You're going to find hypnotists at both ends of the spectrum . . .
Those who say that suggestibility is an innate trait that can't be changed and that while most people are moderately hypnotizeable there are a certain number who are highly responsive and a certain number who are low responders and a certain number who are non-hypnotizeable.
Then there are those who say that ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN BE HYPNOTIZED as long as you know the right induction (usually the one they learned from their teachers or the one they are marketing). If you train the trance partner appropriately then they will respond.
Well . . . they're both right . . . at least in my experience . . . it is my opinion that hypnosis is both an aptitude trait AND a skill. There are people who are naturally – as Dr. Don Gibbons refers to them – experientially gifted, the natural somnambules, the highly responsive individuals who test as natural deep trance experientials on the suggestibility or hypnotic susceptibility scales. There are also folks who are naturally low responders. You can work with them but it takes creativity, imagination, and effort. However, anyone can learn to become a better trance experiential through practice and effort. It is also a skill that can be improved.
This position is NOT self-contradictory as I've seen it described in discussion by folks who think it must be an either or proposition.
No, it makes perfect sense. When you think of someone like Michael Jordan you would likely consider him a naturally gifted athlete who became one of the world's great basketball players through an application of a natural aptitude and practice. Most world-class NBA stars are likewise naturally gifted in some way, however, not all of them. Some folks gain world-class skills despite a lack of a natural gift via hard work and determination and simple practice.
Likewise, some folks are naturally very gifted at experiential hypnosis but others can learn to become better at the experience through practice. Of course, having a competent and imaginative guide who can help you find your hook for response is very helpful as well.
Anyone can be hypnotized, even those low responders . . . but it takes creative application of trance skills and imagination to find their hook and to then progressively take them through the experience to experience various phenomena. Of course, while one's goal may eventually be deep trance phenomena you might have to start with light trance and progressively deepen the experience.
I know . . . there's marketing out there that claims this or that person can hypnotize anyone at anytime. This is marketing or self-promotion or simply lying. If a hypnotist claims to have never failed with a client then that person is either inexperienced and lucky or inflating the truth for promotional benefit. Of course, with experience one gets better at identifying various types of responders and working with them more effectively so failures do become much fewer and further between. Sometimes a failed hypnosis session is due to a lack of competence on the part of the hypnotist, sometimes due to resistance in the trance partner, but sometimes it can be other factors.
If you go to a hypnotist and find you have difficulty entering hypnosis it does not mean you are a natural low responder – it takes much more than a single session to determine that – as there are many factors that go into your response. If you wish to maximize your success, the capitalize most effectively on your natural aptitude, then be sure to concentrate and focus and follow the instructions as they are given and to IMAGINE AS IF YOU CAN REALLY FEEL IT. That's right, intensify how your imagination is involved to the point that you can actually FEEL yourself responding, just like when you were a kid and could become so very involved in a game . . . and when you feel yourself responding, DIVE INTO THAT EXPERIENCE and tell yourself to intensify it. Some folks make the mistake of pulling back when they should surrender to it and let it build.
Well, this is a rambling post but I wanted to make the point on aptitude and skill being non-oppositional views. The rest just kind of rambled on out. So there it is.
Oh . . . IN MY OPINION as of now . . . I could always change my mind at any random time.
All the best,
Brian
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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [brian@briandavidphillips.com]
Hypnotist, Hypnotherapist, Intuitionist, Trance Wizard
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
