How to Hypnotize Someone

Knowing how to hypnotize someone may not actually be enough to hypnotise them. Contrary to popular belief, the other person needs to want to be hypnotized for it to work. In this effect, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, with the ‘hypnotist’ simply acting as a relaxation guide/trainer. 

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Steps

1- Appreciate that the other person needs to believe that they will be hypnotized and they need to have a clear understand and appreciation of the goal of the hypnosis for it to work. Success depends on the subject’s openness to suggestion, so set the scene carefully and in the affirmative i.e. “this WILL help you….”. The subject also needs to trust you entirely. Enquire into whether they have been hypnotised before and what they experienced as this will give you some idea of how they may respond this time. 

2- Always tell the subject that they will remember everything, as this helps develop trust. Also reassure them that they will always be in full control of everything that they do. 

3- Have the subject sit or lie down in a comfortable position in a low level of lighting. Do not perform hypnotism when the subject is tired as they may fall asleep.

4- Using a slow, low, soothing voice, ask the subject to close their eyes and imagine being somewhere that they love, where they feel safe and comfortable. Repeat the suggestions over and over in time to the subjects breathing. 

5- Have them consciously relax every part of their body by saying “just let your arms relax, all the way from your shoulders right through to the very tips of your fingers” etc.  

6- Slowly progress this suggestion towards deeper relaxation i.e. “You can feel your feet relaxing” to “you can feel your feet getting heavier”, to “Your feet have now completely relaxed and sunk into the floor”. Do this for their entire body and state how they will continue to relax until they are in a complete state of hypnosis. Repeat and suggest i.e. “Every word I say is relaxing you slower and deeper, slower and deeper, into a deep, safe, comfortable state of hypnosis.”

7- Remind the subject how the session will work when closing the introduction i.e. “You’re now completely relaxed in a deep, comfortable and safe state of hypnosis, going deeper and deeper all of the time, until I bring you back. You will only accept the suggestions that you’re comfortable with and will benefit you, and that you want to accept.”

8- Do not dive in tackling the problem immediately at hand. Ease into the session, using your subject’s breathing as a guide, making your instructions more and more direct. Phrase things in the positive. It’s not just the overall message that is important, but also the way in which the message is delivered. Things should not be phrased in the conditional i.e. do not use “should”, or “could”. They should always be in the positive and the affirmative.

9- Bring the session to a close. Once you have repeatedly delivered the desired message, bring the session to a close. The best and quickest way to do this is to simply say, “I’m going to count from five down to one, and at the count of one you will be wide awake, completely refreshed, and will remember everything that we’ve discussed”. A nice piece of closure such as summing up what they will have gained from this experience could also be helpful, before carrying out the count. 

Tips

Get feedback on the session as this will make it easier to induce hypnosis next time

People will ask many questions before being hypnotised so be clued up and confident in your responses: It is completely safe, it will just feel like they are half awake, you’re just going to give them some visualisations to help them relax, you can only get them to do things that they want to do, and they can make it easier for you by fully embracing the experience.

Don’t get yourself into trouble! Don’t try and get people to do things that they don’t want to do as you could get sued or arrested!

Be wary of bringing back subject’s old memories. They may be emotionally disturbing to them.