Everyone has the ability to experience hypnosis. If people have the motivation, interest and the commitment, they can enter a hypnotic state and benefit from it. Self hypnosis is just a state of heightened suggestion. All therapies have some degree of suggestion to them. Hypnosis is a way of magnifying the power of that suggestion and encouraging the unconscious to accept it more readily.
If people are willing to concentrate and have a reasonable intellect and imagination, they will be susceptible to suggestion and to hypnosis. It’s a simple as that, because suggestion equals hypnosis.
There is no doubt that some people are particularly sensitive to suggestion and as a result are more susceptible to hypnosis. You may have read in several books that anywhere from 10-15% of people will fall into this category and can experience deep hypnosis with ease. But for therapeutic purposes, a person does not need to experience deep hypnosis or a trance-like state. Light and medium hypnosis can also produce therapeutic benefits.
I don’t think there is any particular indicator to whether a person will be susceptible to hypnosis or not, until you actually start working with them. Of course if someone is easily swayed or talked into something in their daily life, you can assume they’re probably also a good candidate for hypnosis. They have already proven they are susceptible to suggestion.
As far as I am concerned, everybody is susceptible to hypnosis. I’ve seen it plenty of times. Our self hypnosis products are designed to take someone from a normal, waking state and help him or her comfortably and naturally enter into a hypnotic state. The more you listen and experience it, the better you become at it.
Some people will take to it from the first listen and instantly think that it is fantastic, while others might have to listen a few times before they get the hang of it. Either way, if you continue playing the self hypnosis session you will notice a positive shift in the problem area – be it controlling anger, or reducing stress. For some people this change occurs very fast, for others the behavioural changes take a bit longer. Self hypnosis can work quite indirectly and quite succinctly. It’s different for everyone.
Don’t worry if you don’t feel hypnotised. Just keep going with it. Remember that hypnosis is a natural state of being. It doesn’t necessarily feel any different than other relaxed states you have experienced. If you have the self motivation and want to bring about change, then keep practising and the benefits of self hypnosis will come.
