By Lou Ravelle

Hypnotisability, or as the Americans prefer to spell it, Hypnotizability, refers to a person's ability to be hypnotised. Or, if you like, the ease with which a person can be put into a state of hypnosis. There has been much discussion and many papers written about   this subject. Several universities, notably including Harvard and Stanford in the U.S. and other bodies, have carried out tests regarding people's susceptibility to hypnosis. Different studies have come up with various differing percentages. In my opinion they don't really tell us much about the susceptibility of members of the general public, to hypnosis. The participants in these tests were usually either students or other interested parties and can hardly be classed as ''general public'. Also in this type of investigation, one standard type of hypnotic induction is used on all the participants. Induction, is the name given to the procedure which the hypnotist uses to bring about a state of hypnosis in the subject.  (Often referred to as patient or client) There are lots of different induction methods and while most practitioners favour one particular type of induction, the experienced operator may use different induction methods in different cases, usually according to what his experience tells he is best. Bear this in mind, and also bear in mind that people who go to a hypnotherapist for treatment, are there because they want it to work. Compare this with the fact that some of the volunteers in a test group may want it not to work. Or, they might want to prove to themselves, or others, "look I can't be hypnotised" Some may be deliberately resisting hypnosis.

I have had clients who have told me that they thought that they couldn't be hypnotised because a stage hypnotist had failed to 'put them under hypnosis' during a theatre performance. This is no criterion. The stage hypnotist is looking for a small nuamber of people whom he is going to invite up on the stage in order to help him entertain the public at their expense. He'll have them doing all manner of foolish things including having them cluck like chickens. He has a limited time frame for his act so, in order not to waste valuable minutes he wants to pick out and work with only the most susceptible   people in the audience. The artiste will usually do a quick susceptibility test in order to find this group of super easily hypnotisable people. Once he's found these he is ready to start the action. Therefore, if you have been present on one of these occasions and you failed to respond to the hypnotist's suggestions, it does not follow that you are 'unhypnotisable' No, not at all. It just means that you didn't 'go under' as quickly as the chosen few. Over the years I have hypnotised lots of people who thought that they were not able to be hypnotised, because they had had a negative experience as paart of a stage or club audience.

It is my experience that practically anyone of normal health and intelligence is hypnotisaable.

Of course there are different levels of hypnosis. Some people go deeper than others. Fortunately for most therapeutic purposes the subject does not necessarily have to be in a very deep trance state. For most purposes, including weight loss and smoking cessation, a light trance is all that is needed.

It is true, as any hypnotherapist will tell you, that there are quite a number of first-time clients who turn up for their appointment in a nervous state. They are nervous, or afraid about what might happen to them under hypnosis. It is understandable. For many people, agreeing to go into the state of hypnosis seems like taking a step into the unknown. Many of these think that they are going to be asleep or unconscious during the session and therefore not in control of themselves. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. Hypnosis, as stated elsewhere on this website, is not sleep, nor is it unconsciousness. It is a state of deep relaxation in which the subconscious mind can be accessed.

Strangely, I have found that in the vast majority of cases, these nervous people prove to be perfect hypnotic subjects. They often go into trance more easily and quickly, than others who have approached the session with apparent calmness. I am not going to try to explain this. However, I have found it to be a fact.     

  We are constantly in touch and comparing notes by e mail. I can tell you emphatically that   

Writing from my own years of experience as a hypntherapist, I would say that almost all people who go to see hypnotherapists as clients will be hypnotised. That is not just my opinion however. I belong, to a couple of international online hypnotherapist groups. We are constantly in touch and comparing notes by e mail. I can tell you emphatically that they all agree that the percentage of clients who can not be hypnotised is infinitesimal. And I'd like to bet that if a given competent hypnotherapist could not hypnotise a certain client, I'm sure you could find one that would be successful.

So, to sum up: Who can be hypnotised? Just about anybody. .

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