Frequently asked questions
- Am I unconscious while in hypnosis?
No; you are fully aware of what’s going around. Nothing can be done against your wish.
- Can everybody be hypnotized?
Yes, particularly for clinical purposes, except when you are totally psychotic, cognitively impaired, physically too ill to communicate, cannot understand language or not willing for hypnotherapy.
- Am I under the control of the hypnotist?
No: the hypnotist has no control over you.
- Are there any side-effects?
No; no bad side-effects, only a lot of good side-effects — you feel extremely good, bubbly with full of energy and enthusiasm and you snap out of most of your problems.
- Can I drive after a session of hypnosis?
Definitely — you would even drive better than ever before!
- Do I lose control of my faculties? Does the hypnotist manipulate my mind?
You are fully in control of your faculties. The hypnotist is like a coach, a teacher — does a driving instructor or an arithmetic teacher manipulate you mind when he is teaching you driving or math?
- I would like to be in control, I would not like somebody else to tell me what to do.
If you cannot give up your smoking habit, cannot stick to a diet, cannot enjoy a good night’s sleep, cannot mend your dysfunctional relationship, are you still in control? A good hypnotist only helps you regain your control over life.
- Some diseases like depression, they say, are results of chemical imbalance. How could a few hypnotic suggestions restore chemical balance?
What happens when you think of your favourite food — sizzling steak, marshmallow ice cream or spicy Indian curry — your mouth waters! The thought of a sizzling steak etc has become a molecule of saliva (which is an enzyme, a chemical substance) in your mouth! That is the power of thoughts. Hypnotic suggestions are only thoughts delivered to you in an effective way.
- How could physical conditions like pain and tumor be treated with hypnosis?
The same mouth watering principle! If thought of sizzling steak can produce saliva in your mouth, healing thoughts under hypnosis can produce healing hormones like endorphins which heal your body.
10 If hypnosis is so good, how come it is not used so widely?
Ignorance about its efficacy, ineffective training among therapists, stubborn nature of longstanding myths and misgivings.
