Can you be hypnotised?
I've heard a great many people say that they cannot be hypnotised. Most say it triumphantly, like it's a badge of honour, a few say it with regret. But is it true? Are there people who cannot "be hypnotised"?
In a sense none of us can be hypnotised, as a state of hypnosis is not something that can really be imposed on any of us. It is something we willingly (if subconsciously) enter into, either as part of a therapy experience, in the cause of entertainment or even during our daily lives.
It's that last category that most surprises the "cannot be hypnotised" brigade because I can almost guarantee that everyone reading this has been in a self-imposed state of hypnosis on one or more occasion over the last few days.
Have you travelled to work along a well-used route and found yourself unable to remember the details of that specific journey after it has finished. Have you found yourself unable to remember locking the door when leaving home? Have you spent time sitting in a garden staring at the flowers or resting in a comfortable chair listening to music and been surprised at how much time has passed? All of these situations, and hundreds others like them, have something in common; the conscious mind has been able to take a break and allow the subconscious to take over, either because the task is so routine and familiar or because the setting is so comforting and relaxing that the conscious mind knows that it doesn't have to pay close attention.
That state of relaxation is what hypnotherapists are aiming for when they take a client through the induction and deepening stages of a hypnotherapy session. Getting your conscious mind to take a back seat so they can talk to the subconscious and, occasionally, the subconscious can talk back.
But it's important, very important, to note that when the therapist is talking to the subconscious they are still talking to you. Just a part of you that doesn't often get addressed directly, without the filter of the conscious mind.
The therapist cannot persuade the subconscious to adopt a course of action that you, as a whole, are not comfortable with. You (the whole you) are always in control and, at any time, you have the power to come out of the state of hypnosis.
Anyone who wants to experience a state of hypnosis can do so, with varying degrees of effort and after varying amounts of time. Part of a hypnotherapist's job is to find the route into that state that works best for you, choosing from a vast range of possible approaches to draw up scripts for induction and deepening which work best for you.
