Can anyone get into hypnosis and why?

The question of whether everyone can do hypnosis comes up regularly when you have a conversation with someone about hypnosis. Many people will claim that hypnosis does not work on them, that they are "immune" to it. They are firmly convinced that hypnosis could never work on them, but is it actually possible? Is it really impossible for some people to be hypnotized, and why is that?

Can anyone get into hypnosis?

The answer to that question is less simple than you might think. In any case, it is true that it is much harder to put some people into hypnosis than others. The reasons, however, are not that those people have some kind of natural insensitivity to hypnosis, but rather that they just don't open themselves up to it.

If you begin a hypnosis session with the attitude that hypnosis is nonsense or that it is impossible for you to go into hypnosis, the therapist will encounter tremendous resistance when trying to hypnotize you. In other words, the ability to be hypnotized depends on your attitude toward hypnosis: a successful hypnosis session needs a certain amount of cooperation from the person being hypnotized.

What is the reason someone cannot go into hypnosis other than at that moment?

The reasons for this resistance are always psychological, and even when you really want to go into hypnosis, there is a big difference between different people's sensitivity to hypnosis. Indeed, many individuals are not very comfortable with the fact that they will lose some of the control over their body and mind for a short time, and that is perfectly understandable.

It is very difficult to let yourself go during a hypnosis session when you are not comfortable with the procedure. However, it helps when you realize that hypnosis does not require the complete surrender of your body and mind. Rather, it involves an intense state of relaxation that allows the subconscious mind to come to the fore. So the problem of many people who claim they cannot be hypnotized lies in their conception of what hypnosis actually is.

When these individuals visit a good hypnotherapist who explains to them how hypnosis really works, the chances are very high that they can indeed go into hypnosis. An important factor, then, is which therapist you work with. If you want to go into hypnosis, it is important that the therapist be someone you trust thoroughly, someone you feel comfortable with.

Another important factor is that the hypnotherapist does let you know you are in hypnosis. A good hypnotherapist really lets you experience hypnosis because that reinforces your belief in the hypnotherapist.

So the bottom line seems to be that everyone can be put into hypnosis, but not everyone wants to be. When you really don't want to go into hypnosis, it becomes a difficult job for the therapist to put you into hypnosis anyway. Furthermore, there are major differences between individuals when it comes to sensitivity to hypnosis. For example, children are more likely to go into hypnosis.

If you want to be hypnotized but still can't succeed, the problem probably lies with the hypnotherapist. In order to be hypnotized, it is important that you can let go, and that is only possible when the person performing the hypnosis is someone you fully trust or gives you confidence that he or she can actually do it well and shows it.