Show hypnosis what exactly is it and how does it work? Is it even real? Are these people playing a game and just participating? Are they doing everything against their will? There are quite a few uncertainties about that and I will tell you a little bit about that. Because it is a very interesting phenomenon
Show Hypnosis and Stage Hypnosis
Is show hypnosis the same as stage hypnosis? Yes, we just lump everything together so show hypnosis, stage hypnosis and stage hypnosis are all the same thing. The point here is that hypnosis is used as entertainment and therefore has nothing to do with hypnotherapy. Or does it?
Years ago, I wanted to learn the same thing. I had been trained in Ericksonian hypnotherapy, which is all about indirect hypnosis and getting your client to relax. However, what I saw on the show hypnosis, is that with a snap of a finger, she "turned someone off. Wow, was my reaction when I saw that and I wanted to learn that too. However, there was nothing in the Netherlands and you had to go abroad. After training abroad, I gave my first show.
Below is a video taken during a hypnosis show of mine I did 2 years ago. It was one of the first show hypnosis I did and I got quite a bit of money for it as well. Interesting right?
You can see that you can do a lot with a show like this and it wasn't even very well dressed. People were having fun and participating well. The funny thing is that it's all real. That is, the people who participate really think they are Gordon or that they are the world's best ballet dancer. That's an interesting phenomenon.
So are these people doing it against their will? Well, when you study hypnosis you find out that that is not possible. What is possible is that you create the context so that it is not against their will. For example, would you sing in front of a group of strange people? Maybe not. Would you do it on your little son's or daughter's birthday? Probably yes. Singing is not necessarily something people do easily, but if you create the right context then they will do it and it's not against their will. Do you understand that? And you use that principle in show hypnosis as well.
If you experience this a few times you can imagine that it's pretty special that you can get all those people to experience that. You might even think that if those people can and do all that, would they be able to quit smoking so easily? In fact, that was my thought at one point. So if you can create a new reality so easily then you can use this in hypnotherapy as well. Imagine being able to solve your client's problem with a snap of your finger. That would be quite something.
Show hypnosis in hypnotherapy
So it is very important to start using the principles of show hypnosis in therapy. However, you have to get good training in it. Teaching from someone who is just doing it is not really helpful. That's also why I don't give show hypnosis training. I think you should have years of experience in something before you give training in it and with show hypnosis I don't have that. I myself have done training abroad and with Tom Silver, America's most in-demand television hypnotist.
When you get good training in show hypnosis you will actually be good right away. You can then also give shows right away, and you can make quite a bit of money doing so. You can earn 5000 euros with a hypnosis show and in the Netherlands there are not many who do it. The market is still open.
For me, however, it was especially important to get better at hypnotherapy. In fact, when you get good show hypnosis training you also become better at hypnotherapy because you begin to understand hypnosis better. You can also get clients faster because of that. After all, when you give a demonstration, people are convinced and want to be helped by you.
So show hypnosis is actually a prerequisite for being a good hypnotherapist, and unfortunately most hypnotherapists are unwilling to take that step because they consider it inferior. At least that's what they say, but probably they are afraid to do it. Unfortunately, as a result, they don't get the results they could if they did.
NLP coaches would also get better results if they understood and could the principles of show hypnosis. If you look at one of the creators of NLP, Richard Bandler, he is more of a stage hypnotist than an NLP coach. That is something that most NLP people don't see because they are not trained that way. I, too, obviously didn't see that after my NLP masterpractitioner training, but I'm glad I notice it now.
Fortunately for hypnotherapists and those already proficient in hypnosis, there is now an internship hypnosis training in June by Tom Silver. Tom Silver is the most requested hypnotist in America for television because of his amazing results and demonstrations. He has been doing it for more than 25 years and his shows are incredibly funny. He never goes too far, always stays in comedy and doesn't get vulgar. I personally think that's very cool. Below you can see what to expect, for example. Here he is in a barbershop which has also been on TV there.
When you want to get good you have to learn from the best and so I myself go to his show hypnosis training because you never stop learning as a hypnotist. It is important to keep developing yourself and get better at show hypnosis and hypnotherapy.
So study the principles of show hypnosis very carefully. When you do that you will find out that hypnosis is quite simple and that most of it has to do with intention and congruence. So if you start to master that then you will find that you will go beyond the structure and suddenly hypnosis does become very easy.
I'd love to hear what you think of this article and how you use hypnosis
j.lodewijkx
on 29 May 2012