Pop culture and media have done hypnosis no favors. How often have you seen cartoon characters with swinging watches and blank stares? What about crime dramas that use hypnosis as a plot twist?
While these portrayals of hypnosis are captivating, they’re also fictional. Hypnosis treatments aren’t about control or trickery. Rather, they’re about cooperation and focus.
Why So Many People Fear Hypnosis
Fear often comes from the unknown. And if you don’t know how hypnosis works, your mind will fill in the gaps with stories from TV or secondhand misunderstandings. You may fear hypnosis because:
- You’re worried about being put into a trance you can’t escape from.
- You believe you’ll be made to do things against your will.
- You think you’ll reveal or uncover secrets or trauma without consent.
These are valid concerns. But they’re not ones you need to have with hypnosis. Real hypnosis is therapeutic and deeply personalized. More than that, it’s a collaboration between you and your hypnotist to achieve your therapeutic goals.
The Deeper Fear: What If It Works?
Here’s something you might not expect: some people fear hypnosis because they suspect it might work. Why? Because real change can feel scary. If you’ve been dealing with a difficult smoking habit, anxiety, or chronic relationship problems for many years, imagining life without those patterns can feel both unfamiliar and threatening.
Subconsciously, you might think:
- “Who will I be without this fear?”
- “What if I succeed with hypnosis and still feel empty?”
- “What if I can’t handle what comes after my hypnosis treatment?”
While this fear of hypnosis comes from a desire to protect yourself, it doesn’t have to control you.
Understanding Hypnosis
One of the best ways to overcome a fear is to get familiar with what you’re afraid of. Let’s break down what really happens in a hypnosis session and why you shouldn’t fear this therapeutic technique.
What Hypnosis Actually Feels Like
Hypnosis is designed to help you explore and address various psychological issues. To accomplish this, a hypnotist guides you into a focused state of deep relaxation and heightened suggestibility.
Whether it’s hypnosis to quit smoking, improve interpersonal skills, overcome grief, or lose weight, it’s not about mind control or making you unconscious. Rather, hypnosis puts you in a state of mind where you can access your subconscious beliefs.
During a session, you’ll feel:
- Relaxed, but awake: You’ll be guided into a mental state that feels like you’re meditating or daydreaming.
- Focused inward: Your attention narrows into the concerns you want to address, and outside distractions fade away.
- Safe and in control: In hypnosis, you can still speak, move, and open your eyes. This isn’t about someone doing something to you; it’s about the hypnotist doing something with you.
Rest assured: Your hypnotist won’t spend the session making you do tricks or act like zombie-style movie characters. You will remain in the driver’s seat, but you’ll have access to the part of your mind that’s been running old habits or limiting beliefs.
What Happens in a Hypnosis Session
A hypnosis treatment session has four components: the initial consultation, entering hypnosis, working within hypnosis, and returning to the present.
- Initial consultation: Before you even become hypnotized, your hypnotist will spend the first part of your session getting to know you. The goal is to give you individualized treatment, not a one-size-fits-all solution. Here, they may ask about your desires and concerns so they can better tailor your session to you.
- Entering hypnosis: To enter hypnosis, a hypnotist guides you into a hypnotic state through techniques such as progressive relaxation, guided visualization, or focused breathing.
This is where the treatment method gets its reputation for putting you to sleep or making you unconscious. Really, you’re just very, very relaxed. - Working within hypnosis: This is the part of the session where the real “work” begins. Armed with what you discussed at the start of your session, the hypnotist will use certain strategies to help you address the issues you want to work on.
The hypnotist will offer your subconscious new ideas, images, and emotional associations based on your goals. This could include helping you reflect on memories or making suggestions directly targeted to your goals. - Returning to the present: To help you exit the hypnotic state, the hypnostist may use grounding techniques. This includes acknowledging your environment—the sounds you hear, the smells around you, etc. As a result, you come out of hypnosis fully alert.
At no point are you “under a spell.” You’re simply more attuned to the part of yourself that wants healing, and your hypnotist guides you to this state.
The True Magic of Hypnosis
If fear has kept you from trying hypnosis, give yourself credit for even reading this far. It means you’re curious. And curiosity is more powerful than fear.
Even if you’re not ready to try this therapeutic method, learning about it can help you explore what’s possible. And that’s where the true magic of hypnosis can begin. With time, you may discover that hypnosis is one of the safest, most empowering tools you can use to heal and grow.