Start learning hypnosis
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I am no expert, however I started with Derren Brown's book Tricks of the Mind. It provides a solid basis on how to actually hypnotise a person, and a lot of personal thoughts of his on various aspects of hypnosis, such as what it is, why certain things work, and specific techniques. This is all supported by a fair few anecdotes of his, some of which are very interesting to read and are chosen to make fascinating points about hypnosis itself.
The next book I've read is Reality Is Plastic by Anthony Jacquin, which is a much more structured step by step approach, its more of a tutorial so its pretty dry to read, but very informative. It follows steps and techniques in a chronological order for someone to learn hypnosis. I say its a book, but its actually a spiral bound notebook printed on cheap paper that is actually very thin. Sure there is more than enough information in there but its very dense and streamlined, considering the price and physical properties its a bit meh. Anthony is very commercial with his hypnosis so sometimes his videos are a bit hard to get through.
I consider hypnosis a fairly strong personal journey, so I feel a bit like once you've sorted out your ethics and covered some basic principals on how to make it work its mostly personal development from there, these books are good for reference however I wouldn't follow them very literally. Definitely watch some videos of the author performing (If you aren't familiar with these people) before you buy their books and decide from there, also look at other hypnotists too.
As far as DVDs go I'm not really sure. The only one I'm aware of is The Manchurian Approach, also by Anthony Jacquin, and I'm pretty sure its more or less a video form of his book. I think it follows the progress of an absolute beginner as he teaches them the content of the book. If you want to learn from someone, and you have some experience, you can more or less watch them perform and do it as there shouldn't really be anything secret or behind the scenes going on.
There are also seminars available but that depends on where you are and they tend to be pretty expensive in comparison to a book or DVD, but its said that that is the easiest way to learn.
The next book I've read is Reality Is Plastic by Anthony Jacquin, which is a much more structured step by step approach, its more of a tutorial so its pretty dry to read, but very informative. It follows steps and techniques in a chronological order for someone to learn hypnosis. I say its a book, but its actually a spiral bound notebook printed on cheap paper that is actually very thin. Sure there is more than enough information in there but its very dense and streamlined, considering the price and physical properties its a bit meh. Anthony is very commercial with his hypnosis so sometimes his videos are a bit hard to get through.
I consider hypnosis a fairly strong personal journey, so I feel a bit like once you've sorted out your ethics and covered some basic principals on how to make it work its mostly personal development from there, these books are good for reference however I wouldn't follow them very literally. Definitely watch some videos of the author performing (If you aren't familiar with these people) before you buy their books and decide from there, also look at other hypnotists too.
As far as DVDs go I'm not really sure. The only one I'm aware of is The Manchurian Approach, also by Anthony Jacquin, and I'm pretty sure its more or less a video form of his book. I think it follows the progress of an absolute beginner as he teaches them the content of the book. If you want to learn from someone, and you have some experience, you can more or less watch them perform and do it as there shouldn't really be anything secret or behind the scenes going on.
There are also seminars available but that depends on where you are and they tend to be pretty expensive in comparison to a book or DVD, but its said that that is the easiest way to learn.
Well, I've drunk just enough to be interested in bouncing into here. Reassuring to know that I made the right choice previously. Just know I'm going to toss this response out and probably not bother checking back for several months.
If all you want to do is "mess with people's heads" then don't bother with hypnosis. You'll suck at it. It requires a lot of empathy and ability to see things from your subject's point of view. If you really want to explore the idea of the mind's ability to shape reality, then first thoroughly study Reality is Plastic.
Yes, the bit in the Derren Brown book will tell you how it's done. It's not a bad explanation, either, if you already understand hypnosis. However, Reality is Plastic will explain how to hypnotize someone from square one.
Once you've studied that, and done some hypnosis sessions, you can either expand your learning or keep experimenting. If you want to keep experimenting - find a group of people who want to experience hypnosis and go through the lessons in RiP.
If you want to learn to be the best hypnotist possible - Enroll in Mike Mandel's Hypnosis Academy.
But you'll give up on this as soon as it seems like work so I'm just hoping someone else will find this thread and follow a good path.
If all you want to do is "mess with people's heads" then don't bother with hypnosis. You'll suck at it. It requires a lot of empathy and ability to see things from your subject's point of view. If you really want to explore the idea of the mind's ability to shape reality, then first thoroughly study Reality is Plastic.
Yes, the bit in the Derren Brown book will tell you how it's done. It's not a bad explanation, either, if you already understand hypnosis. However, Reality is Plastic will explain how to hypnotize someone from square one.
Once you've studied that, and done some hypnosis sessions, you can either expand your learning or keep experimenting. If you want to keep experimenting - find a group of people who want to experience hypnosis and go through the lessons in RiP.
If you want to learn to be the best hypnotist possible - Enroll in Mike Mandel's Hypnosis Academy.
But you'll give up on this as soon as it seems like work so I'm just hoping someone else will find this thread and follow a good path.
dawngrant - no offense, but considering both of your posts sound kind of like gibberish, are you a spam bot?
My belief regarding Hypnosis in what I call the 'traditional' sense, like when a magician brings someone up from the audience, quickly puts them into a hypnotic trance and get's them to do various things....etc. Is that it is stage-craft and magic with a gimmicks, the helper is in on the trick.
I do believe that a skilled properly trained hypnotist can use this process to help, over time, influence a persons mind to think differently, have an aversion to smoking, drinking, over eating, etc. but the subject must be willing and capable of being hypnotized, and not all are!
I do believe that a skilled properly trained hypnotist can use this process to help, over time, influence a persons mind to think differently, have an aversion to smoking, drinking, over eating, etc. but the subject must be willing and capable of being hypnotized, and not all are!
It's more work to find someone that could convincingly act like they are hypnotized, than it is to simply hypnotize someone. Someone trained in hypnosis who has a willing subject should be able to induce a trance state in under a minute (Dave Elman, Hypnotherapy)
A skilled hypnotherapist should be able to create changes in behavior in a single session. The person I've learned the most from, Mike Mandel, trains folks to do all the work in one go and that you should only maybe need a single follow up. Otherwise, either the person wasn't actually ready to change the behavior, or the hypnotist used non-optimal methods.
The idea that one cannot be hypnotized is, in itself, hypnosis. It's a suggestion that has been taken as true. While I wouldn't say every single person on the planet can be hypnotized, I will say that almost everyone can be. Most people go in and out of hypnotic trance every day. All hypnotic trance is, is a state of focused attention on a single idea ("Monoideism" - James Braid, Neurypnology). So when you're "in the zone" practicing card tricks? Hypnosis. When you're really into a book and feel emotionally effected by something that happens in the story? Hypnosis. When you're watching TV and stop noticing anything happening around you? You guessed it. Driving a route you've driven a thousand times, and suddenly can't remember any of the drive? They call that highway hypnosis.
The problem is that there's a ton of myths and outright misinformation regarding hypnosis out there. It's not a willpower thing, where the hypnotist is dominating the subject (That was mesmerism). It's not mind control. You're not actually "sleeping" (Hypnosis is a misnomer, which James Braid tried to correct but the other names he applied never really took hold). When in a hypnotic trance the subject is completely aware of their surroundings, often hyper aware in fact, and is willingly suspending their critical factor and following the suggestions. At any time they can stop doing that and pop right out of the trance if they so desire. I've actually seen folks do demonstrations where they have the subject do that, pop out and then right back in when they wanted to.
I'm actually doing a panel on the history of hypnosis on Saturday at a fair in Princeton so all this stuff is really fresh on my mind.
A skilled hypnotherapist should be able to create changes in behavior in a single session. The person I've learned the most from, Mike Mandel, trains folks to do all the work in one go and that you should only maybe need a single follow up. Otherwise, either the person wasn't actually ready to change the behavior, or the hypnotist used non-optimal methods.
The idea that one cannot be hypnotized is, in itself, hypnosis. It's a suggestion that has been taken as true. While I wouldn't say every single person on the planet can be hypnotized, I will say that almost everyone can be. Most people go in and out of hypnotic trance every day. All hypnotic trance is, is a state of focused attention on a single idea ("Monoideism" - James Braid, Neurypnology). So when you're "in the zone" practicing card tricks? Hypnosis. When you're really into a book and feel emotionally effected by something that happens in the story? Hypnosis. When you're watching TV and stop noticing anything happening around you? You guessed it. Driving a route you've driven a thousand times, and suddenly can't remember any of the drive? They call that highway hypnosis.
The problem is that there's a ton of myths and outright misinformation regarding hypnosis out there. It's not a willpower thing, where the hypnotist is dominating the subject (That was mesmerism). It's not mind control. You're not actually "sleeping" (Hypnosis is a misnomer, which James Braid tried to correct but the other names he applied never really took hold). When in a hypnotic trance the subject is completely aware of their surroundings, often hyper aware in fact, and is willingly suspending their critical factor and following the suggestions. At any time they can stop doing that and pop right out of the trance if they so desire. I've actually seen folks do demonstrations where they have the subject do that, pop out and then right back in when they wanted to.
I'm actually doing a panel on the history of hypnosis on Saturday at a fair in Princeton so all this stuff is really fresh on my mind.
Do not listen to any of these gibberish things. ChristopherT knows what he is talking about. I also would recommend checking out James Brown. Looking at how you speak though and what you want to do I feel you are young and don't know how deep this rabbit hole goes yet.
I am not young by any measure! I have actually worked with a "Licensed Hypnotist" Coupled with a lifetime of observation and exposure to all types....I stand by what I say...
Of course, I must also respect that you believe what you are saying. We must agree to disagree....actually I hope you are correct, would be good for magicians and others who could use the help of being truly hypnotized!
Of course, I must also respect that you believe what you are saying. We must agree to disagree....actually I hope you are correct, would be good for magicians and others who could use the help of being truly hypnotized!
Oh! Right! James Brown has the POWA academy thing, Reality Bending. I had meant to mention that but must have taken it out in one of my edits. I bought it but haven't watched it yet - only a little bit.
I also liked his Penguin Lecture, but understand some folks did not. His approach to hypnosis is very modern and I think cuts through a lot of the unnecessary hokum that was previously thought to be essential.
I also liked his Penguin Lecture, but understand some folks did not. His approach to hypnosis is very modern and I think cuts through a lot of the unnecessary hokum that was previously thought to be essential.
I understand what you mean. I am not sure where you are located in the world, but there's very little regulation for hypnosis in most parts. To that end, "Licensed" means very little in and of itself. There's only a couple medical-related certifications and licenses that actually matter. Everything else is more or less self-regulated by the community, and often will grant certifications to those who are certified elsewhere, sight unseen. I read a while back about a guy who had easily gotten his cat several certificates as a hypnotist.
So that can lead to someone being certified by multiple respected agencies, who isn't very good. I don't mean that to say that the person you mean isn't good, just that the licensing is largely for show in much of the world.
You're also often not required to do any follow up training. So you could read the Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnosis, take a weekend course, get licensed, and never learn anything else and remain licensed. Which means one can be working off outdated methods - which are very common still. Generally the older methods are the ones that take multiple sessions to get results. Newer methods work more with current theories of behavioral research and are far more effective. I personally have used them with multiple clients and never have to revisit any specific issue.
Just in case this is coming across as harsh, I don't mean it to be. I just get excited about the subject and run with the ideas.
Just in case this is coming across as harsh, I don't mean it to be. I just get excited about the subject and run with the ideas.[/QUOTE]
ChristopherT....very well said, you have actually made me a bit curious....! At my age of 66....that is a bit scary, but you are never to old to learn!
ChristopherT....very well said, you have actually made me a bit curious....! At my age of 66....that is a bit scary, but you are never to old to learn!
Like a self-induced hypnotic trance.
I can vouch that Christopher knows his stuff both in theory and practice. I haven't gotten up the courage to let him hypnotize me, mainly because I'm afraid he can actually do it.
The great thing about hypnosis is so much information about it can be learned for free, particularly if you're not that concerned about actually practicing. If you want to start learning about the history just Google James Braid, check out the WikiPedia article, and start following links from that page. I've spent many evening wandering those paths. Once you start learning the history you really start to get a feel for the context of hypnosis and how much misinformation persists.
For learning the ins-and-outs it really depends on how dense you want your material to be. You could read James Braid's book, Neurypnology - He's the guy that coined the term "hypnosis" (Ironically, he never actually used that specific term himself, he used neurohypnosis and other people shortened it) - But Neurypnology is a book written in 1845 which is basically a medical case study - and it reads that way. Dave Elman's Hypnotherapy is a very interesting look at hypnosis for medical purposes (his main work, aside from entertainment, was teaching hypnosis for doctors and dentists, and he revived the "Esdaile State" for medical purposes) and covers a lot of information. It is also a bit dense, though, as it was largely transcriptions of his lectures for medical professionals. The Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnosis covers a lot of the mechanics and history, but it also sadly perpetuates some information that has become distinctly out dated. If you really want to dig deep into hypnosis, then sign up for Mike Mandel's Online Hypnosis Academy - I personally don't know if anyone living has the depth of knowledge regarding hypnosis that Mike Mandel does. He's studied it for over 50 years.
Quite!
Right, you saw me do some work in NYC. He was a fun subject.
James Brown gets to the point. The only thing he doesn't use is theatrical presentation and "trance" which does not exist. I hypnotized someone using his methods on my first try and in my opinion you can do a whole stage show with what he teaches. No need for the theatrical parts because people are more interested in truth.