is it simply concentrating on the questions asked and answering truthfully or how do you go about it?
Are you allowing someone to tell you what the truth is , why cant the person who is under hypnosis resolve the issue on their own?
Thanks for your answers!
Also is it possible the person could tell you something that isnt true, yet you believe it is?
would this be similar to "brainwashing"?
I used hypnosis to work on some emotional issues, and discovered it's not what you see on television or in some theatrical presentation by a magician or "hypnotist." You don't go to sleep or lose any control over your body. It is a form of heightened concentration, though.
My understanding is that people have different levels of susceptibility to going into the trance associated with hypnosis. For me it was very easy, so I don't know what they do if you struggle with it. But rest assured that you will never go deeper than you are consciously willing to go.
It's mostly about relaxing and turning your thoughts inward. You're trying to connect to the levels of thought we all have that are beneath those that deal with our day to day life. It's not quite the same as being in a dream, although it may somewhat feel like that. However, as I said, you never lose contact with what's going on in the room.
You may have experienced something similar when daydreaming or "getting lost" in a good book or movie. If you stop to think about the room, you can rise back up to that consciousness, but if you choose to stay in the trance you can usually do that too. You may feel more rested and energized by the process as well.
For me, all it takes is the therapist telling me to close my eyes, relax, feel the sensations of sitting or lying down, what my hands are resting on, etc. I then allow myself to slip into this other level of awareness. If I'm asked questions I don't try to determine what a true or false answer might be. Instead I kind of report back to the therapist what is rising up from deeper inside me. If it triggers a thought, I'll tell them what I'm thinking too. If I can't hear the question well enough, I'll be able to say, "Can you repeat that?"
I suppose some unscrupulous sort could try to influence your inner thoughts by telling you what to think or HOW to think, but I never used hypnosis for that. I assume that's how they get people to stop smoking or to control other habits.
One reason a person might not be able to do this on their own is that it's hard to get past the more immediate things on our mind at any given time.
For instance, try it now. Close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and concentrate on relaxing your muscles. Think only about the number three. Concentrate on only that number. See how long you can go before you start thinking about something else. Keep trying to go back to the three.
Those thoughts that pop into your head about what you should be doing right now, or what you need to do when you're done, or what you should have done earlier or yesterday, or when you were talking to that person, all those thoughts are the ones that prevent you from being able to communicate with your deeper self.
That's why many therapists believe that your dreams are messages from your inner self. When your daily consciousness is asleep, your subconscious is then free to speak to you in it's own way. The symbols in the dream are the words of the subconscious.
There you have my little treatise on hypnotism. Good luck with whatever you thinking of using it for.