This was a great question asked by someone on Quora and this is how I answered it:
Having been hypnotized myriads of times both in the clinical setting and on the stage of a few stage hypnotists I can tell you the following:
- There are responses that allow one to know that one is hypnotized. A clinical hypnotist will tell you what those are so that you know that you have been hypnotized. Some of these symptoms are swallowing a lot more than usual, pulse and heart rate slowing down, circular breathing from the diaphragm, eyes will flutter, the hypnotist will be looking for the lines in your lips to be less deep, a slight color change in your face to a bit redder. (Some hypnotists will give their clients convincers like sticking their feet to the floor unable to move them to prove to the client they were indeed hypnotized).
- The client may feel like they are heavy or lighter, sometimes one feels tingles in their fingers and/or toes, and time feels much quicker than it actually is.
- It is much easier to gain access to the subconscious material that needs to be found and worked with while one is in the hypnotic state which is why it is used.
- The work goes a lot quicker than conventional talk therapy because we are working. in the subconscious mind where the transformations need to happen.
- In stage shows one realizes that the suggestion may not be real, however, the volunteer acts as if that suggestion is real. i.e. A suggestion given that a man is pregnant and giving birth – the man knows that he isn’t pregnant, but will act out the suggestion as if he is a good hypnotic subject.
- Stage hypnotists have to be very good at discerning the volunteers who are actually hypnotized and those that may be pretending which they can tell by giving suggestions and seeing how the volunteer responds along with the above-given symptoms of hypnosis.
- Mostly, when one is in treatment with a hypnotist who knows how to use the tools and techniques well, one can go to those hard places in one’s memory and transform it quickly to let go of that which no longer works and create thinking that does work better for the client.
I have been practicing hypnotism for the past 20 years and my clients have reported that this was the one way they found to clear out their issues when everything else they tried failed. It is important to find a hypnotist who has proven that they are able to help people with the issues that they have so that you receive the results that you are employing them to help you get. Because the reality of the situation is that no one can heal another – all we as the practitioner can do is facilitate another’s healing to the point that they allow us to. This means that we have to know everything that is bothering our clients so we can help free them of the issues.
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About Suzanne
Suzanne Kellner-Zinck founded Dawning Visions Hypnosis in 2002, She has become an innovator in the use of hypnotism and neuro-linguistic programming in the areas of obsessive compulsive disorders such as: eating disorders, sexual addiction and substance abuse as well as working with those with anxiety and mood disorders.
Her clients have come to work with her from across the United States and as far away as Africa to help them to finally be freed from these emotional issues that once ruled their lives. Today she is in the process of bringing her work to many more in the form of ebooks and other downloadable formats.
She is a member of American Holistic Medical Association and the American College for Advancement in Medicine.
Prior to founding Dawning Visions Hypnosis, Kellner-Zinck worked within vendor programs for the mentally ill working to help them to live up to their fullest potential. Many of her previous clients were able to move out on their own and find fulfilling work.
Kellner-Zinck is a Certified Trainer of Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic programing through Tad James Company, Inc. and a Master Hypnotist and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming through Advanced Neuro Dynamics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and political studies from Curry College.
Dawning Visions Hypnosis is teaching people that they can indeed leave their unwanted behaviors behind as they move forward to living fulfilling and joy filled lives.