They still exist: people who believe that hypnosis is not real, or that it is a paranormal activity. However, decades ago it was scientifically proven that hypnosis not only exists, but is also very effective in achieving all kinds of different goals. Thanks to the hypnosis course, you too can learn what exactly this fascinating state entails.
This way you can not only learn to act, but also get a taste of our courses in debate and presentation techniques (our TV course), communication, singing, improvisation, physical acting, lie detection, hypnosis, directing, or writing! Of course, it remains true: the more you follow one particular course, the faster you progress. You can take both live and online lessons.
'Enlightenment is always preceded by confusion.'
Milton H. Erickson
What is hypnosis?
To understand hypnosis, think of sunlight; that is diffuse and falls somewhat everywhere. However, if you bundle light through a number of crystals, you turn it into a laser beam. Hypnosis does the same with your attention. It is usually focused on several things at the same time. This way you not only see what is directly in front of you, but you also notice things to the left and right, in your peripheral vision. However, when you focus yourself and focus your attention on one point, you can achieve a hypnotic state.
Our brains
In the past, people who talked about hypnosis mainly talked about the two brain hemispheres. The left hemisphere controls the right part of the body (except the ears), the right hemisphere controls the left part of our body.
Moreover, it has often been claimed that our logical thinking (including arithmetic) and our language are mainly located in the left hemisphere of the brain, and our creativity in our right hemisphere. However, this is only partially true. The reality is a lot more complex, and other parts of the brain often take over when a certain part is damaged.
In ancient texts - and unfortunately often also in more modern writings - you often read that hypnosis additionally activates the right hemisphere of the brain. During brain scans we can indeed see that a different pattern emerges than when one is asleep or awake.
However, the investigation into what exactly is going on is by no means complete. What we can say with certainty is that the brain usually works as if what is suggested is actually registered, as opposed to what happens when one simply imagines something! Numerous experiments (often with PET scans, such as the experiment by Henry Szechtman of McMaster University in Ontario in 1998, or the pain reduction experiment of Pierre Rainville of the University of Montreal a year earlier) have already shown this.
Brain experiments give us a good example of why hypnosis is so effective in (among other things) pain relief. For example, during a well-known experiment, subjects were confronted with pain stimuli of different intensities. They had to report how much pain they were in while their brain activity was also recorded.
The subjective experience of pain of the same intensity differed enormously from subject to subject, but the activated brain area during the pain experience was especially interesting: after all, this was an area responsible for memory and experience! How strongly you experience pain is therefore largely related to the way you deal with it and not only to the objective intensity!
You will never do anything you don't want to do
The above statement is also largely correct, but it must be qualified somewhat. A particularly small portion of the population—perhaps about one percent—seems to reach a state labeled “stuporous.” These people seem to do just about anything asked.
However, we believe that this has nothing to do with a bad or unstable character, or with absolute control of the hypnotist. What is going on can be explained by the phenomenon of narrowed attention. Because a stuporous person is so concentrated on the task at hand, he or she is often no longer really concerned with what is happening around him or her.
You stay active
In any case, hypnotized people never behave like passive machines: they are actively solving their problems, and are also creative when not suggested by the therapist. However, most things that happen to them are experienced as 'effortless', as if everything happens 'by itself'.
Not everyone has the feeling of being 'away': you usually maintain contact with the outside world during a hypnosis session. It is precisely because of the possibility of disturbance that spectators are usually asked to remain quiet during shows. By the way, it's important that you can hear the hypnotist, right?
Harmless
Hypnosis is absolutely harmless. Negative suggestions can be harmful, but that also applies to everyday life. Anyone who is constantly told by the teacher that he or she is not making any sense of it runs the risk of believing it even when it is not true, or of having a dent in self-confidence. This means that hypnotherapists - like all people - should certainly be careful with the suggestions they give!
For example, we think that most (or all) people suffering from multiple personality disorder (where people believe they have multiple personalities) have been given false suggestions (not necessarily under hypnosis) by people talking about different 'parts' or 'personalities'. And what to think about fortune tellers, whose predictions often become true because people (unconsciously) direct their actions accordingly - which does not necessarily mean that they are all quacks.
Research also shows that when reminiscing, people often fantasize things! A therapist must therefore be careful of this, especially when it concerns alleged incest or abuse, for example.
You always wake up
It is impossible to remain 'stuck' in a hypnotic state. Anyone who remained in hypnosis would simply fall asleep and then wake up sober. It seems that people also often experience a hypnotic state in daily life, for example when reading, watching TV, or practicing yoga or meditation.
Tool
As mentioned, hypnosis is often an excellent tool for treating all kinds of ailments and problems of a psychological or psychosomatic nature. And since body and psyche have a huge mutual influence on each other, this means that you can alleviate or eliminate a lot of suffering with hypnosis. For example, it has been frequently shown that hypnosis is very effective against allergies, psoriasis and anxiety, but hypnotic techniques are also often used to achieve positive goals.
