When people hear the word hypnosis, they often imagine something mysterious—or maybe theatrical. A swinging watch. A blank stare. A person doing something they are told to do that they wouldn't do under their own volition.
But responsible hypnosis, as practiced by mental health professionals for the purpose of helping people, is nothing like the dramatic version portrayed as entertainment.
You've Already Experienced Hypnosis
You’ve likely already experienced hypnosis without even realizing it. Have you ever been so absorbed in a book or daydream that you didn’t notice time passing? Or driven somewhere and arrived without remembering that you were driving there? That’s a spontaneous entry into a hypnotic state; it's what we call a trance state.
What Hypnosis Really Is
Hypnosis is used by mental health professionals to relieve pain or to help people change unwanted habits, such as smoking.
If someone wants to be helped through hypnosis, they’re open to following the hypnotist’s instructions. The subject is typically told to focus intensely—on their breathing, a repeated word, or a fixed point. Let’s say they’re asked to focus on a spot on the wall. They’re told to ignore all other stimuli and to expect that at some point their eyes will spontaneously close.
This implies that their eyes will be closed by a part of the mind that doesn't feel like a part of their own identity. It's as though someone else is closing the eyes. This seems impossible. But the mind solves this by dissociating, splitting. It creates a double pathway. In one arm, the reality is that the eyes can't close spontaneously. But the other arm creates a new mental pathway that negates the sense of identity.
This creates an "Other," a separate part of the mind. When the Other closes the eyes, hypnosis has been achieved.
Self-Hypnosis
In self-hypnosis the person serves as both hypnotist and subject. They direct their attention to something (e.g. to a spot on the wall) and suggest that their eyes will close all by themselves. When that happens, their mind has created an "Other," a separate mental pathway that fulfills the person's wish.
If the wish is to feel peaceful and calm, that occurs. If the wish is to stop smoking, this will happen, though usually not immediately but over time.
If the wish is not for the solution to a specific problem but for an Inner Guide that can bring emotional comfort, the Other that is created as one enters the self-hypnotic state will be just that: an Inner Guide.
The Inner Guide
An Inner Guide is formed by the confluence of three mental pathways:
- the pathway of comfort
- the wish to be helpful
- a sense of its own identity.
Once created, it begins working to solve all a person's discomforts and problems.
A Way to Feel Better—Effortlessly
In today’s world, relief often feels like another task you have to work for. But once you learn self-hypnosis, the process begins to do the job for you. That’s why so many people who try it say, “This is different.” And it is.
Self-hypnosis may sound mysterious at first. But once you understand what’s really happening, you will realize what it can do for you. You can create your own Inner Guide with the Stress-Free Formula:
https://www.communityforwellbeing.com/the-stress-free-formula
If you already have an Inner Guide and practice self-hypnosis regularly, I invite you to join the Community for Well-Being, an online community dedicated to supporting individuals who are using the Inner Guide in their lives. If you email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., I'll send you the link.
