Hypnosis Methodologies
and Effects

Hypnosis General Methods

The act of inducing a hypnotic state is referred to as an induction procedure. There is no current consensus on what the requirements are for an induction procedure to be effective; while some practitioners use simple calming verbal techniques, others use complex triggers, including mechanical devices

Many experienced hypnotists claim that they can hypnotize almost anyone. They also claim it is a myth that people with strong will power cannot be hypnotized, as they claim these generally make the best

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Hypnosis, in general, is a psychological situation wherein an individual shows signs of changes in the behavior, thought, or attitude. On the other hand, some people may undergo an increase in suggestibility and subjective feelings of an "altered state of consciousness". The hypnosis applications varied widely. Some of the people include the use of hypnosis for entertainment and health functions. Hypnosis is not a type of therapy. Most of... [More...]
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participants. This is based on the idea that those who are most intelligent are also the most creative and as such they will make strong associations with the structure of language used by the hypnotist and by the visual or auditory representations inside of their mind. On the other hand, there is a common claim that no one can really be hypnotized against his or her will. The counter-claim given by many hypnotists is that while you cannot make someone do anything against their will, you can change what it is that they wish to do.

Many religious and cultural rituals contain many similarities with techniques used for hypnotic induction and induce similar states in their participants.

Hypnosis General Effects

Focused attention

This school of thought holds that hypnosis as a state is very similar to other states of extreme concentration, where a person becomes oblivious to his or her surroundings while lost in thought. Often suggested as an example is when a driver suddenly finds himself much further down the road without any memory of driving the intervening distance, or when

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Highway hypnosis is a mental state in which the person can drive an automobile in a great distance, responding to external events in the expected manner. In this state, the consciousness is clearly divided between the driving task and the person's thoughts on several concerns. Based upon the theory of Ernest Hilgard, the highway hypnosis was developed in a stream consciousness. According to the theory, highway hypnosis... [More...]
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a person is watching television and focuses so intently on the program that he or she ceases to be aware of the sides of the screen.

The act of hypnotizing, is, in effect, the act of manually inducing a similar state (See, for example, general information on the ASCH website).

Suggestibility

Psychologists have produced controversial studies that seem to show a strong correlation between the ease of putting someone in a state of hypnosis and their level of suggestibility.

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Hypnosis does not have the exact process compared to meditation and relaxation. In the process of meditation or relaxation, the goal is to have a more relax and meditative stage. This process can affect the body and mind in a better way. What makes hypnosis different is that getting into the meditative state of mind and later on the hypnotic process will use the state of mind... [More...]
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Some of these studies have produced the Harvard scale, Stanford scale, and eye-roll test; all of which are supposed to predict how easily a person can be put in a hypnotized state.

Hypnosis has further been described as "The suspension of the critical factor" which expands on the idea of "increased suggestibility". A person who claims to be hypnotized may accept statements as true that he or she would normally reject.

For example, when told "you have forgotten your name," the subject in a normal state would react with disbelief, but under hypnosis people have claimed that they have, indeed, forgotten their own names.

It often appears as if the hypnotized participant accepts the authority of the hypnotist over his or her own experience. When asked after the conclusion of such a session, some participants appear to be genuinely unable to recall the incident, while others say that they had known the hypnotist was wrong but at the time it had seemed

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Hypnotherapy is a process of influential communication. The therapy assists the patient how to achieve and establish the strength of therapeutic associations. It can also serve as the framework for collaborative and mutually responsive relationship. Hypnotherapy has the procedure that involves medical process that helps the patient how to relax. There are cases that hypnotherapy is applied in order to construct attention awareness but in a calm feelings. ---... [More...]
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easier just to go along with his instructions. Richard Feynman describes this in his memoir Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! as his own experience under hypnosis.) The mechanism of this effect is however disputed: Some hypnotists would claim that this showed the difference between a deep and a shallow hypnotic trance, while skeptics would question the validity of this conclusion, citing that such effects can be duplicated in other circumstances where an agent holds authority, such as the Milgram experiment, and suggest that unreliability in results discredits a scientific theory of hypnosis.

Hypnosis Judgment

Some believe that hypnosis can affect the subject's judgment and therefore could potentially cause them harm. In the hand of a "professional" seeking to promote the subject's welfare, those of this opinion believe, hypnosis can produce profound effects and be a complement to treatment. Some of those who believe in hypnosis believe that in most

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Autosuggestion more popularly called as autogenous training is a process wherein the subject trains the part of subconscious mind. Normally it is being performed because the subject wants to create some particulars inside the mind. Some people want to practice autosuggestion training because they want to schematize their mental level for a given purpose. Acceptance of autosuggestions may be quickened through mental visualization of what the individual would like... [More...]
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cases one can resist hypnosis if one is aware of it. However, some of those who hold this belief also believe in brainwashing and/or mind control and believe that when hypnotism takes place in the context of these, resisting hypnosis is far more difficult. These beliefs are not generally based on scientific evidence, as there is no scientific consensus on whether mind control even exists, let alone whether it is more difficult to resist hypnotism in the context of this unverified theoretical construct.

Abreaction

Some psychologists and other mental health professionals are concerned that practitioners of hypnosis might evoke intense emotions in their clients that they are untrained to handle. These abreactions might occur when spontaneously or purposefully recalling traumatic events or, some believe, spontaneous mental breakdowns.

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There are some association of psychologist and other mental health professionals who are concerned about hypnotherapy. According to them, there are practitioners of hypnotherapy that can promote rapid emotion on patient. The therapy cannot support a spontaneous or purposely traumatic event. Some believe that hypnotherapy can trigger a serious mental breakdown. The American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association have both cautioned against the therapy in... [More...]