Question of the week, and one almost everybody seems to have before they experience hypnosis:
Question: Can anyone and everyone be hypnotized?
Answer: Yes, as long as they want to be.
You cannot be hypnotized against your will and everyone can be hypnotized, as long as they are willing and able to focus and follow very simple instructions (close your eyes, take a gentle breath in, exhale, imagine walking down a forest path, etc.)
The myth believed by many that they “couldn’t” be hypnotized very simply reflects a misunderstanding of the state of hypnosis. Hypnosis is not a state in which we lose control of our mind, or place that control in the hands of another. Quite the opposite. In a state of hypnosis, we regain control of parts of our mind we have lost control over (addictions, self-sabotaging behaviors, negative automatic mechanisms, etc.)
Hypnosis is a natural state of deep physical, mental and emotional relaxation we all go in and out, through the course of our days, whenever we are deeply engrossed in a movie, a book or a study, when we are driving long distance, or whenever we are doing something automatically, without conscious effort.
While in hypnosis, we are not asleep or unconscious. We are not floating around the room, like they do on television. We can accept or reject anything. We cannot be made to do or say anything against our wish, will or ethics. We are fully aware of our surroundings and we remember everything. Hypnosis is neither a truth serum nor a state of amnesia. It can, however, produce temporary anesthesia to physical discomfort.
More simple facts about hypnosis here: Hypnosis in Portland, Oregon.
GENVIÈV ST. CLAIR, Fellow and Former President of the Oregon Hypnotherapy Association, is an award-winning Board Certified Instructor with the NGH.