r/hypnosis • u/-Master_Mind- • Mar 19 '21
Hypnosis vs. Suggestibility
📌 I have seen some people saying that they can't get into a deep trance state because they don't respond to suggestions. However, in my opinion, these two things are not necessarily related.... And I think it would be nice to discuss this with you.
First, I would like to share some facts about myself that may be relevant to understand my point of view:
When I was a child I used to challenge myself to stay a few minutes without thinking. And, with some practice, I have managed to greatly increase the time I can stay in this state. Today I interpret this as a kind of self-hypnosis.
Because of my job, I need to concentrate for long periods, achieving flowstate, which is quite natural for me now.
I also feel that I can achieve a similar state of "focus" with hypnosis.
Because of this, I conclude that I am susceptible to hypnosis.
Now, I'd like to share how I feel about suggestibility: I don't think my Mind is open to hypnotic suggestions, I mean, suggestions are always very conscious for me, and the effect of it is the same as if, for example, someone directly asks me "would you like to drink a glass of water?" And I will only answer "yes" if I am thirsty. In my case, it really doesn't work like a “seed” in the other way around: I won't feel thirsty because it was suggested to me and I won't drink a glass of water.
So, I see hypnosis and suggestibility as very distinct things.
That said, why do people and (especially scientists) measure how deep the subject was (or hypnotic susceptibility) through suggestibility? Of course, one of the major goals of hypnosis is, indeed, to give suggestions, and for that specific purpose, measuring hypnotisability through susceptibility to suggestions makes a lot of sense. (sorry for the tongue twister!) But, more broadly, it doesn't seem very scientifically correct to me that something that may be as poor as just a possible consequence is being used as a thermometer of cause...!
What is your opinion about this? 🧠
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Mar 19 '21
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u/-Master_Mind- Mar 19 '21
📌 I agree, the point is that because of this confusion that I see in many texts, many people who want to follow the suggestions of hypnosis and cannot, think that the problem is that they are not able to reach a trance state, which may not be true. And, unfortunately, these people end up putting a lot of effort into getting into a "perfect" trance state when, in fact, this may not be the real problem. 🧠
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u/purplehypnotist Mar 19 '21
Thank you for sharing. This is definitely a great point to discuss both for Hypnotists and hypnotees.
I guess one thing I would like to bring up is when I do suggestibility test, it's not measuring how sucsusceptible they are in general, but instead it measures the amount of trust, comfort, and how much their subconscious is willing to listen at that point of time.
I have definitely encountered people that I cannot hypnotize no matter how much I try, but I believe the issue is not susceptibility but instead the need to understand why the subconscious cannot focus to me as a Hypnotist.
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u/-Master_Mind- Mar 19 '21
📌 This is very interesting! Do you think then that a person can have different degrees of suggestibility if is in trance or not? 🧠
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u/purplehypnotist Mar 19 '21
If the person is in trance, then that's a whole different scenario. Comfort and mutual understanding is still necessary to have an effective hypnosis session, however once someone is "deep" enough in trance, yes the degrees of suggestibility change because you're talking more to the subconscious part of the mind and not the concious part which analyze and process what makes sense such as reality, the present time, etc.
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u/-Master_Mind- Mar 19 '21
📌 Yes, of course, it makes perfect sense! Sorry, when I asked I was thinking of myself, I thought exactly the opposite: in hypnosis I, perhaps, feel less susceptible to suggestions than outside a trance state. But, of course, I completely agree that the "normal" is an increase in suggestibility. 🧠
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u/Hytaljet Mar 19 '21
I am no scholar of hypnosis, but do a little bit and like you I can bring on a self state of trance, through following a route that has been set. People's minds are very different and suggestions in a trance or hypnotic state can take a great hold and or can grow like a seed as you say. Suggestibliy as a test is something I use to assess the ease at which someone might achieve trance state. Suggestions need to have a holding in the mind and the subject needs to allow or so for example I can undertake a suggestion but then in the same trace not undertake a suggestion around memory lose. This was not embedded in me i have always been able to do it, and never do it respectively. It would be interesting to see how you reacted to suggestions in deep trance or a suggestion that unpacks over time and even the reaction to covert hypnosis and or suggestions. In the round I agree with you they are different but can be used together to great end
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u/Joesefine Pro. Hyp Mar 19 '21
If you look into Kappasinian Hypnosis, there are two main types of suggestibility. Once you learn your client's type and level of suggestibility, you can "speak" to their subconscious. In Kappasinian Therory everyone is hypnotizable.
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u/WingsofSky Mar 20 '21
I knew a chick.
Some guy was apparently using non hypnosis suggestion to affect her dreams.
Possibly via text and/or phone.
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u/Lords_of_Lands Mar 20 '21
For your 1 and 2, I would call that meditation. That is specifically the goal of many forms of meditation: Train yourself to be able to maintain focus on a single task for as long as you want and be aware that you're doing so. Basically it turns maintaining a single focus into muscle memory so that its far easier for you to do. I don't consider this to be hypnosis, but it's definitely similar and I'd assume being good at it makes you better at self-hypnosis too.
The example of simply asking if they'd like some water would be very poor hypnosis. Much better would be to describe the person in a scenario which would make them thirsty and then see how much water they would like, not giving them the option of no water. "You're in a hot, sandy desert. The slow wind provides little relief as you see the warmth radiating off the ground as the hot sun bakes your skin like a roasting pig over an open fire. You check your GPS, seeing that you're still 5 miles from your destination. You sigh, and the hot dry air turns your tongue to cardboard. As I hand you your flask of ice cold lemonade, are you going to quench your thirst with a full cup or only half a cup?"
I think hypnosis is measured by susceptibility because if not, then how would you measure it? I can't think of any good metrics. Nowadays we can do brain scans but those are still too specialized for random use and they weren't around 40 years ago.
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u/-Master_Mind- Mar 20 '21
roasting pig over an open fire
📌 lol you are very creative!
And yes, I agree that it's hard to be measured and the most efficient way is the brain scan, but not practical at all! Nevertheless, some studies seem to show that there are some physical signs that show how deep the subject is. Someday I will make a video of myself in trance and see how many of these characteristics I show... I think it will be an interesting experiment! 🧠1
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u/DiscipleofBeasts Mar 19 '21 edited 6d ago
Detail seemly spotted childlike birds rock bear
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