The previous blog advanced the idea that if you are not sure if you were hypnotized or not during a hypnotherapy appointment, that you can assume that you were hypnotized if you got the results that you desired. The following is an anecdote illustrating this idea.

One day at the Palo Alto School of Hypnotherapy, the director, Josie Hadley, was giving a class in hypnosis for weight reduction. She asked for a volunteer on whom an induction would be demonstrated, and several people responded with alacrity. The lady she chose, whom we’ll call Susie, came to the front of the room and stated that she was carrying an extra fifty pounds as a result of eating.

It seems that whenever her partner left town, she would be besieged by a horde of high quality chocolate-covered ice cream bars named after the bird of peace. When he returned, she could keep the ice cream bars at bay. However, the previous week, she had fallen prey not only to the chocolate-covered bars, but had suffered a skirmish with a key lime pie. The pie had prevailed and had joined itself to her entirely, with not a crumb to spare.

After a hypnotherapy appointment, how do you know if you were hypnotized? Speaking only from my practice of hypnotherapy, the answer is simple: everything else being equal, you were hypnotized if you got positive results.

Sometimes, hypnosis feels just like your normal state of consciousness. Suppose you tried your hardest to change the problem and then sought out hypnotherapy. Then, looking back on your hypnotherapy appointment, you feel like all that you did was close your eyes, and nothing else occurred. IF you still got your desired results, then that seems to indicate that your unconscious mind received and accepted the posthypnotic suggestions that were given at the appointment.

Operating within belief, the key component for change, are imagination, motivation, and anticipation. If you can imagine something and it's within reason, mostly likely you will achieve it (Hadley and Staudacher,1996). What the mind can conceive and believe, you will achieve. Research has shown that when an event is vividly imagined, the body's internal system reacts in the precise same way it would if the activity were actually happening. This is what many great athletes practice: they imagine each part of an athletic event: golfers "see" the breaks in the green, they "smell" the finely cut grass, and they "hear" the roar of the crowd when the ball drops in the hole.

You too can practice this creative visualization process. First, clarify exactly what it is you wish to achieve. Maybe you want to clean out the garage. Imagine yourself starting the project: organizing what stays, what gets thrown out. See the clutter begin to disappear. Notice all the new available floor space. Perhaps you include a garage sale and now see your reward as all the money you have simply because you cleaned out your garage.

This technique can be used with anyone. However, it probably works best with persons with whom you have a relatively close relationship. It is not safe to use this technique when you are driving or operating machinery. This is because it places you in a light trance state, which you then allow the other person to borrow.

The first step in this six step process is to notice that the other person is agitated and to refrain from mentioning this fact.

The second step is to notice the rate at which the person (let’s call him Bart) is breathing. This can be ascertained by watching the rise and fall of his chest, the expansion and contraction of his ribcage, changes in the size of his nostrils, the rise and fall of his abdomen, subtle changes in the position of his chin, or the fluttering of hairs on his mustache. If Bart is congested, you may be able to hear his breathing. If he is talking, and he is not a musician who has mastered circular breathing, then no minute scrutiny is required, since, obviously enough, his words come on the exhale, and he pauses to catch his breath.

How Deep Do You Want Your Trance State to Be?
Although each person reacts differently to trance induction, a good hypnotherapist will be able to choose the induction technique that fits best with your personal history, dominant learning modalities and stated desires. A skilled hypnotherapist can get you to the level you want and keep you there. Every day, every one of us goes through trance states. The following examples of everyday trance states can give you an idea of what sounds good to you, if and when you seek therapeutic hypnosis.

Sometimes personal change seems harder than it ought to be. People who have accomplished many other projects with success sometimes feel surprised and disappointed when they hit a roadblock in a seemingly minor enterprise. And the feeling of frustration isn’t helped when other people explain that it just takes willpower to change eating habits, adopt a more relaxed attitude, or give up those last two cigarettes per day.

The fear of mind control may be one of the strongest hindrances to people making free use of the various and far-reaching benefits of hypnotherapy. Ironically, the very notion of mind control is distinctly at odds with the purpose and practice of hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapists are trained to empower people to tap their own inner resources to change their perceptions and responses to situations, for example, to change the physical sensation of pain to a feeling of coolness. In hypnotherapy, it is the client who controls his or her own mind in order to give the entire organism - the mind, the body and the ineffable sense of self - a happier experience of life. Regarding the control of one person's mind by another, hypnotherapists know as little about that as anyone, and probably much less than do government officials.

One common call for the hypnotherapist is to help with insomnia. The tricky thing about insomnia is that it is many times connected to stress from huge problems. Sometimes simple relaxation inductions and suggestions for good sleep work, and sometimes there is much more to be shifted before results come.

As hypnotherapists, it is part of our job and commitment to our clients to be healthy, mentally fit and well-rested so that we can provide the best possible service. And yet, when we are well-rested and ready for the day, it can be easy to forget the ravages that lack of sleep can wreak upon us and our clients.

Here's an article I saw that talk specifically about the subtle and not-so-subtle effects of poor sleep, especially over the long term. Keep this in your bookmarks, and review it before seeing any clients with insomnia.

It could be said that the main force fueling effective affirmations is belief. If you are someone who is hard put to believe in anything, you can still make your affirmation work for you. Perhaps the following seemingly foolish questions can serve to illustrate why this is so.

Let us suppose that right now, you are seated or reclining on a chair, couch or a bed. Did you examine that furniture for soundness before throwing caution to the winds and settling yourself in? Are you presently wearing a hat molded of aluminum foil as prevention against mind control by extraterrestrial and/or government operatives? The last time you checked the time, was it in order to see what time it was, or to ascertain whether or not time was still moving forward?

Nathan Thomas is an impressive young man. A young New Zealand hypnotist, he is also a co-founder of the International Association for Teenage Hypnotists. Using the Internet to connect with other hypnosis fans and experts around the world is natural for Nathan, and he has a blog called "Key's to the Mind" where he has videos, articles and interviews about hypnosis and NLP - as well as several other web sites.

I've been watching Nathan's web sites and progress for a few months now, and I must say that he is one of the new hypnosis whiz kids. Not only is he smart, determined, and excited, but he is learning and improving an all fronts quickly. His interviewing skills, for example, have improved dramatically in the last few months. We could all learn something from Nathan's openess and excitement around learning and "going for it."

He's posted two new interviews this weekend, both are well worth the listen.