What are some common beliefs about hypnotherapy that are completely false?
1) That hypnosis is mind control.
I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. If you don’t want to go rob a bank, nothing I can do will make that happen. It would take hundreds of hours of hard work to make you go against your value system. If I could control everyone, I would not have a place in Augusta Georgia and would not have student loans.
2) That I can make you bark like a dog or cluck like a chicken.
Don’t confuse what I do for stage hypnosis. Entertainment is entertainment. Most of them learned hypnosis from places that were designed to teach them specifically that. Trust me, I don’t want you to do stupid things anymore than you do.
3) That you cannot be hypnotized
Everyone can go into trance. Most people go into trance several times a day, so I’m betting you have. You get lost in a good book? A good movie? A good song? You ever miss your exit on the highway? You ever go to sleep? All of those are a form of trance.
4) Hypnotherapy is Satanic.
Hypnotherapy has been practiced for thousands of years as a health aid. It has nothing to do with anything like that. It’s a perfectly natural state which has a lot of clinical research backing it up. Satan however has little scientific evidence backing him up… and I say that as a religious person.
5) That you can get lost in hypnosis and never come out.
Hypnosis has been practiced for thousands of years and we have not found evidence of a single person getting lost in hypnosis yet. What is more likely is you’re probably going to fall asleep and wake up naturally.
6) It’s one session and it’s done.
Hypno-miracles are very rare. I never promise one session for anything. If a provider makes promises like that, I would suggest running.
7) That you have to be stupid to go into trance
Actually in many cases, the smarter you are the faster you go into trance.
8) That you can’t hear the hypnotist when you go for a session
I would say 95% of clients hear me fine throughout the session and do not fall asleep. I do have some do fall asleep but it’s rare.
Melvin Marsh is a certified hypnotherapist with offices throughout Georgia and performs virtual appointments. He can be reached at www.afterhourshypnotherapy.com
