Top 8 Common Hypnosis Misconceptions:
Hypnosis Misconception #1: I can’t be hypnotized.
If you can follow simple instructions, like “Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine the number of doors in your home,” you can hypnotized. As long as your IQ is above 40, you’re willing to be hypnotized, and you don’t have fears about hypnosis, you CAN be hypnotized. It’s that simple.
Hypnosis Misconception #2: You can hear only your hypnotist speaking.
You can actually hear everything that goes on around you. You are fully conscious when you’re hypnotized and there is no “selective hearing”. Therefore, you can hear the therapist’s voice, traffic, or any other noise that you would hear if you weren’t hypnotized.
Hypnosis Misconception #3: You won’t remember anything that happened while in hypnosis.
When you are hypnotized, you don’t suffer from amnesia. You will be able to remember your entire hypnosis session, from beginning to end.
Hypnosis Misconception #4: I’ll be “out of it” or asleep during hypnosis.
You don’t become unconscious when you’re hypnotized. You’re always alert. You can hear and remember everything that takes place in the room. It feels more like focused day-dreaming.
Hypnosis Misconception #5: Hypnosis an altered state of mind control.
Hypnosis is just a state of focused mental attention and physical relaxation. Being hypnotized is similar to daydreaming. It’s not a strange and crazy state that allows you to hallucinate in any way.
Many people have experienced hypnosis while driving. If you’ve ever been driving and then missed your exit daydreaming, and wonder who’s been driving the car the last couple of miles – that’s a similar state to hypnosis.
Hypnosis Misconception #6: You reveal personal secrets in hypnosis.
This is incorrect… Hypnosis does not make you tell the truth, unless you consciously decide to reveal a secret. You’re always in full control of everything you do, think or say while in hypnosis. If this is something you would normally lie about, you can also lie under hypnosis.
Hypnosis Misconception #7: You can get “stuck” in hypnosis.
It’s impossible to “get stuck” in the hypnotized state. There has never been any documented case of a person remaining hypnotized. You will not cluck like a chicken if someone telephones you in the middle of the night and rings a bell, unless you want to.
Hypnosis misconception #8: You’re “under the hypnotist’s control” during hypnosis.
You may have seen some comedy stage hypnosis shows with people acting like chickens or other crazy things, but that’s totally different from hypnosis used in a therapeutic context.