Is hypnosis real? Is hypnosis dangerous?
A modern person living with a weak psyche in a stream of stressful events is faced with a number of techniques that promise to quickly and effortlessly cope with his problems: mental, psychological and even physical illnesses. Doctors and psychologists often suggest that patients be treated using hypnosis. How to treat such proposals, what consequences of hypnosis treatment can be expected? Priests and doctors talk about this.
Priest Grigory Grigoriev about hypnosis
Answer to a question about hypnosis on the air of the Soyuz TV channel in the program “Conversations with Father” dated January 2, 2014.
Priest Grigory Grigoriev is an Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, psychotherapist, narcologist.
— As for hypnosis, I want to say that I have never done it. The accusations against me are due to a lack of understanding of what hypnosis is: only about twenty percent of people can enter into it, the rest do not succumb to it. This is a practice that was accepted a hundred years ago, but has gradually been abandoned.
Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko, censor of the Holy Synod, professor of the pre-revolutionary Kyiv Theological Academy, wrote in his book: hypnosis should not be perceived as something mysterious, it is a form of attracting attention, a physiological property of living objects. For example, when a driver drives along the road for a long time and looks at the lights of the car in front, he falls into a similar state. This hypnotic phase begins, and this phenomenon is characteristic of all living organisms. But we have never done or used anything like this in our work. Real hypnosis is when a person's consciousness turns off. Moreover, a person cannot be taught what he does not want.
Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko says in his book that in order for suggestion to turn into self-hypnosis, it is necessary that it correspond to the level of consciousness.
In psychology, there are generally four methods of influencing a person. The first is inspiration, when someone inspires someone, the second is imitation, the third is persuasion, the fourth is suggestion. Suggestion is the ability to perceive information without criticism. For suggestion it is necessary that the first three forms be realized.
I have never practiced hypnosis, not because it is bad, but because it is ineffective. One of the largest hypnologists, Pavel Ignatievich Bul, worked at my institute, who treated bronchial asthma in children and hypertension in adults with hypnosis. By hypnosis, he removed the children's fear of the hyperbaric chamber, which they needed.
In the sixties, Professor Buhl participated with a group of students in a television program, during which he invited viewers to test themselves for hypnosis. After a number of television viewers remained under the influence of the command given by the professor for a long time (“your hands are stuck together”), and he had to personally travel from house to house to remove this influence from hypnastic television viewers, it was decided that such influences on the television audience were inadmissible and that such influences were prohibited. transfers.
Kashpirovsky, who appeared on television during a difficult era when the Soviet Union was collapsing, needed to distract people. He knew about the existence of this prohibition and violated it. Kashpirovsky began to do what no self-respecting doctor would do. But that doesn't mean he didn't help anyone. The fact is that if people believe in something, then the system of self-hypnosis turns on, and they treat themselves, attributing it, for example, to Kashpirovsky. But what happened then around these programs looked like madness and was completely unacceptable.
At that time, Professor Buhl, Professor Vladimir Ivanovich Lebedev, and Yuri Gorny actively opposed this “television psychotherapy”. On television in the city of Norilsk, they conducted an experiment with the goal of exposing and prohibiting “television psychotherapy,” and this was achieved.
How it was? They came to Norilsk television, brought an ugly head they made from papier-mâché and said that it was supposedly a cast of the head of the famous Professor Zombie, who lives in the mountains of Tibet and has such a strong biofield that it is impossible to communicate with him personally, but the cast of the head charged with it and Voice recordings can heal a variety of diseases. Then they were asked to conduct a healing session for the residents of Norilsk. TV viewers were told that as a result of the session they would not only be healed of many diseases, but also that if they placed broken household appliances near the screens, they would start working again. The session began, and a huge self-hypnosis of people began from the influence of this crudely molded head of a non-existent professor and the sound of his voice, which was in fact a recording of inarticulate speeches of three representatives of Muslim peoples.
If you sit any person in front of a multi-million television audience, then the effect of mass potentiated influence on each other, induction, occurs. This affects people with various mental illnesses especially strongly, and it can be very dangerous.
Actually, Kashpirovsky showed us what the media are. Such experiments increase the number of self-hypnosis people in society, which is an extremely unfavorable situation. What Kashpirovsky did was not hypnosis, it was weakening the internal system of psychological defense. You can't do that kind of harm in hypnosis. Here a person begins to be manipulated, and he begins to believe in some doctor who replaces God. This is a violation of the first commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” We have no right to evaluate the personal qualities of Anatoly Ivanovich Kashpirovsky; perhaps he repented a long time ago and takes communion, because the Lord forgives a person all his sins.
Artem writes: “Hello, Father Gregory! Please answer the question that concerns me: can a psychologist who is an Orthodox Christian use hypnosis in his work? My name is Artem, I entered university to become a psychologist, and also studied hypnosis. I was looking for information on the Internet. The clergy in their interviews do not approve of this method, except for Father Dimitry Smirnov. I would like to know your opinion, since you are a priest and a psychotherapist.
I understand that some hypnotic techniques can be spiritually dangerous, for example, mentally turning to a “wise being” for advice in a trance. But maybe hypnosis, with careful selective work by a psychologist, is acceptable? I am worried about whether I will harm myself by using hypnosis with people, and whether I will harm people by the very fact of using hypnosis? Really looking forward to your reply!"
– Dear Artem, to study this problem that interests you and other people, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the two-volume book of Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko. Before the revolution, Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko was a censor of the Holy Synod and a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy. In his book he says that hypnosis should not be perceived as good or evil, it is a physiological property of living beings. In practice, we know hypnosis, when fakirs, magicians, and circus actors take, for example, a chicken and dramatically change its state. They take her by the paws and lay her on her side, and she falls into a hypnotic sleep.
Strictly speaking, hypnos is a dream. When we drive along the road in the dark and look at the lights of the car ahead, we enter a kind of drowsy state. This, in fact, is the prototype of hypnosis. In modern medical practice, hypnosis is practically not used in working with people due to its low effectiveness. It is impossible to influence a person's personality in a state of hypnosis. Here is an appeal to a mystical being, as you write, this is no longer hypnosis, this is occult sciences - of course, this is absolutely unacceptable. But if you pray to the Guardian Angel and read Orthodox prayers, then, naturally, this will not harm you.
The Holy Fathers said that the spiritual world is hidden from us by our All-loving and All-Good Lord Jesus Christ “with seven locks and seven seals.” A person should not climb there, because, according to St. Seraphim of Sarov, “the smallest demon can pierce the ground with one claw.” That's why you shouldn't look there. A person’s will is relevant in the visible world, but in the spiritual world, a person’s will will be either under God’s shield or under the enemy’s. Therefore, you should not go to the spiritual world with your will. We will immediately meet dark forces in this world, so, of course, the Lord protected us.
Hypnosis can relax a person, relieve such monosymptoms as spasm, pain - this is more psychosomatics than psychology. I don’t think that you will seriously need hypnosis in your practice as a psychologist, but at least you have an idea about it during the training process. But in general practice you will not have to use it. I don't think you need to use it. We got acquainted with it - he who is forewarned is forearmed.
Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov on the treatment of diseases with hypnosis
— Suggestion and hypnosis are the same thing. If you are afraid of hypnosis and not afraid of suggestion, then this is quite strange. Before getting into the water, you need to know the ford... Hypnosis has long been known and used and was used, for example, by many tribes in Africa as a method of treatment. You need to look at what diseases are treated with hypnosis. For example, there is a disease called hysteria, in which hypnosis helps if a person succumbs. Hypnosis also helps with alcoholism. It’s clear that if a person’s leg hurts for some reason, then no matter how you tell it, the pain may go away, but the disease itself will not go away.
How does Orthodoxy relate to neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), which many are now passionate about?
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is aimed at manipulating not only consciousness, but also the inner world of a person. Most often, hypnosis is used for this. NLP founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder write in their book Inducing a trance": “If you apply the same hypnotic induction to a group of people, only a few of them will go into trance. This is what traditional hypnotists do. But we will study unconventional hypnosis. We will study what is called Ericksonian hypnosis, following Milton G. Erickson. Ericksonian hypnosis means developing the skills of a hypnotist to the point where you can put a person into a trance in a conversation where the word “hypnosis” is not even mentioned. I learned a long time ago that it's not so much what you say, but how you say it. If you try to persuade someone consciously by overpowering them, it causes a reaction of resistance in them that is directed against you. There are people who do not resist when they are overpowered and go into a trance. But neither resistance nor cooperation proves anything other than that people are able to respond. Every living person can react. The only question is how and for what. When you practice hypnosis, your job is to notice what a person naturally responds to.” You can find out what this leads to from another book by the same authors: “At our last seminar, we worked on strategies. We programmed one woman so that she forgot her name. One man then said: “There is no way in which I could be made to forget my own name!” I asked: “What is your name?” And he answered: “I don’t know!” I replied, “Congratulations to your subconscious mind, even if you don’t have one.” It amuses me that hypnosis is so systematically ignored these days. I think this happens because the consciousness that uses this method does not trust it. But in every form of therapy that I have studied, there is a trance experience" ( Introductory NLP training course). Representatives of NLP do not hide the fact that “in a certain sense, these are skills of unlimited power over a person, power over the state and mood, thinking and behavior of the people around you” (R. Bandler. Creating Beliefs).
From the point of view of Orthodox spirituality, this is prohibited. While in a state of hypnosis, a person almost completely loses control over himself: both body and mind. The highest suggestibility occurs in the deepest phase of the hypnotic trance (the so-called paradoxical phase), when weak factors (for example, a word) act more strongly than strong ones (acute pain). A person in such a state may be inspired with feelings and thoughts that are contrary to his beliefs (including moral and religious). In a state of hypnotic trance, a person becomes susceptible to demonic influence.
Word hypnosis(Greek hypnos - sleep) was introduced by the English physician James Braid (1795-1860) in 1843. This concept denotes a state that is outwardly similar to sleep or half-asleep, caused by suggestion. It is accompanied by the subordination of the will of the sleeper to the will of the one putting him to sleep. The most ancient written monuments indicate that already the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians used hypnosis for magical effects. There is no doubt that many occult phenomena of sorcerers, shamans, and spellcasters in all centuries were based on the use of hypnosis. The concept of hypnosis is often found among modern occultists.
The Holy Scriptures strictly prohibit any occult influence on a person. The activities of wizards, soothsayers, questioners of the dead, conjurers of spirits, fortune-tellers, and charmers are named in the Bible abomination(). Apparently they practiced hypnotic occultism charmers(; and etc.). In a word charmer the Hebrew word is translated in the Synodal text chabar. This word has several meanings: bind, conjure, unite. The hypnotist binds the will of a person and manipulates him. The Holy Fathers set us up for spiritual sobriety. Let us beg God to grant us purity and humility, the fruit of which is spiritual reasoning that accurately distinguishes good from evil!(Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov. A Word about the sensual and spiritual vision of spirits. Conclusion).
Psychiatrist D.A. Avdeev about hypnosis
Unfortunately, hypnosis is widely used by official medicine and psychotherapists. Among the latter there are those who use hypnosis out of religious ignorance. Others consider themselves atheists. There are also conscious servants of evil.
Methods that forcefully influence the individual are alien to Orthodoxy. Adherents of the use of hypnotic trances talk about the opening of special psychosomatic channels during the use of hypnosis, the impact on the human psyche, bypassing criticism (“without brakes”), the disclosure of the body’s reserve capabilities, and amazing therapeutic effects.
As a specialist, I confidently declare that there are no exceptional effects. And if there is any “benefit” from hypnosis, then it is unknown how it will come back to haunt you in the future... More precisely, it is known, and even with certainty. At best, hypnologists don’t even think about this.
Hypnosis is violence against the human soul. For example, in the 3rd stage of hypnosis, a somnambulist (hypnotized) unquestioningly obeys his “guru” in everything: he can see, hear, feel non-existent objects, people (hallucinations); may not feel pain; expose hidden thoughts, feelings, desires. By the way, there is a so-called post-hypnotic suggestion effect. This is when the hypnologist’s instructions are followed a certain time after the session.
How justified is it to deprive a person of criticism and reason, even for a short time, even for a seemingly good purpose? There is no excuse for this. Man is the greatest mystery, and we sinners are simply not given the opportunity to know and see what the soul experiences in a hypnotic state, what happens in the depths of the human spirit. Not a single saint resorted to healing a person in an altered state of consciousness. Meekly and humbly, the saints of God showed the gift of healing to people, which they acquired from the Lord for the holiness of their lives.
It should be said that hypnosis over time takes on the role of a drug. The same people go from hypnotist to hypnotist, striving to experience “extraordinary” states more often. What a pity for these people! And how criminally those who lead them to such dependence act.
In recent years, many publications have appeared in the specialized literature indicating the disorganization of a person’s mental activity after frequent use of deep hypnosis.
Optina elders about hypnosis
“This hypnosis is a terrible thing. There was a time when people were afraid of this act, ran away from it, but now they are carried away by it... they benefit from it” (Rev. Nektarios).
“And the whole trouble is that this knowledge enters our lives under the guise of being able to give humanity enormous benefit” (he).
“Hypnosis is an evil, non-Christian force” (Reverend Barsanuphius).
“If you, having left God, resort to magnetism - an unnatural means - then I can no longer tell you anything” (Reverend Macarius).
The effect of hypnosis on children
I'll give just one example. Professor V. Lebedev reports: “2015 schoolchildren were examined, 93% were involved in Kashpirovsky’s sessions. During sessions, obsessive movements, hysterical reactions, hallucinatory phenomena and other mental disorders are noted. Hypnotic sleep was noted in 42%; after the sessions, various forms of mental maladjustment were identified in 7% of children. There was a clear trend toward increased suggestibility and an increase in hysterical reactions. As a result of television sessions, some children fell into a state of catalepsy at the sight of only Kashpirovsky’s photograph.”
Autogenic training (as a type of self-hypnosis)
From the perspective of Orthodox spirituality, auto-training is not beneficial to the soul. The author of this method of psychotherapy is the German scientist and practitioner Johann Schultz. In the thirties of our century, Dr. Schultz, based on his impressions from his stay in India and his acquaintance with yoga, synthesized something similar for Europeans and proposed his method for the prevention and treatment of a wide range of diseases, as well as for the purpose of mental self-regulation of the state of mind. Describing the essence of autogenic training, it should be said that it does not contribute to the intimate work of internal cleansing, the fight against vices and passions. Soothing self-relaxation is more of an escape from reality, an illusion of well-being. There is no mention of humility and sobriety as the basis of spiritual peace. It is important to remember that the method has yogic (read Buddhist) roots.
All of the above referred to the first stage of autogenic training. And then, when a person learns relaxation, he is asked to master techniques associated with artificially evoking some images or pictures. The basis of the second stage is sensory imagination. The Holy Fathers warn us against all kinds of sensuality, daydreaming, and fantasizing. Thus, the method of autogenic training should be postponed as unnecessary and due to the danger of damaging one’s soul.
Trance states
Currently, in psychotherapy there is a huge number of techniques that use trance (similar to hypnotic) states. For example, there is (oh horror!) the so-called reincarnation psychotherapy. Its consumers, while in a trance, remember their “former lives” (they write these words without quotes) and try to find in them the causes of their problems. The so-called transpersonal psychotherapy is actively developing. If you don’t go into details and say it simply and clearly, it will look like this: first, fans of such psychopractice enter a trance, and then communicate with demons.
Psychics and other occult “healers” use special states of consciousness in their practice. Moreover, they are considered an indispensable condition for a successful result. Father Anatoly (Berestov) and academician neurophysiologist S.V. Krapivin, having studied the work of the brain of people who were in a state of meditation (hypnosis, self-hypnosis), came to the following conclusion: “It is believed that the state of meditation has a beneficial effect on human health, since it reduces the rhythm breathing, heart rate, blood plasma lactate level, muscle relaxation occurs. It is even believed that such an unusual state is the best rest. However, upon detailed examination of electroencephalograms, it is clear that this is not rest at all, but a very special and strange state of the brain - a dangerous mobilization of all brain resources, all the physiological forces of the brain.”
So, through this special state of consciousness, when the “gates” of the soul are opened, the hypnotist or occultist becomes a conductor of dark forces and serves Satan. This is why the Orthodox Church defines hypnosis as “conscious service to evil” and calls it a phenomenon that “destroys the human spirit.” It is emphasized that hypnosis uses the dark forces of the spiritual world (Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, No. 12, 1989).
If you are afraid of hypnosis and think that it is used by the secret services to extract information from people, perhaps this article will help you take a different look at this phenomenon. We will talk about whether hypnosis affects consciousness, in what areas it is used and whether it is harmful to health.
Hypnosis refers to the deliberate introduction of a person into a trance, an altered state of consciousness. This technique is intended to provide patients with a more intense understanding of the present moment. In fact, the clinical state of hypnosis has nothing in common with all the famous movie tricks. At the same time, the person does not fall into deep sleep and does not lose control over his behavior. In general, patients are aware of what is happening and remember everything that happened during the session and after the end of the procedure. 
Leading expert opinion
Dr. Andrew Weil is a leading expert in the field of integrative medicine. The safety and effectiveness of this therapy method has been clinically proven. According to him, further study of this aspect can bring many benefits for medicine. Previously, hypnosis was not widely studied and was perceived by the general public, rather, as a charlatan method of influencing suggestible patients. In addition, the research community was in no hurry to study the problem and debunk the stereotypes that were well-established among the people. However, Dr. Weil, in his direct work with patients, was able to discern the advantages of this method. Patients with stress-related skin conditions, smokers, and patients suffering from autoimmune diseases experienced the greatest benefit from hypnosis. 
What diseases does hypnosis help with?
Employees of the Center for Complementary and Integrative Health share their opinions. According to experts, hypnotherapy can give positive results in eliminating the causes of headaches, irritable bowel syndrome and smoking cessation. The scientific institution cites some of the latest research in this area. Clinical hypnosis is also known to help women cope with hot flashes during menopause. There is evidence that hypnosis helps in relaxation therapy, in particular in the elimination of pain. 
Form of mental state
Hypnosis cannot be considered a cure, it is only an altered mental state. People mistakenly think that trance takes control; in fact, the picture is completely different. During a hypnotherapy session, the patient is able to increase control over the perception of things such as stress, bad habits, anxiety and even pain. 
How does this happen
The practitioner puts the patient into a trance and then works with him. At the same time, the person shares his thoughts, experiences with the doctor, and talks about his feelings. And while the patient is in a state of trance, the therapist asks to visualize the situation. Patients are even taught to go into trance on their own. In the future, they can cope with the problems that arise without the help of doctors. 
Conclusion
Self-hypnosis can indeed be used for good purposes in some diseases. The patient does not need to continue sessions with the doctor to take control of the situation. Many patients, having assessed their own hypnotizability and mastered the techniques of changing consciousness, cope well with their illness on their own.
Residents of Russia associate hypnosis with the sessions of Chumak and Kashpirovsky, who charged water and healed people from television in the “dashing” 90s. Does hypnosis really exist and what is it for? Read this article.
We enter a small room with cream-colored walls and furniture, and the hypnotist dims the lights. “I won’t scream or roll my eyes,” says Mikhail Nikolaevich Gordeev, hypnotist, psychotherapist, doctor of medical sciences. “Sit as you please.”
I sit and try to track at what point the conversation ends and hypnosis begins, but nothing works because it begins almost as soon as I meet the eyes of the hypnotherapist.
It turns out that you can provide not only information or sharpness, but also - this is what experts call the process of diving into the depths of the subconscious. The hypnotist's voice becomes softer, words fall into the space of the room less and less. He does not order anything to the patient, he only suggests. “Now you can stretch out your hands and imagine that there is a heavy book lying on one of them, and balloons are tied to the fingers of the other.” If you have already relaxed and are preparing to enter an altered state of consciousness, then the hand on which the book supposedly lies, under the influence of imagination, falls down, and the one with the balls involuntarily rises up. “This will help assess how ready you are to plunge into a trance,” explains Mikhail Nikolaevich.
The hypnotist kept his promise about the absence of directive communication during the session - only suggestions were made to turn to your subconscious and extract answers to pressing questions from there, and find resources to solve problems. During the session, the body relaxes, a sphere seems to form around it, including the space of clearly visible internal reality, outside of which there is a cotton-wool picture of the room and the existing reality, as if poorly painted by the artist. In this state, the focus of attention from the external environment shifts inward, leaving only concentration on one’s own experiences. From the outside it looks as if the person is absent from the room: the gaze is turned “inward”, the breathing is slow, the body is relaxed.
After leaving the trance, the two types of reality change places, the world around becomes crystal clear and unusually clear, the perception is fresh, which only happens early in the morning on the street of your beloved city, washed with dew. This is what it is, hypnosis on the part of the patient.
What is hypnosis from a physiological point of view?
According to Mikhail Nikolaevich Gordeev, hypnosis is a normal state of consciousness, akin to the rapid phase of sleep, in which the human psyche processes the information accumulated during the day. “This state of trance, which is actually a state of hypnosis, occurs in an ordinary person approximately once every hour and a half, spontaneously, on its own. It is completely natural, there is nothing surprising or fantastic in it. Another thing is that hypnosis, as a rule, is understood as a trance induced from the outside - it occurs under the influence of another person, with the consent or, perhaps, even sometimes without the consent of the one to whom it is induced,” explains the hypnotist.
“The best way to protect yourself from is to avoid these shady characters.” Mikhail Gordeev, hypnotist
The famous psychotherapist, author of one of the widespread techniques of hypnosis, Milton Erickson, believed exactly the same. In his opinion, anyone can be put into a trance, even those who suffer from mental disorders - the main thing is that there was contact with a hypnotist. Erickson considered trance to be a natural state of a person, necessary for him to process internal experience.
Falling into a trance naturally, a person can freely remain in it for about 15 minutes. In the induced version it can last much longer. Trance is born from the interaction between the therapist and the client - it is this interaction that determines the time of the session, its outline, results and much more. In addition, any of us, as Mikhail Nikolaevich claims, can learn to independently enter a trance (self-hypnosis) and control this state. In this way you can correct your mood, write books or paintings with inspiration - everyone uses this technique the way they like.
In medical practice, hypnosis is used to treat illnesses and solve psychological problems of the patient. Trance helps to look into the dark corners of the psyche, find there the roots of the problem that needs to be gotten rid of, and also allocate the necessary resources for this.
Hypnotize, according to the psychotherapist, even a distrustful person can. Only the depth of the trance into which he falls depends on the patient’s suggestibility. “There are different stages, different levels of depth of hypnosis. Therefore, the only question is to what level a person can be brought. Most often it depends on a lot of factors; one of the main ones is patient motivation. Another factor is specialist skill level who works with him,” says the hypnotherapist.
However, hypnosis as such cannot be called a psychotherapeutic technique - it is only a background that facilitates treatment through suggestion. During the session, the person is relaxed and may experience relief, but his problems are not solved on their own - a psychologist should help with this.
The most well-developed areas of application of hypnosis are the treatment of such severe addictions as drug addiction.“Soviet people could not have problems, so psychotherapy was aimed at, and hypnosis was considered its main method,” explains Mikhail Nikolaevich.
The classic technique that is used most often is coding according to Dovzhenko. It works well thanks to subconscious fears.
“Coding is actually the coupling of the desire to drink with the fear of death: if you drink, you will die. Suggestibility helps the code stay in the psyche. There are quite a lot of people who are coded, sometimes for a certain period of time (more often for a year than for three or five years), although Dovzhenko himself still sought to turn patients away from drinking for the rest of their lives,” says the hypnotist.
However, according to the doctor, coding only works on those alcoholics who are determined to recover. Some people may slowly start drinking a month or two after the session, but their body will not react to alcohol in any way. But there are also cases of death. “The technique is based on psychosomatic mechanisms, so before coding the patient gives a receipt stating that he is warned of death if he decides to drink,” the doctor shares his experience.
In addition to traditional drug addiction, specialists use hypnosis when working with a variety of personal and family problems, post-stress and psychosomatic disorders. Doctors began to use this technique even during rehabilitation after such a serious illness as a stroke. This pathology, caused by impaired cerebral circulation, often deprives a person of the ability to swallow, speak and even move. According to hypnotherapists, their treatment makes it possible to better restore lost body functions.
So far, this method of rehabilitation is used only in one of the capital’s clinics, but this experience is already spreading to other Russian regions.
Hypnosis. How to use and counter Filin Alexander
4.3. Does hypnosis only have short-term effects?
Hypnosis gives a fairly strong effect, comparable, for example, to the shock after an accident or other severe fright. Suggestions made in the deep stage of influence are absolute truths for patients and this is for life. Perhaps repeated stress will “knock out” fixed attitudes from the subconscious, but again, the likelihood of such an event is low. Once acquired, a skill remains in the body’s memory until the end of days: if you learn to swim, you will swim either drunk or sober, but whether it’s good or bad is a different question.
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Perhaps the most common question with which a specialist’s meeting with a patient begins is: why is hypnosis dangerous?
It should immediately be noted that there are contraindications, in the presence of which it is not recommended to be exposed to hypnotic and NLP techniques. The list includes: epilepsy, mental disorders - schizophrenia in various forms and hysteria, a tendency to seizures, as well as alcohol and drug intoxication, fever, acute poisoning.
Despite the fact that there is a successful practice of treating colds using Ericksonian hypnosis methods, people suffering from the indicated ailments should still refrain from the initial use.
At the mercy of the hypnotist
When speaking about the possible dangers of hypnosis, most patients mean the fear of being in the power of the hypnotist by turning off the person’s will. Such fears are unfounded and often far-fetched. Let's look at the main fears.
The help of a modern specialist is aimed at solving the problems of normal, mentally healthy people, which may be associated with getting rid of various types of fears, problems in building relationships, finding a partner, and others. Many ignorant people are influenced by stereotypes based on films and pop performances, which rarely correspond to the real state of affairs.
Why is hypnosis dangerous for the human psyche?
Any person, plunging into a state of trance, has the intention of adjusting certain details of his own psyche and making some improvements. At the same time, he has every right and opportunity to get out of this state at any time if he doesn’t like something - for example, the patient hears attitudes that strictly contradict him, or experiences physical discomfort.
Today on the Internet you can see videos in which a hypnotist puts women into a trance, has violent sex with her, and then brings her out of this state. The woman gets dressed as if nothing had happened and has absolutely no memory of what happened to her. However, experts deny the likelihood of such phenomena, the existence of which in nature is extremely unlikely.
Some may object, citing the example of gypsy hypnosis, with the help of which scammers take away valuables, money, and apartments from people. It is necessary to understand what gypsy hypnosis is. First of all, this is ordinary chattering aimed at overloading a person’s consciousness. As a rule, gypsies approach in a group - one demands to change money, the second asks something, the third picks you up, the fourth asks something else. Thus, a person’s consciousness is completely overloaded, and as a result, he himself does not remember how he was deceived by losing money.
Standard mind overload techniques are sometimes used to achieve greater effectiveness in individual therapy cases. To this end, the specialist begins to chatter the client or invites him to solve mathematical problems, make some kind of calculation, overloading his consciousness and achieving his shutdown.
An additional benefit of this practice is manifested in the formation of resistance in the patient, who has managed to immerse himself in a state of trance with the help of a specialist, to attempts to deceive by attackers somewhere on the street. Such a person is aware of the circumstances under which his brain begins to turn off and immersion in a trance occurs and, if there is trust, he does not resist, allowing himself to enter the desired state. If trust is absent, the person will not enter a trance state.
However, even while in a state of immersion, the patient can easily come out of it, feeling some physical or emotional discomfort. In practice, funny cases happen. So, the client, being in a trance state, unexpectedly came out of it, experiencing strong sexual arousal. Being deeply immersed, the young man decided to interrupt the session and independently came out of the trance. It is noteworthy that during the session, the patient, with the help of a specialist, dealt with the issue of searching for a relationship, and, at some point, the body naturally reacted.
Is hypnosis dangerous for humans?
There are fears that a hypnotist can instill in a person an obligation to carry out certain commands from a distance. This effect is called post-hypnotic suggestion and is characterized by the phenomenon when a person who comes out of a trance state, after some time, can begin to carry out certain instructions that he received during the immersion. In this case, it is necessary to understand that no one can connect to a person’s consciousness, but there is an attitude received by the patient during the session, which helps to gain confidence in certain circumstances and is part of the therapeutic correction of behavior.
In addition, any specialist values his reputation and is not interested in using any dishonest methods that could harm the patient or leave an imprint on his professional activities. Submitting oneself to the will of another person is a responsibility that requires a colossal expenditure of one’s own time, effort and energy as a specialist to guide a person through life.
The task of a modern hypnotherapist is to help the patient mobilize his own reserves, direct him on the right path and get rid of aggravating circumstances that prevent the full manifestation of all his individual abilities. So why is hypnosis dangerous for a person?
Another common fear is to give all your money and property to a hypnotist under the influence of suggestion. It is based on the same gypsy hypnosis, the influence of which forces people to give all their money to attackers. The peculiarity of this effect is its temporary nature. Having woken up from hypnosis, victims turn to law enforcement agencies, and would-be hypnotists get themselves into trouble in the form of problems with the law.
A specialist who respects himself and his patients will never engage in such tricks due to moral and ethical principles, as well as the publicity that accompanies this type of activity, risking causing irreparable damage to his own reputation. True professionals use honest methods in their work that do not contradict the law. In addition, as mentioned above, a person who has experienced immersion in a trance state with the help of a specialist is practically not susceptible to attempts by scammers, understanding the whole mechanism of what is happening.
Is hypnosis dangerous for humans? Real life example
A striking example is the story of a client who turned to a hypnologist for help to solve a specific problem. The session was successful, the patient easily fell into a trance, solved his own problems with the support of a professional and safely emerged from the hypnotic state.
After a short amount of time, this man, during a meeting with a certain woman, felt familiar signs of influence. Understanding what was happening based on past experience, he turned off the state, managing to prevent an attempt to influence him at the subconscious level. Thus, the specialist’s session helped the patient not only solve the assigned tasks, but also protected him from the possible negative consequences of unwanted interference in his own psyche.
It is extremely important to take a responsible approach to choosing a hypnotherapist. You should definitely pay attention to whether he has professional certificates confirming his knowledge of the techniques. In addition, the specialist must engage in targeted activities in a specific area.
Dealing with the designated specifics - for example, relationships, medicine and others, the therapist works with tasks in which he has achieved mastery, provided by years of practice, special knowledge, and research into specifics from different angles.
Thus, a hypnologist practicing health improvement must have medical skills. A relationship specialist has extensive experience working with people, helping them build new relationships, understand existing ones and analyze past ones, help them make decisions about the advisability of continuing communication, returning former partners and ways to achieve the desired result.
A professional hypnologist in the field of gender interaction will help normalize your sex life, solve your own problems, get rid of negative attitudes, gain confidence, etc.
Any narrowly focused question that defines the specifics of a hypnotherapist’s activity actually includes a fairly wide range of related topics. The framework of intersexual relationships may well include harmonization of sleep with the help of hypnotic and meditative practices, motivation and increased self-confidence, and the search for one’s path in life.
An example of such a relationship is the desire of a client - a young man - to meet a girl, the problem in the implementation of which is low self-esteem. To get rid of the inhibitory factor, it is necessary to find out the direction of life, earning potential, and social desires. Solving all these issues will help increase self-esteem, grow in your own eyes and the eyes of others, arousing interest in the opposite sex. The same goes for women. You need to find yourself, your interests, dreams and ways to achieve them - this will allow you to reveal your own attractiveness. Such questions are interrelated, which is why hypnologists effectively address them in the context of a specific task.
Vlad Pozier | Relationship Psychologist
A practicing psychologist with extensive experience in the field of love relationships between a man and a woman will help you see and reveal personal qualities that are attractive to the opposite sex and use them when meeting and communicating with people you like.
During individual conversations with Vladimir Sokolov, you will not only get rid of complexes, but also be able to build new lines of your behavior. Under the sensitive guidance of this specialist, hundreds of people were able to realize the value of real relationships and get rid of the burden of past grievances and addictions.
The results of close communication with a psychologist will not keep you waiting long, as he is a professional in his field, masterfully using hypnotechnics and advanced psychotherapeutic techniques