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what is hypnosis?

Let's explore how we can set some foundations for an easy, everyday approach to hypnosis so that the experience can be more acceptable and so, more accessible.

People have told me that the most difficult part of this learning is acceptance that it really can be that easy.

So ... enjoy the ease ...

 

PS - there are some topics that I won't be spending time with in this programme.

There are are specific tests of hypnotisability which merely measure an individual's ability to respond to the test....

6 comments

 

Hi rob.. these days its so common to see people focused and absorbed with whatever they are looking at on their "smart" phones.. its a bit scary to think how the masses may be being manipulated in future by "big brother" type scenerio with artificial intelligence becoming a reality.. just a thought.. thanks for this course on "easy" hypnosis and i accept your description of hypnosis as given ...

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Rob McNeilly
Staff
 

And ... if the masses can be manipulated by their smart phones, they have the skills to learn something useful. Same skills.different outcomes.

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It seems right now that people are being manipulated on a massive scale, at least here in the US.  We haven't gotten to metaphor and narrative hypnosis yet, but the media is busy creating absorbing stories and narratives to push an agenda here in the States.  At the same time, your comment that "if the masses can be manipulated by their smart phones, they have the skills to learn something useful...Same skills, different outcomes" seems particularly relevant.  Continual repetition, which I believe you discuss in another context concerning "affirmations" is going on a lot here, which has had an amazing impact on the population.  It also demonstrates fear as a pathway to hypnosis.  I have no wish to sound conspiratorial, but I do think a lot of strategic communication planning is going on in many environments, and it would be good to pay attention.

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Rob McNeilly
Staff
 

Learning about hypnosis gives us a way of making sense of what happens to people. Group hypnosis can be so useful ... and it can be used to cause harm. I'm a fairly peaceful person, but when a friend took me to a football match, I shouted criticisms like an idiot. Spin doctors know about using language to influence people but the important first step is to appear trustworthy. It's a good learning for all of us so we can be more useful to our clients.

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One observation I believe to be interesting in everyday life is when some people see a spider. I've observed that myself and others tend to fixate on them, to the point of not noticing the surrounding area. Even then, when I think about it in terms of resources, these skills of paying attention to something small and hard to notice with such great detail can be used in a variety of situations, and can prove to be a powerful resource that we can potentially connect people into... though I'm still not yet sure if it's a good idea to connect people to such a strange resource!

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Rob McNeilly
Staff
 

@Amol Dosanjh It's good to be unsure and have the possibility of using this resource. Also it can be helpful to think of phobias as a bad trance - more options. One of Erickson's sons had trouble with maths at school. He got the right answer but the teacher criticised him for using the wrong method. His father said that he had the same trouble himself and encouraged his son to continue with his own method as long as he was getting the right answer. As an adult,  he was able to make a career as a code breaker in the defence department using his individual maths skills.

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