The short answer is “Yes, hypnosis really works”. The long answer is: “Yes, hypnosis works, but probably not the way you think.”
In my many years of experience as a hypnotherapist in Zurich, I have already explained hypnosis and its effects to many people.
Most people have an idea of what hypnosis is. And for most people, this idea is far from reality.
If you’re asking yourself: “Hypnosis, does that really work?”, then we first have to clarify what you mean by “does that really work?”.
Because if you have the idea that hypnosis works by the hypnotist snapping their fingers and their subjects fainting and mindlessly obeying their commands, then the answer is: “Yes, that works”.
However, this comes with a big “but”.
Because while this form of stage hypnosis works, it by no means works for everyone.
You can think of it like this: You constantly read about people who drove into a lake or down a set of stairs because their GPS told them to.
Now, if you command such people to faint, they probably would. Neither the GPS nor the hypnotist needs to be a particularly skilled hypnotist for that.
Since everyone has the ability to go into a trance, the question shouldn’t be “Does hypnosis work?” but “Which hypnosis works for me?”.
Does hypnosis work for me?
If you were mainly wondering whether hypnosis works for you, then the answer is also “Yes”. However, usually not as described above.
To know if you are hypnotizable, you have to ask yourself whether you have ever slept in your life.
If you can answer this question with yes, then you are hypnotizable. Because right before you fall asleep and right before you wake up, you pass through the hypnotic state every day.
Most people call this something like “half-sleep” or similar. This state corresponds to the state of hypnotic trance.
That means, if you have ever slept in your life, you have the proof that you can reach this state.
So the more important question is “How does hypnosis work for me?”
You can answer this question better than I can. Many describe the hypnotic flow state, for example, when they listen to music. Or when they play sports. Or when they daydream.
As similar as this trance is, the paths into this trance are just as different.
Of all the possible ways to go into a trance, the most direct is hypnosis.
As hypnotists and hypnotherapists, we don’t just hope that the trance happens, but we guide the subject into it.
The more skilled the hypnotist, the more they meet people where they are in their personal experience. Some go into a trance more easily with stories, others with confusion, and still others you can simply invite.
The more fitting the induction, the better the hypnosis works.
If you have already “tried” hypnosis and it didn’t work, and you are now sad because you think “Hypnosis doesn’t work for me”, then I can comfort you: Hypnosis works for you too, however, you just haven’t found the right form yet.
Unfortunately, there are still many hypnotists and hypnotherapists who haven’t learned modern hypnosis yet.
That’s why many still rely on commands like “Sleep!” or similar outdated methods. If you have experienced such “hypnosis without effect”, or if you don’t even want to have such an experience in the first place, I recommend a hypnotherapist who has learned modern hypnosis.
For example, in the hypnosis training “Hypnosis from the Ground Up” with the EZC diploma.
A modern-trained hypnotherapist will help you find your path into the hypnotic trance.
