypnosis is anti-religious.
Fact:
There are no religious connotations associated with hypnosis.
Repressed Memories
Myth #18:
When hypnotized repressed memories of trauma always emerge
Fact:
Hypnosis can be used to uncover repressed memories, but the hypnotic state itself does not, by default, bring them to the surface. A client will never see something that he or she is not ready to see, and such memories will only come up if the client and/or the hypnotist intend to bring them up.
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