The question I hear very often as a hypnotherapist is: “How fast does hypnosis work?”. Sometimes the question comes in the form of “How many sessions do I need?”. Sometimes in the form of “Should the hypnosis work right after the session?”. Or in the form: “I went to a hypnotherapist and the hypnosis isn’t working”.
All in all, there is a lot of confusion about the effects of hypnosis.
If you want to experience fast-acting hypnosis, then I recommend online hypnosis via video chat. This works quickly, and you can even do it from home.
How does hypnosis work?
Hypnosis is generally a way of communicating with the unconscious parts of a person. For this communication to be properly possible at all, the subject should be in a hypnotic trance.
When hypnosis is used in therapy, it usually has a goal. In the process, suggestions (or commands) are given to the client’s unconscious, which it then implements. Or not.
So there are generally two types of hypnotic effects:
- The first effect of hypnosis is therefore guiding the client into the trance. The hypnotic trance can set in very quickly and doesn’t require a lot of effort or complicated inductions.
- The second type of effect is the one that is supposed to work after the trance. That means the changes we have suggested to the unconscious using post-hypnotic suggestions. Modern hypnotists no longer work with commands here, but with suggestions.
The effect of hypnosis in everyday life therefore depends on whether the client’s unconscious accepts the hypnotherapist’s hypnotic suggestions or not. If it does, the effect of the hypnosis shows up in changed unconscious processes.
These don’t necessarily have to be noticed by the client’s conscious mind.
In my experience as a hypnotherapist, hypnosis often works unconsciously. That means clients tell me it didn’t work, and when you ask more closely, you find out that there have actually been changes already.
How fast does hypnosis work?
The exact answer to the question of how fast the effects of hypnosis and hypnotherapy kick in is as follows: Sometimes it works fast, sometimes slowly, and sometimes somewhere in between. This rule applies to almost everyone.
An example of this: A client complains that she isn’t self-confident. Upon closer questioning, we find out that she mainly doesn’t stand up for herself during conflicts. So we use hypnosis to help her stand up for herself more. But as soon as she does this, she feels guilty, because in her mind conflicts are negative and therefore must be avoided.
So the moral concepts of the conscious mind are blocking the expression of healthy self-confidence. This consequently blocks the effect of the hypnosis as well.
Another example would be two smokers. They come to online hypnotherapy to quit smoking with hypnosis.
One smokes 60 cigarettes a day and the other 20. So you would think that the first one would have a harder time quitting. However, Smoker A has absolutely had enough of smoking, and Smoker B wants to quit smoking for the sake of his new girlfriend. He says: “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t necessarily have to quit.”
Now the expected effect looks quite different. Because even if it isn’t absolutely necessary for the conscious mind to be convinced of the change, it still helps a lot. Furthermore, Smoker A regularly practices self-hypnosis (meditation). This naturally helps with the change too.
The amount of hypnotic persuasion needed to convince the unconscious also determines the time it takes for the hypnosis to take effect. Ultimately, it was indeed the case that Smoker A only needed one session to quit smoking, whereas Smoker B needed several.
So how fast hypnosis works depends on a great many aspects. That is why it can’t be said across the board how fast hypnosis works.
Sometimes the effect of hypnosis kicks in right after coming back from the hypnotic trance, sometimes after 3 days, or sometimes even after 3 months. Experience tells me that the maximum effect is reached after about 2 weeks.
If the desired change hasn’t happened by then, another session is usually needed.
Conclusion on the effects of hypnosis
Generally, you can say that hypnosis works for everyone. Some people are just a bit quicker on the uptake than others. That is why it’s not possible to say that hypnosis doesn’t work for someone.
The speed of the desired change depends on so many factors that you can’t say across the board how long it will take. How fast hypnosis works is also difficult to predict.
However, you can say that sticking with it pays off.
