This article was written by a real human, not AI.
In this article, I’ve compiled a list of common questions that clients ask before showing up for a session.
Some myths are busted, and some ambiguity is clarified.
Before you go for a session, read this to quash your doubts!
How does being hypnotised feel?
Generally speaking, being hypnotised is best described as a deeply relaxing sensation that has a meditative quality to it.
Hypnosis happens on a spectrum. A person who goes deep into hypnosis will feel very relaxed. They know they’re physically present in the room, but their mind will be in a different zone. What this “zone” is depends on where the therapist takes them mentally.
Time seems to vanish. What feels like 15 minutes often turns out to be an hour. It’s simple. You hover between waking and sleeping—not tired, just in limbo. There’s a quiet awareness of the now, not asleep, not fully awake—present but gently detached.
People on the other end of the hypnosis spectrum experience superficial hypnosis. They often comment that they don’t feel any different, and it feels like regular talk therapy. This normally happens to analytical people.
How do you know if you have been hypnotised?
I’ll share from a therapist’s perspective the symptoms of being hypnotised. When I studied hypnotherapy, I was taught to look out for a relaxed body, slow and calm breathing, spaced out speech, and the rolling up of eyeballs. If two or more signs are observed, the client is likely to be hypnotised.
When I started practicing, I noticed that eyelid flutter is another indicator of a trance.
To me, the most telltale sign they’re in hypnosis is the language they use during hypnotherapy, and the way they respond. In my practice, I regress clients to relive past events. If they can narrate from vivid imagery with minimal prompting, in first-person language, and with the outpouring of emotions, they are deep in the past event and therefore deeply hypnotised.
If I observe the client analysing the session and their thoughts, I know they’re experiencing a superficial trance. Such sessions normally yield fewer results. It’s not a coincidence that this group of people believes that they’re not in hypnosis.
It’s also worth noting that many people drift in and out of hypnosis. They don’t stay in a, let’s say, constant alpha or theta state.
Now back to the question “How do you know if you have been hypnotised?” or “How do I know if hypnosis is working?”
As the therapy subject, it helps to leave this curiosity aside. I know it’s hard. Harbouring this thought lands you squarely in the zone of “superficial hypnosis”, if there’s such a term. Your mind ends up analysing the session rather than focusing on the therapist’s instructions to heal yourself.
The need to ask this question stems from doubt and curiosity. As a therapist, I understand why you would ask this. However, for the sake of your recovery, avoid thinking about it during the session because you might waste your money.
This is why I always tell my clients to be spontaneous during the session. I want them to tell me the first spontaneous impression that comes to mind when I ask a question. The analysis will happen later.
But old habits die hard; some begin to analyse from the get-go or in the middle of the session.
How to tell if you’re easily hypnotised?
Some questionnaires tell you how hypnotisable you are, but they’re not accurate. Furthermore, there are methods for people who claim to be “not hypnotisable” to enter hypnosis.
The standard answer to this question goes like this: You respond quickly to suggestions and enter a relaxed state with minimal resistance. Guided imagery leads to vivid sensations or shifts in perception. You often daydream (a state of hypnosis) or lose track of time during routine tasks. These habits suggest high susceptibility to hypnosis.
My observations indicate that individuals who are visual and emotion-centred are most easily hypnotised and benefit most from hypnotherapy. The reason for this is simple: firstly, humans are visual creatures, so it’s easy for visual people to describe what they “see” in their mind’s eye. People who can’t visualise (apparently this is called aphantasia) have difficulty with hypnosis. Secondly, the ability to connect with one’s emotions helps them deeply associate with their past self who is hurting. Analytical people who are emotionally disconnected tend to view the past as a third person.
Hence, the kind of person who’s not easily hypnotised has great difficulty visualising and is analytical. I’m one such person. Yet, I benefited from hypnosis. It’s the application of the right technique that helped me go deep.
Are you still in control when hypnotised?
Most certainly, you remain in control in a therapy setting.
Hypnotism, at least in therapy, isn’t mind control but a cooperative state. You’re simply agreeing to follow suggestions, yet you retain the power to reject anything that makes you uncomfortable. The hypnotist guides, but it’s you who chooses to relax into suggestions. Your level of attention to the visual imagery and how you lend your feeling to it allows the trance to form.
The hypnotism in stage acts is a different thing altogether. Some people claim to be under the thumb of the hypnotist, whereas some faked it altogether. This aligns with the fact that some are more hypnotisable than others.
This Reddit comment best explains it:
My husband was hypnotized by Anthony Cools when he was in Vegas like 5 years ago. He made it on to the stage with 5 other people, one being his uncle who faked it the entire time. My husband on the other hand was hypnotized and said it just made him feel very calm. The guy was making him do some pretty crazy stuff, my husband said that he knew exactly what was going on but when he was told to do something he just did it without thinking. One example being the song “burning ring of fire”. Every time it was played he was supposed to feel an overwhelming burning sensation on his ass hole and the only cure was to scoot his butt around on stage like a dog….this happened like 3-4 times throughout the show.
Some hyper-suggestible people respond well to suggestions. It also calls for the individual’s willingness to participate in the entire scheme. Someone might be suggestible, but if he consciously resists the suggestion from the get-go, he is unlikely to respond to the hypnotist’s suggestion.
In one of my hypnotherapy sessions, I suggested to the client, “Your eyes are sealed shut and you cannot open them. The harder you try, the more difficult it becomes.” Later on, he needed to visit the toilet. He got up and exclaimed in surprise, “I want to open my eyes but I can’t.”
The suggestion worked.
Is being hypnotised like being asleep?
Popular books on hypnotism often depict the subject as unconscious and in deep sleep. They have no awareness of what happens during the session, and at the end, leave the hypnotic state feeling confused. It’s no wonder that people have such an impression of hypnotism. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In a typical session, the subject is conscious, but each individual enters a different state of trance as explained above. Some go deeper and associate deeply with their past self, while others remain in a superficial state of hypnosis.
None of my clients has ever been unconscious, partly due to the regression technique I often use.
To give you a different perspective, you may feel like you’re about to nod off, but you’re not asleep. You’re alert, but the mind is still and hyper-aware of your inner environment. You remain conscious, though detached.
Sleep involves deep unconsciousness. Hypnosis is more akin to a dream-like receptive state. You’re awake, but you feel inwardly still, your awareness soft and pliable to suggestion, floating between the past and the present.
Can you remember being hypnotised?
I’m 100% sure that all my clients retain a clear memory of their session, including the feeling of hypnosis. You recall guidance, suggestions and how your mind felt.
The memory may feel hazy because many pivotal moments will be explored during the session. The minute details may fade, but the essence of it remains. You’ll definitely recollect the impactful moments explored during the hypnotic trance.
Two of my clients have described how, in a session of suggestive hypnotherapy (which differs from regression hypnotherapy), they felt their conscious mind step aside. Thereafter, they have no recollection of what happened during the session.
In my observation, this rarely happens. It can happen to hyper-suggestible people, and if the instruction was given for the conscious mind to step aside, or for the subconscious mind to come to the forefront.
Does hypnosis make you tell the truth?
Hypnosis doesn’t force honesty because you’re not unconscious and under the therapist’s control. It doesn’t compel confession. That being said, clients have expressed that they feel more open to share their regrets and worries under hypnosis, whereas they felt blocked during conventional therapy. However, if I were to suggest something that they intrinsically disagreed with, they would not act on it.
Hence, using hypnosis to reveal deeply hidden truths isn’t guaranteed. Hypnosis can help ease resistance or encourage reflection, but it cannot override your will. If telling the truth feels right, you might. If it doesn’t, you’ll stay silent. You choose what you reveal.
More than a few clients have come forth to see if they had committed an error in the past. Two cases come to mind: one man came to check if he had inappropriately touched a girl, and the other wanted to know if he was subconsciously gazing at other girls. In both cases, their partners told them to come. They thought hypnosis would coerce them to tell the truth.
In the end, the findings were inconclusive.
So no, hypnosis doesn’t make you tell the truth.
What should you do after hypnosis?
Hypnosis can make you feel spaced out and dizzy if you go deep into the hypnotic trance. Some people get a headache during or after the session. It’s perfectly normal.
After a session, take a moment to reorient. Sit quietly before standing. I offer my clients water and a small snack to settle them back in the room.
Hypnosis, for some people, can feel like you’ve woken from a short nap, so you have to help your body transition. Avoid doing mentally challenging tasks or operating heavy machinery after a deep session.
Photo credits: MK Hamilton, iam_os, Richard Barker, medium photoclub
