The key to this law is repetition. Whenever a thought and/or ideas are repeated over and over, they tend to realise themselves. They become the reality of the individual. In other words, repeating suggestions over and over is an important part of making them more effective. During an induction, the classic use of this law would be by saying the words ‘relaxed’ or ‘relaxing’ many times during the process.

2. The law of reversed effect

This law states that effort is inversely related to success. It is far more effective and effortless to use your imagination than to try to force your mind to recall information and skills. Using the imagination of the client is an extremely powerful tool for the hypnotist. When the imagination is engaged repeatedly using the visual, kinesthetic and auditory elements of the mind, these thoughts become real to the thinker and they will make the imagination come true through their own belief, regardless of whether the thoughts are constructive or destructive.

Therefore, stimulating the imagination with images, symbols, metaphors, music, interesting words and feelings is vital in hypnosis.

What are the common misunderstandings of hypnosis?

Misconceptions

The subject is asleep
The subject surrenders his/her will
Only the weak-minded can be hypnotised
Deep secrets will be revealed under hypnosis
That one may not be able to come out of the hypnosis
The notion that if you are hypnotisable then you are gullible
Hypnotists need to have powerful personalities

Facts about hypnosis

Hypnosis is not sleep, it is a state of heightened awareness or profound and relaxed concentration.
The subject does not surrender their will. The hypnotist does not dominate subjects. The subject will not act in conflict with his/her values.
The more intelligent subjects are, the more hypnotisable they are.
Subjects have full awareness in hypnosis and are even capable of telling lies in this state. Their secrets are safe.
Patients can readily de-hypnotise themselves, as all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Even from the deepest of hypnosis the patient may move from hypnosis to sleep and then awaken naturally themselves.
The subject’s ability to discriminate remains intact whilst under hypnosis.
Hypnotists need to be skilful rather than powerful. The power lies in the rapport created combined with language timing and other skills. All personalities may be effective hypnotists

How does religion view hypnosis?

A summary of their respective points of view is listed below. From this reading one is able to deduce that most, if not all, religions use hypnosis in some form or other - they merely give it another label.

The Catholic Church

IIt is not immoral to use hypnosis. The intent of the operator is the factor that determines if hypnosis is a sin or not a sin. It is not related to the occult. It seems that many Catholics are not aware of this opinion of the Church.

Buddhism

Some of their techniques are similar to hypnotherapy techniques, e.g. the use of KOANS are a form of misdirection or metaphor. The Buddhist view is not critical of hypnosis.

Judaism

Kavanah can be related to being similar in state to that of self-hypnosis and a very important part of Jewish prayer and understanding. The nature of prayer in all religions is very close to autohypnosis. In the Old Testament the hypnotic disassociated self was recognised in its own right.

Christian Science

Condemned as ‘the mortal mind’ and the effect of illusion and so in error. God is the source, not the unconscious mind.

Seventh Day Adventists

Say that hypnosis is immoral and unethical according to their beliefs. They do, however, accept it as valid if performed by a medical practitioner. They say it deprives humans of their free will.

What is the Placebo Effect?

The concept may be medically defined as medicines given to please the patient that have no drug value, only potential psychological value. Placebo may be described as ‘faith’ or ‘unquestioning belief’. The role of the placebo effect is now recognised in drug therapy

The placebo effect has been the one constant in medicine over the centuries. The physician is still the most important therapeutic agent because it is the confidence and the faith placed in him by the patient that gives rise to the placebo effect. The placebo effect comes from the patient’s use (unconsciously) of his or her own imagination.

The factors affecting the placebo are not only the suggestive effects of prescribing the drug but also the spontaneous recoveries that naturally occur. You may argue that the patient, through faith in the drug, opens up vast unconscious resources of self healing, thereby amplifying the placebo effect. The effect of drugs is helped or hindered by their popularity

Today, modern drugs need to prove that they are statistically more effective than placebo’s given in controlled environments. This fact alone underwrites the power and acceptance of this powerful effect.

The placebo effect and hypnosis differ in two ways. These are:

1. Healing in hypnosis requires belief in the validity of the induction, which may be associated with the power of the hypnotist.

2. Cortical (logic) inhibition is common in hypnosis but not in placebo administration.

Hypnosis and placebo are not the same thing, although similar in some ways.

Why does hypnotherapy/hypnosis sometimes fail?

The reasons for failure include:

• Lack of rapport
• Poor operator skills
• Resistance from the clients
• Client is too young
• Client has been forced to come to see you
• Poor choice of change work by the operator
• The client will not take responsibility, i.e. a very strong external frame blaming others and the environment
• Language barriers
• The environment is not conducive to hypnosis and therapeutic work
• The client is under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Hypnosis is contra-indicated
• Hypnosis is not a panacea

What are the differences between Stage Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy?

Stage Hypnosis Versus Clinical Hypnosis

Performance to entertain versus Therapeutic Inductions are common
Selects the best candidates versus Available to people who want it
No history established versus Detailed client history established
Unknown outcome versus A planned outcome
No choice with suggestions versus Client can choose/construct their own suggestions
May be no debriefing versus Always a debriefing
Controlling and authoritative versus Educational and helpful

What is a post-hypnotic suggestion?

The purpose of post-hypnotic cues and suggestions are to facilitate you to change or improve your behaviour when you are out of hypnosis i.e. during the normal course of your life. The principles that link the changes to your behaviour are summarised as follows:

Post- hypnotic suggestion and cues

- create a trigger to the desired action out of hypnosis
- act as powerful extension of hypnotic work
- act as a link into your unconscious mind and memories
- create associations between events and your response
- reinforce desired states of mind
- should be personalized for you and the situation
- must cascade and build suggestions upon each other
- repetition is important and effective and creates new habits

Examples of these applications are:

To help you induce a hypnotic state more quickly and easily
To help you relax within normally stressful environments
To trigger a new behaviour, like eating appropriately
To trigger confidence when required

How will I know when I have achieved self hypnosis?

There are three clues of achieving self -hypnosis

1. Experiencing the physical nature of being totally relaxed, like being totally loose and limp with an internal focus (this excludes or reduces awareness of outside events)
2. When your body or parts of your body feel numb, almost paralysed; or perhaps a tingly feeling, cool or warm.
3. When time seems to distort in either direction

What is catalepsy?

Catalepsy may be described as the loss of motion in the entire, or any part of, the human body. Catalepsy can also be described, in the hypnotic context, as the consequence of suggestion on the muscles. The range of consequences of effective suggestions may be limited to the smallest muscle group i.e. the eyes or extended to the entire body. This consequential effect may include not being able to open your eyes through to not being able to move your feet; or perhaps your arm levitating or perhaps the body becoming extremely stiff. The limbs remain in almost any position they are placed in, and may be manipulated in a wax-like manner.

The use of catalepsy in experimental hypnosis may include the following:

To create conviction and belief in the subject that they are hypnotised. One of the more common tests of catalepsy is the suggestion that the subject cannot open their eyes. Once this eyelid catalepsy has been achieved then the operator may assume that the subject will follow all other instructions. Complete cooperation by the subject is essential.

As a measure of the depth of hypnosis that the subject has attained, limpness of limbs is an effective tool. The common application of limb limpness is to lift the subject’s arm at the wrist and drop their arm into their lap. The more loose and floppy the arm is, the greater the state of relaxation and hypnosis.

Arm catalepsy, where the arm and hand is stretched out and seems fixed in front of the subject, is also a useful indicator of hypnosis.

Therefore the main application of catalepsy in experimental hypnosis seems to be as a key indicator of the depth of hypnosis that the subject has attained. Catalepsy generally indicates a light to medium state of hypnosis. This then precedes deepening techniques that the operator may wish to use.