Here are some questions to ask your potential practitioner so you can get the info you need to feel comfortable before committing to an appointment. Ask those that are most important to you.

1. “How long have you been doing this work?”

Maybe the fee is very low, you’d really like to give a newbie a chance, or you have outstanding rapport with this particular practitioner. Otherwise, don’t choose a rank beginner to hypnotize you on an issue of great importance. Choose someone with at least 2-3 years of solid experience or much more. If you can save on the fee, a beginner might be a good choice for issues like mild stress or a desire to relax more.

2. “Where were you trained/certified, when, and how many CEU’s (continuing-education units) do you take per year to update your skills in the field?”

Even if you don’t recognize the name of the certifying institution, at the very least, make sure it was not a quickie online training but substantial and in person. Ask how many hours of training s/he had.

Continual training keeps us updated on the field, teaches us new techniques and gives us many opportunities to practice them before using them with clients. It also gives us the chance to meet other practitioners, hear their ideas and fine tune our own.

As a client, you deserve to work with someone who continually re-educates herself and refines her techniques. You may also want to know where she was trained.

3. “My issue is (related to) ________. Have you worked with that?”

Many of us work frequently with dieters and people who want to stop biting their nails or start exercising. But for rarer issues, you’ll want to choose someone who has worked with at least a few clients needing similar assistance.

For instance, if you tell me your goal concerns the metaphysical, I’ll refer you to my colleague who revolves much of his practice around that subject, but if you are concerned with attracting the right person for you-or reliably quitting smoking -I’m a top choice.

The more experienced the practitioner, the more likely she can work with rarer, more elusive problems or desires-if there is no local expert on the subject.

4. “Would you tell me about your process?”

What is meant here is: how does this practitioner work? If you asked me about my process, I would reply begin by asking several important questions about the issue you’ve come to change:

What is it that you want or desire? If you achieved it, what would it give you or make possible for you? And in what other ways might it impact your life? How will you know (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually) that you have it?

A lot to think about, I know.

And after you take a moment to answer and digest some of that…

I’ll ask you if you’re truly willing to resolve the issue or create the thing you say you desire.

Because there are downsides–what might you lose?

When you meet with me for your first appointment, I’ll usually test to uncover which hypnosis methods seem best for you, tell you what to expect when hypnotized, and then begin the process.

I’ll remind you that it can be a very pleasant experience, often relaxing, and after answering your questions, I’ll request that you simply follow my directions, and allow yourself to drift into the hypnotic state.

Pay attention both to what the practitioner is saying and to how you feel conversing with her on the phone and during your appointment. Both are important. On a personal note, as a client, I would also want to get a sense of both ability and willingness to individualize to respond to my needs.

5. “How many sessions will it usually take to work on this?”

Your practitioner may not be able to give you a definitive answer because she doesn’t yet know your entire situation, but a range is useful.

For instance, in my experience, nail biting has often required as few as one session, and occasionally as many as three, but rarely more. Anxiety issues may involve more sessions, as multiple issues unfold during the process.

Please don’t hold the therapist prisoner to the exact number of sessions they estimate. As your needs unfold during the sessions this may need to be reassesed.

6. “How has your success been with this issue?”

You don’t need a statistical success rate, but more a feel for the level of experience and comfort in dealing with the subject.

7. “What is the cost? And how can I get the most from our sessions?”

Clients often make the mistake of choosing the practitioner with the lowest stated rate. Most of us like to save money. But the one who quotes $85 a session may be a far weaker choice that one who charges $145, and could take three times as long to get the job done, though not always.

One may prepare you to do further work on your own for reinforcement, while another may not teach you how to help yourself-costing more in the long run and encouraging less autonomy.

Location (office rental costs) and ongoing professional education can also impact cost. Experience and ability should count in the final analysis in addition to rapport and specific knowledge about your area of interest or need.

To get more from a session, arrive with a clear idea of what you want. Give a direct explanation of your issue as you see it, when it emerges, and what discomfort or negative results it causes. Express what you would want instead (i.e., confidence in social situations vs. nervousness or fear.) If the practitioner has useful insights that expand upon the issue you described-and they feel true-encourage her to add to the interpretation of the issue.

Ask questions if you don’t understand instructions given anytime during the session.

Keep every appointment or reschedule if you need to, with adequate notice. (Your practitioner will appreciate your respect and treat you with the same.)

Hypnosis is a way to empower, develop, and even re-create yourself. The right hypnotist can be a great guide and ally. These seven questions can help you find him or her. Enjoy the journey!

People often talk about the unconscious or subconscious, like it is something apart from us.  However your unconscious and subconscious is as much a part of you as your consciousness  and where one starts and the other ends is next impossible to define.  However hypnotherapists use models of  the mind to  allow us to explain  concepts easier.

Unconscious

Our unconscious can be thought of everything we were the moment we were born. We cried, our heart beats, we breathed we have a nervous system Hands clasp, eyes open . So the unconscious parts of our brain comprise of bodily functions that keep us alive which allows us to learn and interact from the world around us.

Conscious

We are aware we have a consciousness by the contrast of sleep. When we are asleep consciousness  isn’t there. When we are awake it is. Consciousness directs our attention to what is important to us at the present moment.  The work we are doing, the book we are reading, what we are looking at.   To be able to represent the present, consciousness  has to be able to distinguish between the past and future. So our consciousness operates linear, it is aware there is as a yesterday, today and tomorrow.  I once was a baby, I grew up and now here I am today an adult and I can look forward to tomorrow.

Sub-Conscious

We know we have subconscious processes because we dream and react automatically in many situations.e .g pressing down on the break at a red light.  The subconscious mind comprises everything we have learned, experienced   about our world from the moment we were born. It’s like a great big bowel of experience all sloshing about together. Our subconscious represents how we feel act and perceive situations, it is where our feelings come from and represents our personality.

The subconscious while learning new things also has to  ensure new information fits with the person you are now.

Our mind is constantly  bombarded by  information from the world around us, Family, friends, work colleagues, T.V internet, all telling us their opinions  about what we should be doing, thinking, and acting. If  we agreed with every new piece of information that came into our heads we would become very confused, and how we act and thought would dramatically change every day.

So our subconscious filters out the majority of the new information so we are not overwhelmed or, slots it into a preconceived basket about what the information means,  this then  gives stability to who we are as a person

This filter is comprised of perceptions, thoughts, and previous experience.  Hypnotherapists  call this function the critical faculty. It means that before we accept something new into our lives  it is compared against what has come before in our lives, if it fits we use it, if it doesn’t we tend to ignore it. A problem occurs when earlier experiences were perceived wrong in the past which then in turn affects a person negatively in the present. So when new thoughts are given they are not accepted.  For example a spider crawling over a baby when they are young and can’t move may be perceived as dangerous, however as an adult logically at a conscious level the person understands a little spider won’t hurt them however the old unconscious perceptions remains. This kind of flow on affect from misconception as a child to adults can affect our ability to have self confidence, feel loved, good about ourselves, create strong loving conne3ctions with other people.

Hypnosis is a process of bypassing this filtering process. So when statements are made they are readily accepted into the subconscious instead of being analysed and filtered by previous experience. Hypnosis is a means of updating old thought process that are outdated and  bringing alignment between current desires and  subconscious behaviours.

Step 1. Think of a symbol, word or object that represents what it is you want to achieve. For example, for more confidence a symbol may be a lion, or for relaxed and energized, running water.

Step 2. Say to yourself. ” I want to achieve(insert) and become fully alert after(5,10,15 minutes) opening my eyes and feeling great.

Step 3. To enter hypnosis, sit or lie down comfortably and allow your gaze to become a little fuzzy like it’s looking everywhere at once, and not on one thing in particular. Then notice one at a time three things you see. Then three things you hear. Then three things you feel.  Then repeat, but this time 2 things you see, hear and feel. And then one thing you see, hear and feel.

Step 4. Next close your eyes and notice one thing you can imagine seeing, one thing you can imagine hearing and one thing you can imagine feeling.  If you are not sure you are doing it right, it’s okay, just pretend you are doing it right. That is all that is needed. Then repeat, two things you can imagine, seeing, hearing, and feeling.

Step 5. Continue increasing the number of times you imagine seeing, hearing feeling sensations, and at a point in time your mind will simply give up and relax completely.

This may take a little practice but is a great way to introduce yourself to hypnosis.

Begin by concentrating on external sensations and steadily decreasing them. Then move onto internal sensations continually increasing the number. At some point you will slip into hypnosis.

START on the left side and work across.

FThat there is a part of your brain that goes about doing its thing without your conscious attention, like heart beating, giving you feelings about things, sad, happy, etc. Allows you to walk about, without having to concentrate on moving each leg individually etc. Great, so now that we agree there are both conscious and unconscious processes, lets continue.

One of the first key aspects to hypnosis is concentration.  If we are taking a leisurely walk through a park we may notice the sound of some birds, leaves on the ground, other people walking by, a dog playing, with a stick,  the pretty flowers around us, a butterfly on a flower. However, there is only so much incoming information we can handle at one time. So what has developed is the ability to concentrate on what is important to us to the exclusion of what is not important. So as we concentrate in on one thing, the less we notice the other things around us. We may find the butterfly  interesting and so we stop and concentrate on the colours of the butterfly,  and no longer notice the grass, people passing by etc. So one aspect of hypnosis is focusing in on one thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts.

To watch a fun demonstration of the above, watch the vido below, and count the number of passes the white team makes.

By focusing in one thing there is less to compare it against others. So if we concentrate on relaxation we no longer notice tension. If we focus in on the confident aspects of our personality we no longer notice the ‘weaker parts.

A second aspect of hypnosis is expectation. Expectation is that the body prepares itself for what will happen before it happens.  If a person says I am going to hit you, the body prepares to take the hit. Muscles tense, adrenalin gets released.  When you think about eating , even before you eat changes are occurring in your stomach, preparing for food. So the body and nervous system change before the event happens. And you can see from an evolutionary point of view this makes good sense. You want your body prepared and ready to run from the lion before it is actually is upon you. So the second part of hypnosis is what is expected to  happen, the body prepares for it to happen, and because it is then prepared, when the event occurs the body responds in the way it is prepared to respond . When people go up on a stage show a large part of why they act the way they do is because they have been told what will happen and so the mind and body prepares itself for it to happen and then it does.

Another part of hypnosis is imagination. When your eyes are closed your unconscious mind isn’t aware of the difference between what you imagine and reality. This is easy to understand because everyone has had a dream. If it is a nightmare you may wake up feeling scared, or flustered, sweating, or anxious. However what you dreamed wasn’t real, it was all ‘in your head’ and yet you reacted as if it were real. So anther part of hypnosis is using your imagination, to trick your subconious into believing a new reality about you and the way you act.

The more you learn about hypnosis the more intesting it becomes, and it then becomes exciting to think of the ways you can apply it to your life.

Hypnosis  can be traced back to the early day of religious practices and cultural sermons by different civilizations and cultures, and usually referred to as a trance. There is evidence that Egyptians, Greeks, Persians and Hindu’s all practiced trance like states.  The Egyptians were thought to have use hypnosis in the use of dream temples, and American Indians in the induction rituals of boys into manhood.  Priests or elders may have induced hypnotic states using rhythmical drumming and chanting and often the trance state was attributed to the possession of the person by demons, ghosts or spirits.

The 1600’s ushered in a time period where hypnotic inductions and beliefs were instilled upon people by healers such as Valintine Greatrakes (1628-1661) known as the Great Irish Stroker who believed himself to have been blessed with the divine gift of healing.  His nickname  was coined because with his hand he would gently stoke his patients body to cure the inflicted aliment.  Belief in himself and the belief of his patients in his healing abilities were all attributors to his phenomenal success. His healing abilities were thought to be the divine gift from god rather than a natural occurring human phenomenon.

In the 1700’s Western scientists began to take an interest in what was termed the trance state. Devils and gods were ruled out as a cause, but the alternative reasons were just as bizarre, with hypnotic induction attributed to metals, magnets and the transference of energies.

Dr. Franz Mesmer (1734-1815) formulated a method of rapidly inducing people into a trance state through the use of, magnets, hand movements and metal rods .   He attributed his ability to hypnotize people due to the stronger animal magnetism that resided inside himself over his subjects.

Mesmer accounts were soon to be discredited by the likes of Abe Faria, a Portuguese monk who put forth that a state of hypnosis was caused not by animal magnetism but by the intense concentration of the mind.  Abbe Faria thought the power of hypnotism worked by the cooperation of the patient and the use of suggestion.   Dr James Braid (1795-1860) from Scotland was the first to use the word hypnosis and put forward that hypnotism was induced by concentration.  He used bright shiny objects to focus the mind and sleep inducing words such as “sleep” to induce a hypnotic sleep. Dr Braid used hypnosis to perfrom hundreds of surgeries upon people, to diminish pain.

While the skills Dr James Braid developed may have been were tinkering on the brink of bringing a major advance to anesthesia in the medical world, penicillin also came about at the same time, and the use of hypnosis for pain control was sidelined.

As science has progressed so has our understanding of the hypnosis.  No longer do we believe that mystical spirits, magnets or unusual energies cause hypnosis, but that it is a natural state that can be induced by a hypnosis practitioner or by oneself with a little practise. And as the understanding of hypnosis increases so will its application in dealing with pain, self improvement and uses in a therapeutic environment.