First of all, let me quickly explain my credentials.
I have been a hypnotherapist for 26 years and, even to my embarrassment, I have done a reasonable amount of presentation hypnosis to the public, including hallucination hypnosis and manipulating the subject’s mind. I am the principal and director of The Robert Shields College and I have been teaching hypnotherapists since 1986. I am now studying on the Internet.
Below are short examples of the two forms of hypnosis procedure that I am thinking about: stage hypnosis: is a display of the ability of certain people to use hypnosis as an opportunity to be a focus of attention for a non-critical crowd. This is also a way for a declared hypnotist to hit his own ego and give the false illusion that he is all powerful and in complete charge over the individuals I have just mentioned.
Hypnotherapy: on the other hand, a hypnotherapist is an adult who, for some reason, typically because of a desire within his or her personality, assists other individuals in need of therapeutic support. A hypnotherapist should be well versed in both the legal application of hypnosis and practical understanding in psychology, all of which are intended to help his client lead a happier life.
Mechanics How can a stage hypnotist manage to manipulate his subjects? For address that we need to be aware of what’s really going on a few hours before and after his results.
Below are the techniques that are usually followed before the hypnotist does the following: 1. Before the hypnotist came on stage, he must have received a great deal of ‘good and complimentary’ advertising. There will also be a fee for the entry to his act, the higher the better. Reasons are that advertising sets up the illusion of a influential figure, that then a fee is charged, it’s an unconscious way to say, ‘I accept the publicity.’ In reality, those individuals who know that they are hypnotizable are actively hoping to be, and will inevitably be, hypnotized.
- On the actual night, the crowd is waiting to build up the ‘expectancy’ even further. Usually, the owners of the business will continue to note that the hypnotist will come later in the evening. That is in a manner close to setting up a T.V. Show when the floor manager and several well-known comedians are training the crowd a few minutes before the show. It is also standard practice for the use of alcohol to be used to ‘shake up inhibitions’ by being available at least a few hours before the show.
- The arrival of the hypnotist is going to be a sound of tremendous cheering – bringing up hopes again and generating anticipation. The personal costume of the hypnotist is typically black to give the ‘mystical’ look and offer the illusion of strength. If the artist is well known, this is not strictly necessary.
- The hypnotist would then speak to the crowd and persuade them that he is the strong figure they were hoping, who has the mysterious hypnotic abilities required of him. Usually speaking requires personal testimonials about his skills.
- Well, now to the results. The hypnotist must also administer a variety of ‘suggestibility checks’ to assess who is particularly persuasive in the crowd. The experiments are designed to create a limited number of individuals who respond readily to advice and who are therefore able to persuade themselves that they can be hypnotized or eager to do stupid things on the basis that they have no influence of their acts because they are hypnotized.
- Suggestion assessments are diverse and various, an example of which is the ‘mouth grip’ test.
a. The crowd is ‘asked’ to stand up (those who do respond to an order (a suggestion) to do so) and then raise their arms out in front of them. We are then told to bring their hands together, intertwining their fingers (the hypnotist must show that the instructions are followed just as important).
a. The crowd is then told that as the hypnotist counts up to a given amount, the hands should be bound together (this is replicated at least three times in keeping with the ‘rules of suggestion’) so on the final amount the hypnotist would challenge the viewer to ‘want’ (this phrase ‘suggests’ that they cannot) to unclasp their hands. The harder they push (this is another rule of advice – ‘the more you try, the easier it is’) the worse it is, and they’ll find out they can’t unplug their hands, no matter how hard they seek. (Think of the ‘strong ropewalker.’ The beginner is going to try too hard and crash, while the seasoned walker just takes it easy and succeeds) 7. Because it is understood that about 25% of the population is strongly provocative, there will be a variety of people in each crowd who will not be able to unclasp their hands. Often a number, often very little.
- Many individuals who cannot unclasp their hands are told to stay standing (this is to guarantee that the hypnotist does not lose track of them and allows him to observe the ‘exhibitionists’ among them). Another recommendation is made to encourage them to unclasp their hands, usually by actually asking them to loosen their hands, and with a phrase like ‘now’ they will be able to unclasp their hands. The explanation their hands are clasped together is that they are tensed and the simple act of relaxing allows them to unclasp, but the viewer assumes that it is the influence of the hypnotist at work.
- Often the hypnotist may do another ‘suggestibility test’ to reduce the number of potential subjects. This is primarily achieved for wide crowds.
- The hypnotist would instead ‘invite’ those people who are standing to go to the stage to sit on chairs that are still in a line behind the hypnotist. The chairs may have already served as a strong warning, because the crowd must have noticed them and ‘expected’ members of the public to sit in them and be hypnotized.
11.-11. All in the crowd who welcome the invitation are, in turn, granting the hypnotist permission to do whatever he wishes with them because they know what to do.
However, there will also be those who claim to be hypnotized or who actually try to make a mockery of a hypnotist in front of their friends. Yet a competent hypnotist will be well aware of that and look for signs that will root out those trouble makers.
For eg, he could have a stooge in the crowd who might subtly point out to him who’s misbehaving behind his back. Or, another potential indication is that the crowd laughs at something that’s going on that the hypnotist doesn’t understand. And, following the course of the audience’s heads, they’re going to tell him who’s going to cause him trouble and steel the limelight. Such citizens are immediately told to return to their seats in the crowd.
And on the show. The hypnotist would then perform his act pretending to hypnotize at will to get his participants to do funny, but harmless acts in front of the crowd.
It should be remembered that NOBODY can respond to any sort of Advice that is Offensive or against its MORAL CONVICTIONS!
No stage hypnotist should endanger his integrity by implying to someone that he should object to doing so. Of starters, it would be very dangerous to propose to an attractive woman that she would literally strip off her clothing. Sure, there are people who would happily do it in front of the crowd, but the hypnotist would not learn, and would thus resist the idea.
You will also note that faith is never used in the success of the stage hypnotist.
This can also be remembered that there are a limited number of people in every crowd who will be able to go on stage and do dumb things to make a laugh. Go to every holiday party, and you’ll see artists calling members of the crowd to the stage and making them do dumb things. Each crowd has clowns, and the stage is the ideal place for them, with or without hypnosis as an excuse.
Genuine Hypnosis or No!
And the volunteers on stage are almost hypnotized. The reaction to this is ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ Many of them are in such a deep coma that they are actually hypnotized. Such audiences usually don’t recall what they did right after the series, but recall as time goes by. (Of course, some people who don’t recall pretend they don’t because they want to ‘mop up their tracks’ around friends and family).
Others are not going to be hypnotized, but pretend they are.
I had a series once, and one lady was definitely under hypnosis, while there was a guy who was clearly not. The hypnotist only got a few laughs from the woman and made good use of the guy because he was able to do about anything to get a chuckle.
It should be remembered that an ethical hypnotist will still create normality in his subjects at the conclusion of his work, whether or not he finds it appropriate.
Okay, enough for stage hypnosis and now for hypnotherapy.
Now for the dull section of the post.
What is a hypnotherapist doing? He or she allows people to lead a regular, healthy life. The definition of ‘natural’ needs to be left to you, because it’s natural if you choose to live your life.
A hypnotherapist should be qualified both in the use and use of hypnosis and in the use of psychotherapy to psychology.
Effective hypnotherapists have at their fingertips an arsenal of strategies and therapies. The value of treating each customer as an adult with his or her own unique traits, life experiences and, most notably, ‘a way of coping with problems’ cannot be stressed enough.
Hypnotherapists are there to help, not make a person feel dumb. A loving, compassionate and patient is an essential prerequisite for any hypnotherapist.