Hypnotizability isn’t a thing.
The idea of being hypnotizable has evolved from people watching stage hypnosis. There is often a time that the hypnotist will take one of the subjects and remove them from the stage because they are not responding quickly enough. Researchers have even developed hypntizability tests (ran by eager undergrads wanting to ef with peoples minds). This can lead people to believe that certain kinds of people cannot be hypnotized.
That is just not true.
What people don’t understand is that hypnosis is an entirely natural phenomena. At its very simplest it is a narrowing of the attention and an increase of focus. With that in mind anyone who can focus their attention, even for a brief time, can be hypnotized.
To be clear, some people do respond to hypnosis very quickly and very dramatically. Some people are incredibly easy to hypnotize while others simply require more patience. But as long as you can follow instructions you can be hypnotized. People often approach hypnosis with inaccurate preconceptions. They May say “ I wasn’t hypnotized because I could hear every word you said” and they say this even though they’ve got the result that they wanted. Their preconception is that every hypnosis experience should have a complete loss of consciousness and memory. This is simply not the case.
There are multiple list of hypnotizability surveys that are supposed to measure how easily one can go into hypnosis. Are of very little use to hypnosis practitioners who are helping people with hypnosis.
Here is what’s weird: in my experience and according to some documented material on the subject the ability to experience hypnotic phenomena has very little relation to the results of the session.
Studies have not found significant associations between hypnotizability and any outcome measure …Thus, the existing measures of hypnotizability should NOT be used to screen patients into or out of hypnotic treatment for chronic pain”
When someone asks me “Can I be hypnotized”? I like to answer them I saying
“I don’t know. Can you understand understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes.”
Then I ask “Can you follow instructions?”
“Yes.”
“Good!” I’ll respond. “Then you can be hypnotized.”
If you want to participate in a recorded hypnosis session several sessions can be downloaded from this website.
