April 25th, 2008 — How to Hypnotize
Hypnosis has been appearing in cartoons since they were invented! Is it because this is one medium where the power of hypnosis is absolute? Or driven by our fascination and fear that hypnosis may have the power to control us against our will?
This light hearted look at hypnosis raises the primal question:
Can we trust ANYONE with this power?
April 25th, 2008 — How to Hypnotize
Just how much influence can hypnotism provide? The answer, you would think, would best be provided by research. Not so! In fact researchers seem to have got themselves into all sorts of strife trying to study hypnosis.
Take the question of “suggestibility” There have been numerous studies attempting to find out what, if anything, makes people more suggestible. Apart from increasing the number of words that no-one can pronounce let alone understand, confusion seems to have been the main result.
Research finds that SUCCESS IN HYPNOSIS DEPENDS ON MOTIVATION
More on this in a later post. For now we can get some clarity on the subject from an experienced hypnotist Joshua Seth, who had some definitive points to make when interviewed for the Stamford University rag, The Stamford Daily
According to Seth, we can use hypnotism to hot up our sex life and get way better financial deals! Some excerpts from the interview may raise your eyebrows:
BS: Have you ever erotically hypnotized a girlfriend?
JS: Yeah, why not? Wouldn’t you, if you could?……. Read more
and…
BS: Do you get really good deals when you buy a car?
JS: Hypnosis can be applied to sales techniques and all areas of human influence, so it’s very useful when closing deals, negotiating rates, romancing people……Read more
He also provides some insights into this concept of “suggestibility”:
JS: ….A hypnotist is looking for genuine enthusiasm. I give hypnotic pretests, where everyone in the audience gets to experience it. The key to being able to be hypnotized is to want to be hypnotized. If people are there just to try to prove they can’t be hypnotized, they’re just working against themselves.
As you will see in an upcoming post, recent research does indeed suggest that success in hypnosis depends on motivation. Does that explain Seth’s success in getting good car deals?
April 17th, 2008 — How to Hypnotize
Hypnosis has been used as a way to entertain (stage hypnosis), as a way to heal disorders (medical hypnosis) and as a way to dominate and control others!
In a relatively new application, hypnosis is being used as a tool for “focus group” research by marketers. Perhaps it is only surprising that it has taken so long to be used as a publicly acknowledged tool for marketing! And it is catching on fast as more and more companies are rushing to get in on the new buzz marketing strategy.
Brandvisioning, for example, suggest that:
By accessing the subconscious mind of their consumer, marketers can gain new, and sometimes surprising information…..Hypnosis is the best way to get access to the deepest area of the consumer’s mind.
The twist, of course, is that there is no suggestion that the consumer is being controlled, here. Rather, hypnosis is being used to more accurately “mine” information from consumers.
What’s more, big businesses is spending serious money to use hypnosis this way. Companies like Volvo, no less, are relying on these techniques.
In a recent report, Keith Hein noted
Volvo equals safety. In focus group after focus group, participants said the same thing. So, Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, did the obvious thing: It called in a hypnotist.
Members of these unique Volvo focus groups were asked to test-drive the car. Immediately afterwards they were hypnotized and asked their true feelings about the brand. It wasn’t pretty: Many revealed that Volvo also equals being middle-aged. That idea “for some people was suffocating,” said Michael Fanuele, head of planning at Euro. “Hypnosis helped get past the cliches. We needed the conversation to get to a deeper, more emotional place.”
In other words, hypnosis now offers a whole new way for doing market research!!
April 15th, 2008 — How to Hypnotize
Hypnosis can be a powerful tool. But there are many fears that people have about hypnosis that means they are reluctant to either use it or allow themselves to be a subject.
Most people don’t like the thought of giving control of their thoughts or actions to someone else -understandably! But Hollywood and stage shows have both used hypnosis as a means of entertaining their audiences.
And it is more entertaining to present hypnosis as having dramatic effects - perhaps even sinister! Anyone who has watched a stage show about hyponosis will know how it seems as if the hypnotist has conplete control over his subjects.
“Not so!” says David Kay, UK Hypnotist. In fact, he says:
“There is no question of losing control or being made to do anything against your will by using hypnosis. You are in control throughout the session. Experiments have proved that people cannot be made to do anything that is truly against their will, or against their values, either during the hypnotic session or afterwards. The unwanted or noxious suggestion is always rejected.” Follow this link for more on myths.
April 10th, 2008 — How to Hypnotize
Researchers have been trying for decades to work out what makes a person susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. Are some people more suggestible than others? If so, can we predict who will be more suggestible? Can we increase suggestibility? … and so on.
What has become clear is that there are four main types of hypnotic suggestion:
Results from research on ’susceptibility’, have been conflicting, to say the least! All the same, there are some clear cut indications of who may be suggestible.
According to one authority, susceptibility scales “typically contain a number of test suggestions which the participant will either pass or fail. Test suggestions are either ‘motor’ or ‘cognitive’ and also either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ in nature.”
OK - as you can see, writers on this subject like to talk mumbo jumbo. So let’s turn this into English! If you look at the above pic you will see what this means. People can be hypnotically influenced in four ways! So these tests look for a person’s suggestibility to:
Commands to DO
*commands to control actions eg - involuntary arm levitations
*commands to control thoughts eg - believe they are a chicken
Commands ‘NOT to do’
*commands to demand non-action eg - can’t bend arm
*commands to stop certain thoughts eg - can’t hear /see)
This all means that the first step to successful hypnosis is to be clear about the type of result you are after. Top salesmen that are “naturals” (research shows that they use a style which closely resembles hypnotic suggestion techniques) are clearly aiming at quadrant 3 (and sometimes even quadrant 4)
In other words, they are aiming to strongly influence thinking (target ends up “believing”, for eg, that they will be highly successful with…) in order to produce a desired outcome (a sale). Being able to tell which people are susceptible to this type of suggestion makes hypnotic suggestion more likely to succeed.
Research results on this will be in a later post but for now just consider the types of people that Scientology targets. Here is an organization that has specialized in using hypnotic suggestion techniques and that seem to have a clearer idea of who are vulnerable targets than researchers do! Now Scientology uses this power systematically to enslave vast numbers of people.
So we also need to understand that there is power in hypnosis - and that we have a responsibility to use it wisely!
