Ask The Hypnotherapist

What is creative visualization? Is it the same as hypnosis or is there a difference?

Creative visualisation is using your imagination to visualise the fulfilment of a particular goal. Once a goal is visualised vividly enough, the subconscious mind will strive to achieve this goal by influencing the decisions and choices that you make. Creative visualisation is one technique amongst many that hypnotherapists use for therapeutic purposes. In the 1920’s Napoleon Hill advocated the use of this technique to attract wealth – literally by visualising already having it. This technique is still advocated by many self help authors, and it forms the basis for the ‘law of attraction’, and a major part of Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling book and film ‘The Secret’.

Are there any situations or reasons why someone shouldn’t be hypnotized?

People who do not want to be hypnotized should not treated. Sometimes a person may be pushed too much by a well meaning friend or family member to undergo a particular therapy. The problem is that if they don’t want to be treated, then their minds can easily reject all the suggestions that are given. You can only treat someone who wants to be treated. Any attempt to force it is a waste of everyone’s time. So if for example someone came to me for smoking cessation because their wife made them, I would probably turn them away and ask them to return if or when they decided for themselves that they wanted this treatment.

It is commonly thought that hypnotherapists should not treat people who are suffering from mental illnesses. However there is no research or indeed adequate explanations ever given as to why this is the case. This old ‘sacred cow’ seems to be slowly eroding, and more and more therapists are beginning to treat patients who suffer from various mental illnesses, particularly depression. As far as I am aware, no problems have been reported.

I would however stop at treating people for serious traumatic problems, such as sexual abuse. This is because I believe it takes special specific training for a therapist to deal with such matters, and any therapy given without adequate training may be ineffective and a waste of everyone’s time, and could even risk further traumatising the patient.

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Do you teach workshops on hypnosis or self hypnosis?

I have in the past, but haven’t done for some time. I often teach some of my patients self hypnosis at the end of a course of treatment, so that they can better look after themselves without being too dependant on a therapist.

Are there any questions I can ask a hypnotherapist to make sure they are competent and qualified?

Probably the best thing you can ask them is where they were trained. If in doubt you can even ask to see their qualifications. It is also a good idea to check the validity of their training. You could do an internet search on the body or school that taught them to make sure they are known and credible. As a general rule, I would personally avoid hypnotherapists that trained purely on distance learning courses. A competent and well trained hypnotherapist should learn both theory and practically, which can only really be done in live learning situations.
Why do some hypnotists use a swinging watch or pendulum?

Not that many hypnotherapists use swinging watches but some still do. The reason is to gain eye fatigue, so that the subject will comfortably close their eyes, and feel relaxed very quickly as they will not want to open their eyes. Hypnotherapists these days tend to use different methods to achieve the same thing, such as asking a subject to stare at a moving spiral or a spot on the ceiling. Some hypnotherapists and particularly stage hypnotists still use a swinging watch in order to fulfil the expectation of the subject, as people sometimes expect this, and may feel that they cannot be hypnotized without it.

Please CLICK HERE To Check Out My BIG Collection Of Therapeutic Hypnosis MP3s

I’ve seen on your blog that you’re working on a self hypnosis course. Is there any word on when you will be releasing it?

Yes it is true I am currently working on a self hypnosis course. I’m aiming to make a course that includes audio tuition to teach anyone how to hypnotize themselves. I will also include directions on how to do specific therapies, and also teach various techniques in order to allow you to treat just about anything. This will save those that regularly use hypnosis some money, and will also allow you to better understand your own mind and stand on your own two feet.

It’s difficult to say exactly when it will be finished because I am one of those annoying perfectionists who won’t release anything until he is completely happy with it. Hopefully it will be finished in the next 3 or 4 weeks, but this depends on how well it does when I go to the testing phase. I already have several people who know very little about hypnosis, willing to try it out for me and I will get their feedback. When it will be finished is largely down to the results of this test, as more work may be required should certain criticisms be flagged.
Recently I’ve been looking into training to become a hypnotherapist. How long did it take you to fully qualify? I’ve seen some courses that say they only take a month but this seems a little quick to me.

Yes, a month does seem a little quick, but I suppose if it was done full time with very experienced teachers, then it is possible. I spent 2 years studying with the London College Of Clinical Hypnotherapy before becoming a fully qualified hypnotherapist. However you never stop learning, and I’ve probably learnt a lot more since then.

You need to get ‘hands on’ learning in my humble opinion. So if this course is a distance learning course, then forget it. It is really difficult to learn hypnosis this way, especially in such a short time frame. If it is a condensed course that you must attend every day, then it is just about possible, but I would avoid this way of learning. Usually the faster you learn something, the faster you also forget it!

I have decided to use hypnotherapy to help me quit smoking. Should I tell my doctor about this since I have high blood pressure?

If ever you are ever in any doubt, then contact your doctor before using hypnotherapy. While hypnotherapy is a safe and effective means of treatment, it is only a complimentary therapy, meaning that traditional medical care must take precedence. I would never for example recommend using hypnotherapy in place of any medicines prescribed by your doctor.

You will probably find that the hypnotherapy itself will help lower your high blood pressure, regardless of what it is aiming to treat, since it is great for relaxation, plus not smoking will also help. But as I said before, if in any doubts then better contact your doctor.

Which MP3 on HypnoBusters would you recommend for someone who is just dipping their toes in the water?

By saying ‘dipping your toes in the water’ I presume you mean just wanting to try it out for the first time. Actually its funny that you say the words ‘dipping your toes in the water’. The Swimming With Dolphins session is an excellent general relaxation session that would help you ‘dip your toes in the water’, in fact dip all of you in the water! The Super Relaxation Session would also be good for this. These sessions don’t aim for any specific therapy, they just aim to give you a nice relaxing experience, which can have positive knock on effects in many areas of your life and health. Both these sessions would make an excellent introduction to hypnotherapy.

Is there a certain moment during the process where you definitely know you have been hypnotized?

I wouldn’t say that there was an exact moment when someone enters into a hypnotic trance, as it is gradual change in state, rather than sudden. There are also different depths of trance that can be achieved. A very light trance state can be induced relatively quickly, within seconds of eye closure, whereas deeper levels may take several minutes to achieve.

Clinical hypnotherapists are trained to spot certain signs that a subject is in a trance. These include a flattening and smoothing of the facial features (which is why the Hypnotic Botox session works so well), slower deeper breathing, and occasional swallowing of saliva.

As a hypnotherapist how would you deal with a client who wishes to recover from the grief of their significant other passing away? For example is their any particular method or suggestions you would use?

How this would be treated would depend on the type of grief the client was suffering from. Sometimes people suffer from prolonged grief because they had something unresolved with the deceased person. They may have had an argument or just simply did not have enough time for them around the time before they passed away, and feel that they have sometime unfinished business that cannot be resolved. For this type of problem I have had success with guiding the subject to imagine having a conversation with the deceased and just talking to them or apologising, or saying or doing whatever it is that they need to. This can be done in the privacy of their own minds and they can choose whether or not they wish to share what happened with me the therapist. People usually report that they feel much better after their experience and can now let them go.

Sometimes people just simply struggle to accept that the person is dead and will not return. I may have to work on showing them that the person is no longer around and will never be, and instead focus their mind on the great times they had, and their memories of that person.

Is it possible for someone to lie while being spoke to while they are hypnotized?

Indeed it is very possible to lie when in a trance. You can easily choose what to keep to yourself with your normal discretion. This is why I knew that Uri Gellar was not being entirely truthful when he claimed that he hypnotized Michael Jackson and asked him if he had ever abused children. He claimed that Michael Jackson said ’no’, and that he was fully convinced that he was telling the truth because he said so when in a hypnotic trance. Jackson may well have been innocent, but this does not prove it as it is very possible to lie in trance. I suspect that Uri Gellar was being well meaning and trying to clear his friend’s name.

In fact if anything a person is probably more likely to tell mistruths when in trance, which is why testimonies whilst in trance are not accepted by courts. Whilst in a trance a persons mind becomes more creative and their imagination more vivid. Sometimes they can have difficulty differentiated between fantasy and reality and mistruths can come out.

Are there any little hypnosis tricks you use to impress people or as a part piece?

I tend to shy away from this and leave it to the stage and street hypnotists to entertain. However I have been known to occasionally demonstrate hypnotizing animals such as cats and dogs. A party piece I sometimes perform is to use covert hypnosis and subtly suggest to someone something, such as a number or an object, then pretend to read their mind and tell them what they are thinking, rather in the style of Derren Brown.

Are you planning to sell your self hypnosis course on HypnoBusters or will you open up a new site for it?

Although nothing has been definitely decided, we will probably do both! This product is different from most of our other products as it is an instructional course and it contains several audios and written pieces, so it may be better placed on a separate site. However like I said, nothing has been definitely decided yet.

What does it feel like to be hypnotized? Also what does it feel like immediately after?

This does depend on the person and how deep the trance is. Commonly a person in a light and even medium trance is still quite aware of what is being said and what is going on if need be, although they may not be focussing on these things if they don’t wish to. This is rather like being deeply engrossed in a book or movie. Things may go on around you that you are not really aware of, but you can easily snap out of it if a situation demands it.

After coming out of a trance, a person often feels like everything is a little surreal and dreamy for a minute or two. They may also feel a little cold due to their heart rate being slower than usual.

These are just generalities. Like I said before, it does vary from person to person, but nearly everyone reports a very pleasant experience.

I saw on your twitter that you were making a hypnosis PLR pack. Where has this been made available?

This is true, it is totally free and you can sell or use the material. The PLR pack is quite big, around 200 MB so we have hosted it on our own server. It’s available at the link bellow, download it now because it won’t be there forever.

http://www.warriorforum.com/make-money-online/216348-ultimate-hypnosis-private-label-rights-pack-free-200mb-mp3s-videos-articles-themes-more.html#post2135911

The PLR pack contains 4 MP3s, 2 videos, 65 articles, an eBook, 5 WordPress themes and 5 HTML templates.

These are yours to use in a business sense, or as a consumer if you wish. You can give them as a bonus, or even sell any of these. There is material to help you build a website. All we ask is that you don’t edit the brief mentions of HypnoBusters. That’s all we want in return, a little bit of publicity. You can definitely make some money from this.

How much does a hypnotherapist typically charge for a live session?

This can vary a lot depending on the geographical location, experience, and the generosity of the hypnotherapist. It is usually not cheap if you hire a good hypnotherapist. They are professionals with many years of learning and experience. I will testify that it is quite expensive to train as a hypnotherapist. It costs a lot of time and money to properly train as a clinical hypnotherapist. Think what you pay a dentist, or even a plumber per hour.

However I do realise that some people do struggle paying for hypnosis treatment, which is one of the reasons why I have created these affordable MP3 sessions on HypnoBusters.

Would it be safe to listen to one of your hypnosis recordings while I take a bath or could this be dangerous?

I would personally avoid listening to them in the bath, but not because of the dangers of being in trance in the bath. You are more likely to fall asleep when in trance, which could have some dangers whilst in the bath. You could also damage whatever it is that you are listening to the session on, and it may even damage you! If you must listen to them in the bath, then make the bath shallower than usual, and make sure that whatever it is that you are using to play the sessions on is safe.

Do you plan to keep adding more hypnosis MP3s and scripts?

Yes I plan to keep updating our collection of MP3s and scripts and give our visitors more choice of sessions. We get a lot of requests for various sessions, so we are slowly working our way through them. What I don’t want to do though is simply churn the sessions out like some hypnosis sites appear to do. I want each and every session to be as good as it possibly can be.