.
Hypnosis is widely known, but many ordinary people have only a superficial understanding of it, and sometimes even an erroneous one. The word hypnosis (from other Greek “sleep”) should be understood as a special state of consciousness or the process of influence of one person on another, which leads to it. However, entering a hypnotic trance is possible without outside help, then we are talking about auto- or self-hypnosis.
What is hypnosis really?
Hypnosis is a mysterious, even mystical topic. Ordinary people have a superficial understanding of this phenomenon. We even treat hypnosis with caution, because we have heard that under its influence manipulations and various types of fraud are committed.
Only psychologists and psychiatrists are interested in the problem in depth, i.e. specialists dealing with issues of altered consciousness. Normally, our brain is filled with many thoughts. When consciousness is altered, for example during holotropic breathing or sleep, only the dominant thought forms remain in the head. Hypnosis is also a way to free consciousness.
So hypnosis
- this is a high degree of concentration, leading to a state in which a person becomes very suggestible, a type of trance.
Translated from Greek, hypnosis means “sleep.” The special state of a person under hypnosis is explained by the blocking of part of consciousness. The client perceives exclusively the signals that the hypnotist gives him.
Specialists use hypnosis to treat negative attitudes, fears and phobias. Sigmund Freud himself did not neglect treatment with hypnosis. True, he later abandoned this method in favor of psychoanalysis, of which he is the founder.
In Russia, hypnosis is not officially recognized; there is no specialty “hypnotherapist”. Only certified doctors and psychologists can use hypnosis in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Hypnosis is real
From ancient Greek “hypnosis” is translated as “sleep” . However, hypnotic sleep and physiological sleep are completely different things.
The term hypnosis is often mystified, misunderstood, or simply overcomplicated. It is used to describe a trance-like state in a person, intermediate between sleep and wakefulness, which can be entered either through self-hypnosis or by working with a hypnotist. Hypnosis is also called the process of interaction between the hypnotist and the subject.
In fact, we all enter a “ soft trance ” every day: while watching TV, reading a book, traveling by transport, when we think about our own things, etc. All this is united by a certain abstraction from the outside world, and while in a state of hypnosis, you will experience similar sensations. But immersion in hypnosis is a purposeful process and is necessary for the hypnotist to gain access to a person’s unconscious structures .
Hypnosis is similar to a state of sleep in which you are deeply relaxed, conscious, but can already see uncontrollable dream images.
Hypnosis is often used for psychotherapeutic purposes as one of the means to identify and solve a patient's problem. For example, it is effective in treating split personality disorder.
How does hypnosis work?
The action of hypnosis occurs as follows. Under the influence of a hypnotist, a person stops processing information coming to him from the outside, except for that carried by the hypnotist.
The therapist sends the information he needs directly to the subconscious (unconscious). The individual’s own needs and desires “fall asleep.”
Everything that the hypnotist voices is perceived literally by the person. For example, if the hypnotist suggests that it is too hot, the person will begin to undress in front of an astonished audience. Hypnosis can influence pain sensations. If you convey the message that walking on broken glass is safe, then the subject will do it and will not feel pain.
Imagine that there are several rays of light that illuminate a room. Suddenly they all went out, except for one, which makes only one part of the room visible. Also during hypnosis, consciousness turns off, focusing only on one segment.
Each person has varying degrees of suggestibility. Open, friendly, sociable people are much easier to suggest. Closed individuals and skeptics are poorly suggestible and resist hypnosis very well.
How long does hypnosis last?
This is a fundamentally wrong question. Hypnosis is a state in which a person remains during a session. How long can hypnosis last? While the session is going on. Another version of the question is how long does the result that they are trying to achieve during the session last? Everything here is individual. If after a session a person who has experienced social fear begins to effectively build contacts with other people, then it turns out that hypnosis will last a lifetime. Or rather, not hypnosis itself, but the result achieved by the suggestor and the suggestor.
Stages of hypnosis
Immersion in a trance does not occur simultaneously; hypnosis consists of several successive stages.
Preparatory stage
The first stage consists of a gradual shutdown of consciousness and habitual reactions to stimuli from the outside. The person is completely focused on the words and actions of the hypnotist. The specialist performs manipulations using various techniques, using monotonous sounds or movements. The stronger the hypnotist and the more suggestible the person, the faster the stage of entering a trance is completed.
Directly trans
There are different intensifications. At the deepest stage, a person ceases to critically perceive the world around him and is completely subordinate to the will of the hypnologist.
It is at this stage that psychological problems are identified and corrected. A hypnotherapist can understand the causes of internal fears and addictions (alcohol, drugs), and reveal existing abilities.
The necessary suggestion for a given person takes place - getting rid of things that interfere with normal life. In a state of hypnosis, the client can remember and voice those moments of life, even from the distant past, that influenced the emergence of psychopathologies.
Breaking out of trance
Staying in a state of altered consciousness cannot last long; you need to get out of it.
The exit can be carried out gradually. In this case, the hypnotist usually counts to a certain number: to three, to ten, and the person enters a normal state.
We should not be afraid that if a specialist forgets to take us out of trance, we will remain in it forever. Trance is a state between sleep and reality. In any case, the person will wake up on his own and regain consciousness.
With a superficial trance, which is used in NLP, the client will simply suddenly “wake up”, the loss of orientation will be quite short-lived. Such techniques are used in fraudulent schemes, when a person, for example, is forced to buy an unnecessary product or is lured out of money (gypsy hypnosis).
Types of hypnosis
In psychology, hypnosis is classified according to the following principles.
Directive or classic
Classical hypnosis is associated with the name of the French doctor J. M. Charcot, who first began to use trance induction for medical purposes.
There is a direct (directive) impact on the client. The hypnotist speaks clearly and loudly, the subject understands that he is under someone else's influence. The patient is positioned sitting or reclining, eyes closed.
A trusting relationship and emotional contact have been established between the parties.
If there are outside observers, they will not confuse the hypnosis session with anything else. This type of influence is used to treat phobias, neuroses, and other psychosomatic problems.
Non-directive (Eriksonian)
The name of the method is associated with the name of hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, who, while suffering from polio, began practicing self-hypnosis to relieve pain.
Unlike the directive type, the client enters a trance not on the direct instructions of the doctor, but almost independently. Both parties are in a relaxed state.
A hypnologist, using words, associations, hints and halftones, helps a person enter a state of altered consciousness. During the trance period, the consciousness is dominated by structures responsible for creativity, imaginative thinking and intuition.
The hypnologist decides what exactly to say and what associations to evoke individually for each client.
A person may not understand that trance manipulation is being carried out on him. This hypnosis is also called hidden. It is often used in advertising, highlighting individual words or phrases that sink deeply into a person’s subconscious and encourage him to take certain actions.
Pharmacological (psychotropogenic)
This method of hypnosis is used mainly for the treatment of severe forms of addiction in specialized clinics. To change the patient's consciousness, psychotropic or narcotic substances are used, which do most of the work for the hypnotist.
The therapist only carries out the suggestions necessary to cure the patient. In an artificial trance, the patient is susceptible to suggestion quickly and easily, and the perception of attitudes is greatly facilitated.
At the end of the session, the client is put into a state of amnesia, so that he cannot remember what manipulations were performed on him.
Pathological
Pathological hypnosis is the possibility of involuntary trance states in people suffering from mental disorders, for example, schizophrenia or epilepsy. It is absolutely impossible to consciously put such patients into an altered state of consciousness, since this poses a real threat to their life.
What is hypnosis and how does it work
The influence of hypnosis on the human psyche has been known since ancient times. The ancient Greeks used mass suggestibility in the Temple of Asclepius. Ancient texts have been preserved that talk about healing sleep in the temple. Scientists believe this is the first documented act of hypnosis affecting people. People were put into a kind of trance by the priests, fell asleep, and woke up healthy in the morning. In their dreams they saw the god Asclepius, who healed their souls.
A kind of hypnosis is found in the animal world. With a special impact on the animal, the protective mechanisms of akinesia are activated - the animal becomes motionless. The most striking example: a rabbit with a boa constrictor or a mouse with a snake. They turn to stone in the face of danger. The snake attacks only moving objects, so the animal is immobilized on a subconscious level.
Another option is a physiological effect. If a frog is abruptly turned onto its back, it falls into the same state of immobility - catalepsy. In both cases, the nervous system receives a strong stimulus, which leads to sudden inhibition processes in the cerebral cortex.
The effect of hypnosis on humans is used mainly for medical purposes and scientific experiments in the study of the subconscious. There are many stories of healing using hypnosis. It must be said that hypnosis can only cure diseases that have a psychogenic etymology.
Hypnosis is used for various purposes. In Austria, bank employees undergo hypnotic training in emergency situations during a robbery. An ordinary bank employee can hypnotize a robber and force him to refuse to commit a criminal act.
Hypnosis comes in different strengths, and we will talk about this separately. The first two stages are most often used - superficial hypnotic sleep and light hypnotic sleep. It is quite difficult to achieve the third stage (deep hypnotic sleep). The most important thing is that in all these states (especially in the first two), a person’s brain activity becomes more active than when awake.
In a state of suggestive sleep, the human brain becomes insensitive to many external stimuli. Separate waking foci are localized in the cerebral cortex, which allow communication between the suggestor and the suggestible. I. P. Pavlov called these areas of the brain “guard points.” The hypnotist cannot influence these areas even in the deepest state of hypnotic sleep. At these sentinel points, the hypnologist places an awakening mechanism - this could be a clap, another sharp sound, or a verbal combination. The brain cannot ignore signals that “cannot be slept through.”
Let's return to the “guard points”. The sentinel point of the brain region takes on the role of a landline telephone connected to the hypnotist. The latter conducts the session until awakening is required. The suggestor sends a signal to this part of the brain, and the person wakes up.
Being in a hypnotic sleep blocks critical thinking. The suggestor cannot critically perceive the words of the suggestor. However, the person being hypnotized will be fully aware of what is happening to him. This once again refutes the myth that in hypnosis people do not control themselves.
Above we described a scheme when hypnotic influence occurs as a given. In fact, a person can be hypnotized only when he himself wants it, believes in the process or is afraid of it.
This is interesting! Putting one person into a hypnotic sleep is much more difficult than doing this with a huge hall of people. “Mutual hypnosis” occurs in the team, and suggestibility increases many times over. This is actively used by shamans, false prophets of our time, cult personalities and sect leaders.
Hypnosis is actively developing in Tyumen under the guidance of psychologist-hypnologist Nikita Valerievich Baturin. He has developed a unique technique for getting rid of various mental disorders, which requires 5 sessions (one session lasts approximately 1-2 hours). During this time, he manages to rid the client of panic attacks, fears, phobias and other psychosomatic disorders.
Techniques for inducing hypnosis
There are several well-known trance induction techniques that are widely used in practice.
Fixing an item
The hypnologist invites the person to completely focus on the proposed object, which is in a suspended state. Such an object can be anything: a pen, a ruler, a coin.
The distance from the client’s eyes to the object must be at least 25 centimeters. While fixating a person on an object, the hypnotist begins to say certain phrases, and pronounces them in a monotonous voice, inspiring states of relaxation, heaviness, and then sleep. The therapist may use direct counting from 1 to 10 until the patient closes his eyes.
Emphasis on hands and verbal suggestions
Instead of an object, the hypnologist uses his own hands. He runs his palm along the client's face, repeating: “Look at my palm, like this, down, up, down, up.” At the same time, the desire to sleep is verbally suggested to the person.
Induction into a trance is also possible by repeating special phrases that are suggested to a person lying or half-sitting in a relaxed state. Usually these are words that instill a feeling of heaviness in the body, warmth spread throughout it, and the assurance that a person cannot move his arms and legs.
Shock methods
Hypnosis occurs due to a sharp and deep stimulus that a person does not expect. This may be an unexpected command “Sleep”, which is accompanied by a gong strike or a flash of light.
For a successful session, it is necessary that the person is sufficiently suggestible (hypnotizable) and, at a minimum, trusts the therapist.
The described technique was used by the famous psychiatrist Dovzhenko, who invented a method of getting rid of alcohol addiction that was widespread in the USSR.
Myths about hypnosis
Hypnosis is a semi-mystical phenomenon and not fully studied, so it is overgrown with many myths and legends.
Hypnosis and sleep are the same thing
Trance is far from being sleep, but hypnosis, not inducing sleep “at will.” At the moment of hypnotization, a person is in consciousness, only changed, he can understand and feel everything that is happening around.
You can't get out of hypnosis
This is yet another “horror story” used to scare those who want to try hypnosis on themselves. Such an outcome is not possible, even if the hypnologist “forgets” about you. If the connection with the hypnotist is lost, the person will wake up on his own after some time.
Only people with low IQ can be hypnotized
Everything happens exactly the opposite. The higher a person's intelligence, the more likely they are to be hypnotizable. The same can be said about emotional intelligence: the higher the level of empathy and communication skills a person has, the sooner he will fall under the influence of suggestion.
Hypnosis can change personality
A hypnotist can get into our heads and pull out some extra thorn that is interfering with our lives. But no hypnologist is able to make changes in our emotional-volitional sphere, character, self-awareness. An adequate person under the influence of hypnosis will not turn into a maniac or murderer. Our psyche has quite strong defense mechanisms for this case.
