I get asked this a lot and the short answer is everyone can be hypnotised.
Yes, true and I'll go on to explain this.
Perhaps this is what you have heard or heard other people say!
You may know of someone that saw a stage hypnosis show and saw people up on stage be sent back down to their chair. You may think that hypnosis is mind control and you don't like being controlled or you may just have heard of people that saw a hypnotherapist and they did not get the result they were looking at.
Firstly, hypnosis is a therapy and the state we put you in prior to the therapy is a subconscious state!
A subconscious state is a natural state.
Everyone experiences subconscious states daily.
Here's some examples:
When you breathe, you are doing that subconsciously.
Ever driven home, got their safely, but can't quite remember the journey?
Ever read part of a book, magazine or a report and know you spent the time looking at it, but can't remember it so you have to go back and re-read it?
Zoned out, day dreamt, did something on auto pilot?
If you have done any of these things then you have been in a subconscious state.
This state normally happens when your a) either tired or b) got a lot on your mind (or both)
This is the state that we, hypnotherapists, get you in prior to the therapy..it's a natural state and one that you get yourself in normally, and daily.
What you may have seen at a stage show is absolutely real.
The purpose of any stage show is pure entertainment. Stage Hypnotists are very good at spotting what we call highly suggestive people, and quickly weed out the less suggestive people or the people that just don't really want to be there.
Now this does not mean that the people that were sent back to their chairs can't be hypnotised. It just means that the show does not allow the time to hypnotise these people, and or they are not going to be suggestible enough for the hypnotist to get them to do what he or she wants them to do. These people would still be absolutely suitable for a hypnotherapy session.
In a therapy setting we have the luxury of time, we are also not here to entertain anyone, so whether your arm lifts up to the ceiling by itself or not, it doesn't matter in a clinic setting.
Your mind is open to change when you are in a subconscious state
When your conscious mind is made to be either super active or very relaxed, you are in a subconscious state.
Your subconscious mind is then extremely alert and open to changes of behaviour
You are always in control
You as the client remain in control throughout the hypnosis session. You cannot be made to do anything that you do not wish to do.
So, YES, everyone can be hypnotised....if they wan't to be