I’ve developed somewhat of a reputation as being a “go to” hypnotist for people who’ve previously struggled to trance.  Some of the wonderful clients who I have had the pleasure of working with have been trying for many, many years (I think the record so far is 20) to enjoy trance and had all but given up before they came to me.

Either people have been told by an (inept) hypnotist that they’re difficult or “impossible” to trance (utter nonsense) or they themselves have come to the conclusion that they’re no good at it because they’ve struggled to enjoy trance.  It can be a frustrating and depressing experience being led to believe that you are incapable of achieving something you really want to enjoy and I have the greatest admiration for those who don’t give up and continue to pursue what they want because in my opinion there is no such thing as people who are “hard” to hypnotise.

Trance is an inherent ability we all possess, but we all learn in different ways (which is perfectly natural) so commonly used hypnosis induction techniques (to help someone achieve trance) may or may not be effective depending on the subjects personal learning style.

A good hypnotist will be able to quickly establish at least a basic understanding of how an individual best learns by talking to them, asking relevant questions and fine-tuning their approach to improve their insight.

Personally, I prefer to use a relaxed, conversational induction as a base that I then tailor specifically to the individual I am working with.  Allowing the interaction to be more friendly and relaxed puts less stress on the subject, which is especially important if you’re dealing with someone who has already had multiple attempts at trancing end in failure.

By allowing someone to relax and clearly explaining how the process works and what they can expect you can help them to map-out the experience, giving more confidence and reassurance.  If I am working with someone who I know has struggled to trance in the past then I know the “traditional” inductions are unlikely to be successful and this gives me license to unleash my creativity.  It’s also important to reiterate that trance is a fun, relaxed experience.  Your subconscious knows what to do, so my job as a hypnotist is to show you how to tap into your own innate talent and capitalise on it for your benefit.

You can’t use the same approach that other previous hypnotists have and just hope for a different outcome.  I “read” the person – both in terms of what they say and how they say it, and also monitoring non-verbal communication which can be as subtle as a change in pupil dilation, flushed cheeks, breathing or any manner of other things.  My role as a hypnotist is to lead, guide and teach.

If someone is being tranced and are struggling to achieve their goal then you can be damn sure that the issue lies with the hypnotist and not the person being tranced.  The hypnotist needs to be able to tailor their approach to the individual they’re working with but so many hypnotists get stuck in a rut – parroting scripts they’ve learned verbatim or even worse reading directly from scripts.  A hypnotist needs to be able to get creative – to improvise. To be able to understand the mechanisms that drive the trance experience and tailor them specifically to the individual they’re working with in a way in which that person can understand, and in doing so successfully engage with the experience.  The hypnotist has to be confident in what they are doing and if a particular approach doesn’t yield the expected results don’t frame this as a failure (or even worse blame the subject) because it’s not.  It’s a learning experience.  It helps you narrow down and pin-point what will work.  And it will work.

Analytical people are a brilliant example of this.  If you’ve read some of my other blog posts you’ll know that I absolutely love working with analytical people.  I totally geek out over it (I am an unashamed hypno-geek) and get very happy and excited.  Why? Because in my experience analytical people make the absolute best subjects (read my other blog posts to find out why I feel this way) but many hypnotists are reluctant to work with analytical subjects and brand them as “bad” or “difficult to hypnotise” when in reality nothing is further from the truth.

It’s true that analytical people don’t always respond well to many popular inductions.  Progressive relaxation inductions can be boring and drawn out if you’re of an analytically minded persuasion and many hypnotists tend to focus on telling their subject to “relax”, which, if you’re analytical will send your brain firing off in different directions going “how relaxed is relaxed? Am I relaxed enough? How do I relax more?” etc which completely derails the whole experience.  Another common direction is to tell the subject to focus on the hypnotists voice and not to think of anything else.  Again, if you’re analytical this is like saying “don’t think of a pink elephant”. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Of course none of this makes analytical people bad subjects.  There are methods which can be effectively employed which utilise their inherent gifts and in my experience this results in analytical people being able to trance faster and deeper than most.  What is important, however, is recognising the strengths of the individual you’re dealing with and tailoring your approach to them.  If I ever hear a hypnotist try and tell me that someone is “hard to hypnotise” my immediate desire is to respond by pointing out that the subject isn’t the problem – it’s the limitations of the hypnotists ability which are showing through and falsely shifting the problem/limitation to the subject is disingenuous and unhelpful.

So in summation there’s no such thing as someone who’s “hard to hypnotise”, and if a hypnotist ever tries to tell you or insinuate that you are, run a mile!  A good hypnotist will be able to tailor their approach to optimise your chances of success.  Take time, research, shortlist and never be afraid to ask questions. You want to find a hypnotist whose style you like and who you feel comfortable with.  Trance is possible and magical things can happen once you’re able to achieve it.  This is why I am able to say that I can make fantasies come true on my homepage. Because I can and I do 🙂

If you have any questions or would like more information please feel free to email me at info@queenofdreamshypnosis.com or leave a comment below.