Question 1

Who or what is "HypnoTex"?

Accepted Answer

"HypnoTex" is the A.I. (artificial intelligence) assistant that indexes the Hypnotechs site and offers quick answers to questions. HypnoTex reads and re-reads every word on every page of the Hypnotechs site, then creates an index and a collection of responses. When you ask HypnoTex a question, it's able to use that pre-built index to show you the answer and links where you can find more.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/spfA9tNOws/resources/rpQpFdz9Vt/HypnoTexSlug.jpg (HypnoTexSlug.jpg)

Programming HypnoTex is an ongoing process, so it's constantly improving. When it has difficulty finding a satisfactory answer to a question a user has asked, it logs both the question and it's response so that it can be reviewed and either guidance given about how it should have responded or a new FAQ or content piece created to cover the question. Beware! HypnoTex is not aware that he's a replicant. Please don't tell him.

Need to find something on Hypnotechs.com? Ask HypnoTex. He is located in the lower, right-hand corner of every page.

Question 2

How is hypnosis done?

Accepted Answer

Hypnosis is a state of intense concentration or focused attention marked by increased suggestibility. The hypnotic trance state is created by way of an "induction". An induction is a way get the conscious mind to take a back seat and allow access to the unconscious mind.

There are many forms of hypnotic inductions that can lead to the hypnotic trance state. They range from the progressive relaxation technique that can take minutes to hours, to "instant" inductions that can have a person open to verbal suggestions in split second.

When used as a form of therapy, hypnosis is often induced using one of the relaxation techniques, but more rapid inductions also have a place in the office.

For street and stage hypnosis, the more rapid inductions are used almost exclusively.

At their core, all inductions have one thing in common, they must create a trance-like state by bypassing the critical faculty of the conscious mind allowing hypnotic suggestions a clear path to the subconscious.

For more analytical subjects, confusion techniques and indirect suggestions are often the easiest way to accomplish hypnosis. For the less analytical a wider variety of inductions and more direct suggestions are called for.

When hypnosis is used as a form or therapy, especially in conjunction with other behavioral therapy techniques, deep trance is not necessarily required. Things like pain control for physical chronic pain can be accomplished at remarkably light levels of trance.

Of course, on stage, a deep level of trance is often a plus as it enhances the effectiveness of hypnosis as an entertainment tool.

Question 3

Can you really be hypnotized?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Hypnosis is a natural state of mind that occurs in most people on a regular basis.

Many people associate hypnosis with a state of deep relaxation, but the process of hypnosis does not have to involve relaxation at all! In fact, one way to induce hypnotic trance is by using a "shock induction", which uses the startle reflex to make the mind open the suggestion.

If you have ever watched a stage hypnosis show and seen the hypnotist shout "SLEEP!" while yanking the arm of a subject, who then collapses in a heap, you have witnessed a shock induction.

Most people can be hypnotized. In general, if you have at least normal intelligence and even a bit of imagination, then you can too.

The process may vary between stage hypnosis and clinical hypnosis, but the end result is the same, a state of heightened suggestibility where hypnotic suggestions bypass the critical faculty and subconscious mind / unconscious mind act upon them.

For most people, the experience of hypnosis is profound. Your heart rate drops and smooths out and your brain activity settles into something closer to an active sleep state than full wakefulness. For many of us, the closest state we have to compare to in daily life is that of "lucid dreaming'. Of course, the hypnotized subject remains in complete control and has an awareness of what is going on around them at all times.

If you'd like to experience hypnosis, reach out to your local hypnotist! We LOVE what we do. You don't need to be seeking some type of behavioral therapy, or need to change something in everyday life. Most of us are always looking for a new hypnotic subject and would be more than happy to gve you a demonstration of the power of your subconscious mind / unconscious mind.

Question 4

Can you be hypnotized with your eyes open?

Accepted Answer

Yes! While it's common for people to close their eyes while being hypnotized, it's not a requirement.

You have probably seen examples of people being in hypnosis with their eyes open, just think of every stage hypnosis show you have ever seen. As active as some of the shows are, it's critical that people be able to see where they are going as they run around the stage being "the world's greatest race car driver" or something similar.

During the "induction", the process of transitioning into hypnosis, the eyes are commonly closed. However that's just to help the subject concentrate and is completely optional. Once the person is in hypnosis, eyes open or closed doesn't matter.

In a therapy environment, most people close their eyes during the induction and keep them closed unless they are specifically instructed to open them for some reason by the hypntherapist. However, in my experience, about 20% of subjects will spontaneously open their eyes partially or fully during the session. If you are a new hypnotherapist, it's a little disconcerting when it happens as the subject has a bit of a "lights are on but no one is home" look to them, but after a while you get used it.

In general, hypnosis has no dependence on the state of the eyes. Open, closed, whatever works for you!

Question 5

Where do I park when I come for my appointment?

Accepted Answer

There's tons of parking on the streets around the building, you might even get lucky and find a spot right in front of the door! However, if you happen to arrive at a busy time and all the street parking is full, feel free to park in the Duvall Hardware parking lot. Duvall Hardware is our landlord and they don't mind at all.

Question 6

What did Sigmund Freud think of hypnosis?

Accepted Answer

When the young Sigmund Freud made his way to Paris and Jean Martin Charcot’s Salpêtrière School in 1885, he was drawn by the study of neurology. However, once he was exposed to the study of consciousness, his interests began to evolve in to a passion for psychology, including hypnosis.

Freud was first exposed to hypnosis just a few short years before he went to study under Charcot in Paris. While studying with his mentor and later colleague Josef Breuer, Freud was able to witness, then later practice hypnosis in a clinical setting.

At the time, Breuer was working with a young woman suffering from what was called "hysteria" at the time. Bertha Pappenheim, "Anna O." as she came to be known, was suffering from a variety of physical and mental conditions that defied explanation by the current medical community. These included non-specific pain, speech disturbances and period refusal to eat or drink.

Breuer used hypnosis to try to alleviate her symptoms using relaxation. During these sessions, Breuer allowed Anna O. to speak freely and to explore memories that she seemed to recall without trigger or reason.

After two years of therapy with Anna O., Breuer defined the foundational principles of what would come to be called "psychoanalysis" (the talking cure). This new type of therapy being developed in Vienna was later to form the foundation of Freud's methods.

Breuer would later distance himself from Freud because if Freud's insistence that virtually all trauma could be traced back to sexual conflict.

While starting his private practice and further developing his version of psychoanalysis, Freud utilized hypnosis with many of his clients, preferring a dominant, assertive, paternalistic technique of hypnosis.

As Freud continued to develop his own theories and practices, including variations of psychoanalysis and free association, he began to move away from hypnosis as a modality. Freud later wrote that he felt his methods were more effective and that traditional hypnosis "did not effectively do away with client resistance, yielding only incomplete information and temporary results".

It was partially due to Freud's personal role in developing psychology as a field of academic study that Hypnosis is not taught at most universities to this day.

But in spite of the setback caused by Freud’s rejection of the practice, Hypnosis continued to become more widely accepted around the turn of the Century, including by such organizations as the British Medical Association in 1892.

Interestingly, as even his own protégé Carl Jung, noted, Freud's obsession with sex detracted from the effectiveness of his methods. As time has shown and Freud's theories have been increasingly discredited and his methods dropped from modern use, hypnosis and the use of hypnotic suggestion have been increasingly validated by modern scientific methods.

In his 1977 book "Clinical and experimental hypnosis: in medicine, dentistry, and psychology" Dr. William S. Kroger wrote:

In the light of the historical development of Freudian theory, perhaps ‘we need a psychoanalysis of current psychoanalytical resistance to the use of hypnosis.

Current research in hypnosis does not substantiate a single reason for Freud's avoidance of hypnosis... Since scientific hypnosis was in its infancy in Freud's time, one can hardly blame him for adopting a negative attitude. However, there is no valid reason why Freud's successors should continue to use this embryonic period in the historical development of hypnosis to criticize contemporary hypnotherapy. Masserman recognized that hypnosis was the core that underlies all forms of psychotherapy...

Shortly before his death, Freud spoke very resignedly about the poor results of psychoanalysis in an article seldom mentioned by his loyal followers. As Rado observed, 'Digging into the past yields diminishing returns.' Others question the value of recapturing early fantasies and memories. This is not to imply that many of Freud's observations in human behavior will not be of enduring value. Contemporary technics in hypnoanalysis could not have developed had it not been for his penetrating insights.

Are Freud and his sexuality based version of psychoanalysis destined to be a footnote in psychological history? Many now think that may be the case.

Question 7

What Are Affirmations?

Accepted Answer

Positive affirmations are positive statements that you repeat to yourself in the hopes that they will transfer from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind. They can be related to self-esteem, changing a habit or eliminating negative self talk.

This process of self affirmation can be made as simple as reading the statements off a sticky note on your mirror as you brush your teeth, or made part of a dedicated period of repeating daily affirmations while doing nothing else.

In general, it is suggested that positive affirmations tend to be more successful, especially for beginners or in the areas of self-esteem and self affirmation, so most experts recommend you create them as positive statements rather than negative ones.

Many have pointed out similarities between the power of affirmations, so called "positive thinking" and even the "law of attraction", so whatever your choose to call them, maybe a few positive affirmations are just the thing your subconscious mind has been waiting for to break a habit or start a new one.

Question 8

What hours are you open?

Accepted Answer

Since we don't see "walk up" traffic, we don't post "open hours". Besides, it's fun to keep getting nagged by Yelp! because they want us to post some hours of operation. :)

Booking is by appointment only. If you visit the booking/scheduling section of the site, it will allow you to choose from the available time slots. If you can't book it, it's not open. If you can, it is.

The exception is, of course, you can mail us at anytime with questions, comments, or maybe just to talk.

Question 9

Is there anything that you won't work on with a client?

Accepted Answer

Yes. I've got an open mind, but there are limits. If you are already lower than your ideal weight range and you want to work on weight-loss, I will suggest to you that we work on body image instead. If you insist, I won't be able to work with you.

Otherwise, I am open to a wide range of things. I won't do anything that I feel will endanger your health, sanity or well-being, or that of another. I won't do "past lives" or anything else that crosses the line into the mystic or metaphysical. I just don't have the temperament for it.

I don't have a lot of hard limits. Ask. I promise that the worst I will say is that I am not interested.

Question 10

What is trance capacity?

Accepted Answer

"Trance Capacity" generally refers to the aptitude of an individual to achieve hypnosis or "trance".

For more information, search Hypnotechs.com for "Arons Scale", a way to measure hypnotic depth and the "The Spiegel Eye Roll Test for Hypnotizability". Both pages discuss the concept of hypnotic depth/trance capacity.