Learning the Basics
Choose an area of hypnosis to study according to your goals. All hypnosis involves the same basic education, but each type of hypnosis has a different aim and focus. You need to tweak your practice to be good at hypnotherapy instead of performance hypnotism, for instance. The field you choose also determines what outside skills you need. To help others overcome fears and achieve goals, hypnotherapy is the way to go. You will need to know how to speak to patients and guide them during practice. For performances, look into street or stage hypnosis. Street hypnosis requires you to talk quickly and sound convincing. Performers often work in front of larger audiences, sometimes hypnotizing many people at a time. Study self-hypnosis if you’re into self-improvement. It is a lot like hypnotherapy, but you guide your own conscious attention to fall into a trance.
Study direct hypnotic suggestions for more straightforward work. Direct suggestions are the traditional way hypnotism is used, so you have probably seen it in movies or on TV. In this method, you tell a subject what to do through direct commands. If this sounds like ordering someone around, you've got an accurate idea of how direct suggestions work. Many street performers use direct commands. Watch them and you will see how forceful they sound. The downside is that not everyone responds well to forceful commands. Examples of direct suggestions are, “You feel your fingers tingling” and, “You will cluck like a chicken when I snap my fingers.”
Master indirect suggestions for more conversation-based hypnosis. Indirect suggestions involve a lot of metaphors and story-telling. The process is a lot more drawn out than direct suggestions. You need to build a rapport with the other person, defusing their conscious attention to catch their unconscious mind off-guard. This method is newer and often works well on people who don't benefit from direct suggestions. An indirect suggestion is something like, “You might feel yourself relaxing now. As you go deeper into the trance, I wonder if you feel your body lightening.” For an example of story-telling, read Milton H. Erickson’s “my friend John” induction. He offers suggestions by describing what his friend John would do, like relaxing in a chair and losing track of time.
Read books and articles about the field of hypnotism you wish to study. Jump online or go to your local bookstore or library to find out what hypnosis is all about. Search for terms like “hypnotherapy” and “indirect hypnotic suggestions.” There are plenty of training academies, professionals, and related websites out there with in-depth information about how hypnosis works. Use these sources to get a better understanding of the fundamentals before you buy anything. Some good resources to try include the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis and the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. For books, look for Hypnotic Induction and Suggestion and Manual for Self-Hypnosis by D. Corydon Hammond, Trancework by Michael Yapko, and Hypnotherapy by Milton Erickson.
Watch videos to study how hypnotists behave in front of subjects. There are no better resources for studying street performances than live videos. They are available on both practitioner websites and video-sharing websites. Use these videos to learn some basic techniques and master the tone of voice required to put someone into a trance. Practitioner videos on hypnotherapy are a lot less common than performance work due to privacy issues. You will find videos from practitioners describing their techniques or working with volunteer clients.
Take a live training course to become a more effective hypnotist. Live sessions have way more to offer than books and videos. At a live session, you meet with a professional for hands-on training. You may even get a chance to practice what you have learned on volunteers or other students. To find training courses, read about training organizations and practicing hypnotists online. Find one you like that fits your goals. Also, check your area’s community events for potential opportunities. Many people offer training, but not all of them are legitimate. Type the person’s name into an online search engine. Look for credentials like certification from a training institution, written work, and user reviews. Take the time to form connections at training courses. Keep in touch with the instructor, if possible, to increase your education.
Practice hypnotism as often as possible. Hypnotism is a skill, and like any other skill, you improve through practice. Start out by hypnotising yourself with a few practices like controlled breathing and meditation. Then, practice with willing friends, families, or other practitioners. You may be able to get certified through a week of classes. This means you know the technique, but you still need to get real-world experience in order to perfect it.
Mastering a Hypnotic Routine
Gain the other person’s attention with a story or task. Before you can put someone in a hypnotic trance, you need to get their attention. Find a way to engage them. Many hypnotherapists do this through conversation or by having the subject look at an image. Another easy way to do this is by asking someone to close their eyes. For example, a way to do an induction, which is bringing someone into a quick trance, is to make them focus on their palm. You bring their palm up in front of them, then move their hand towards them as they stare at it. People go into trance-like states every day. You do this when you’re meditating, focused on your favorite song or when you don’t remember driving home.
Reach the person’s unconscious mind with a story. Your unconscious mind is the part you don’t control and it becomes accessible once your conscious focus is distracted. Many practitioners do this by telling a story with a lot of powerful images and descriptions. Your goal is to get your subject to relax, tuning into the story so they fall into a trance. For example, start out by saying, “Close your eyes and relax. As you relax, imagine yourself on a calm beach. Your muscles become loose as you relax.” Words like “relax” and “imagine” are considered powerful words that conjure up strong images to engage your subject’s conscious focus. Keep the images relatively vague to so the other person stays focused on the image. They probably aren’t imagining a fiery, pink beach, so the image draws them out of the trance state.
Watch for your subject’s body to relax. Monitor your subject for some subtle cues showing they are in a relaxed state. Many people stop fidgeting and their breathing slows down. Look for their pupils to dilate or their muscles to grow limp. If you’re hypnotising yourself, notice when you feel loose and relaxed. Your breathing will feel slow and steady as well. Getting someone into a relaxed state isn’t always easy or foolproof. Some people are less suggestible than others. Keep trying to capture their attention or work quickly if they’re in a semi-relaxed state.
Direct the person’s behavior by describing a meaningful scene. This is when hypnotists suggest ways for their subjects to act. The easiest way to establish a suggestion is by continuing the scene you created while bringing the person into a trance. Pick a behavior you want them to learn, then repeat it a few times as you describe the scene. For example, say, “Focus on my voice. As you relax into the trance, imagine an enjoyable day at the beach. As you relax, you notice the color of the water. Relax more deeply as you feel the sand between your toes. You relax and feel more optimistic.” The scene needs to be meaningful to the subject. For instance, describe gaming or gardening if those are relevant interests. A beach scene isn’t helpful if you never go to the beach.
Tell the subject to move again so they exit the trance. End the trance with a final command. Try counting to 3, instructing the subject to open their eyes once you reach 3. Before you begin counting, tell them they will feel relaxed and revitalized when they open their eyes. Then, end the trance and see the results yourself. Other ways to break trances include telling someone to open their eyes, move parts of their body, or suggesting that waking up is safe and their body feels completely normal. Counting and open your eyes also works for bringing yourself out of a self-induced trance.
Improving Your Practice
Work in a quiet environment to eliminate distractions. No matter who you’re hypnotising, a successful session depends on capturing the subject’s attention. Distractions draw focus away from you. When someone focuses on a loud noise or moving, they aren’t listening to you speak and will be less likely to reach a trance state. This applies to self-hypnosis as well. You’re going to have a hard time reaching a relaxed state with the TV on, your phone buzzing, and the dogs barking. Street or stage hypnotists create a quiet atmosphere by drawing eyes to themselves. With practice, they learn how to do this even in public. For example, the hypnotist may describe a beautiful scene or have you do a simple task like join your hands together.
Ask for permission before hypnotizing others. Hypnotism must only be performed on willing participants. For hypnotherapists, consent also involves discovering what a client needs to gain from the session. Then, you tailor your session to suit the client’s needs. For example, some common goals for hypnotherapy are quitting smoking, gaining confidence, and achieving goals. With performance hypnotism, you need consent, but you don’t need to spend time discussing the session. Your goal is to get someone to do something like lock their hands together, not work through deep personal issues.
Speak in a strong voice with confidence. Hypnotism is all about convincing people. If you don’t sound convincing, do not expect someone else to believe what you’re saying. Describe scenes with clear, crisp language and offer suggestions with authority. For example, when using a direct suggestion, you say, “You will feel happy and positive when you wake up.”
Master keywords that make hypnotic suggestions effective. Read up about hypnotic language and find words to adapt in your practice. In particular, look for “power” words or “hot” words that pack plenty of emotion. By bringing up strong emotions in a subject, you engage their unconscious mind more, leading to more effective hypnotism. Some powerful words are “imagine,” “you,” and “because.” When you’re describing a scene to draw a subject’s focus, use these words to make the image more vivid. Choose words that pack a descriptive punch. Phrases like “beautiful lake” and “strong mountain” are a few examples. Keep them vague so you don’t interrupt trance states.
Simplify your practice for speedy public performances. Street and stage hypnotists need to get audience members into a trance very quickly. After you master the basic techniques, work on simplifying them to move quickly from inducing a trance state to suggesting an action and ending the trance. Performers often are in environments with lots of distractions, so dragging out the hypnotism increases the likelihood of it being unsuccessful. They perform hypnotisms in 60 seconds or less. For quick hypnotism, approach the other person with energy. Use concise sentences to induce the trance, deepen it, then provide the hypnotic suggestion before ending it.
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