1.    Will I still be in control of myself?

This is what scares people the most. They are terrified that if they really submit to the relaxation of hypnosis and go fully into a 'trance-like state that they will no longer be in control of themselves. In fact, they believe that they will easily be controlled by the person that is hypnotizing them. However, be assured that you are still fully in control of yourself when you are hypnotized. You are still conscious, but your conscious mind is extremely relaxed. No one can take control of you and make you do stupid things while you’re hypnotized unless you allow it.

2.    Am I surrendering my free will if I get hypnotized?

Absolutely not. When you are in a 'hypnotic state' you are more aware and more focused on yourself then you are in a normal state. You are not giving up your free will or allowing anyone to turn you into a “zombie” that will do their bidding. Despite what you’ve seen in the movies, hypnosis doesn’t make you the slave of the person hypnotising you.

The person hypnotizing you also can’t make you fall in love or out of love with someone else, make you change any essential part of who you are, or do anything that you don’t want to do. You are in full possession of all your faculties throughout the hypnosis session and you are not under a “spell” or in any way under the direction of someone else. The things that you’ve seen in movies or in stage shows where people get “hypnotized” and run around acting like chickens or saying silly words on command is not real hypnosis. You will never do anything while you are hypnotized that you wouldn’t do under normal circumstances.

3. Can I be Hypnotised without my Consent?

This is another area of concern for a lot of people that don’t know a lot about hypnosis. You can put your mind to rest. No one can hypnotize you without your consent. It just plain won’t happen. Hypnosis isn’t magic. If you don’t want to be hypnotized,  you won’t enter a hypnotic state. The process of entering a hypnotic state takes some time because it will take time for your body and mind to reach the 'state" that is necessary for hypnosis. You can stop the hypnosis session at any time during that process if you’re not comfortable or if you don’t want to be hypnotized.

You’ve probably seen hypnosis done in movies or on TV where the person doing the hypnotizing snaps their fingers and the other person immediately falls into a trance and is incapable of doing anything but what they are told. That’s not how hypnosis works.

4.What happens if I can’t come out of hypnosis?

It’s physically impossible for that to happen because you are not unconscious at any point during the hypnosis. You will be in a different state but fully conscious and you can come out of that state any time you choose. You can also come out of that state when given a verbal cue by the hypnotherapist. Sometimes when you get the verbal cue to come out of your hypnosis you may not want to because what you are experiencing feels so good. When that happens, it may take you a few minutes to return to your normal awareness but that is only because you want to stay to continue enjoying the experience, not because you are being forced to stay in it or because you can’t come out of it on your own. You are always in control, even when you are deep in a hypnotic state.

5. Can I hypnotize myself?

You absolutely can hypnotize yourself. You will need to learn the proper way to do it but once you’ve had some instruction it’s very possible to hypnotize yourself. Some people prefer self-hypnosis because they don’t trust another person to hypnotize them and can’t relax enough to get into a true hypnotic state when someone else is around. You can also hypnotize yourself between sessions with a hypnotherapist if you feel you need a little extra relaxation.

When you’re using self-hypnosis though you aren’t getting the expertise and therapeutic help that you would be getting from a trained therapist so if you’re using hypnosis to help you deal with Anxiety, Depression, or psychological issues then you should probably see a professional therapist instead of relying on self- hypnosis.

6.    Does hypnosis work on children?

Yes, Hypnotherapy is often used to treat children that have behavioural disorders and children that have had traumatic events happen to them. Children have also been put into a hypnotic state in order to help police solve crimes in crimes where children have been attacked. Some Hypnotherapists have found that using hypnosis as a method of treating night terrors for children under 10 years old can be more effective than other treatments because putting the children in a deep hypnotic state before bed relaxes their brain enough that they don’t have night terrors. If your child is having night terrors and has not responded well to other treatments using hypnosis is an option, you should discuss with your doctor.

7.    Is hypnosis just New Age rubbish?

Lots of people are skeptical about hypnosis at first, but usually, that’s because they don’t have a good understanding of how hypnosis is used for medical and psychological treatments. Hypnosis is not some crazy New Age therapy. It’s a legitimate therapeutic technique that has been used with proven success to treat medical and psychological disorders in millions of people. Anyone can be treated with hypnosis, and in most cases, hypnosis is a very effective form of treatment for many different disorders. Hypnosis has a long history of being used to treat illness; it’s not a new or untested therapy.

8.    How many problems can I deal with at once using hypnosis?

Hypnosis isn’t a magic cure that will get rid of all of your problems at once. You will still need to address your medical and psychological problems one at a time, and over the course of several treatments, in order to see results. It’s possible that symptoms of one disorder that mimic symptoms of another disorder might go away with the symptoms of the other disorder but in general, you will need to tackle one problem at a time when you’re using hypnosis as a treatment.

9.    Do I need to see a clinical hypnotherapist more than once?

Yes, you will normally need more than one session with a hypnotherapist to solve your problem. Most people see noticeable results after just a few sessions so you might not need extensive hypnosis or months of treatment in order to eliminate your problem, but it will almost always take more than one session for you to see any kind of noticeable results.

10. Is hypnosis safe?

Hypnosis is perfectly safe. You are always in control of the situation and you are never unconscious. Unlike drug therapies, hypnosis has no possible side effects and in most people hypnosis always works, unlike drugs which may work or may not work depending on your body’s chemistry and what the disorder is. Hypnosis can safely treat the physical and mental aspects of common problems like addictions and can help you break your physical and emotional dependence on overeating, smoking, drinking, drama, anger, or any other destructive addition that you might have.