Questions from the skeptic

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Permalink Reply by Roy Hunter on June 22, 2008 at 8:46am

Your comment may start a very interesting thread.

The late Charles Tebbetts (my trainer) taught that all hypnosis s self-hypnosis. He also studied under Gil Boyne for several years before I took his course in 1983. Charlie taught us that a person would not normally follow an anti-social suggestion unless he or she was already inclined to engage in anti-social behaviour. He also taught that a client can REJECT a suggestion if he/she has an emotional desire to do so.

The best way to demonstrate the validity of Charlie's opinion is in the fact that many smokers who try single-session approaches end up backsliding even though they may experience hypnosis.

Over 20 years ago I swapped sessions with a woman who was successful in getting me into a very deep state of hypnosis. Then she let her personal bias interfere, and suggested that I shave off my beard. I brought myself up out of hypnosis and gave her a lecture on ethics. BTW, I never let her walk in my subconscious again after that.

Best wishes,
Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP
Published Author

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Permalink Reply by Craig Eubanks on June 22, 2008 at 12:16pm

Your husband is providing you a very valuable lesson in marketing. People are skeptical, and not just about hypnosis either.

However, the question about misuse is one unique to hypnosis. This is a real fear people have... no one wants to bark like a dog, or worse be the blindly obedient assassin in the Manchurian Candidate. (We know this is fiction... they don't)

When you can successfully answer this to your husband's satisfaction, you will have discovered the way to deal with this objection. An objection which your some of your prospective clients will share.

Cheers,

Craig Eubanks
HypnosisMarketingTips.com

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Permalink Reply by James Malone on June 22, 2008 at 3:48pm

The croupier scenario you describe is somewhat reminiscent of the news story a few months back about the "Hypnosis Bandit" in Italy, where someone was allegedly hypnotizing bank tellers into forking over money and then having amnesia for the incident afterwards. It was more than likely a ruse using hypnosis where the bank employees were in collusion with the thief and then used being hypnotized as an excuse afterwards.

What could be used for illicit purposes is the use of techniques based on confusional rapid hypnotic inductions where you could possibly pull a fast one over on a victim by briefly "blanking them out" so to speak. However, this isn't necessarily hypnotic suggestion per se, fast talking con men have used techniques like that throughout history.

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Permalink Reply by Reg Blackwood on June 22, 2008 at 4:06pm

I think Anthony Jacquin should be invited to reply to this particular can of worms as he has some interesting theories around hypnosis and security. Some of these concerns are, I believe, strong enough to have attracted the attention of national security in some countries.
E.g. If you can convince someone behind a bar you're their favourite film star and get free drinks, how easy would it be to convince someone you're their supervisor or systems administrator and get their computer password?
As for convincing the skeptic:
Skeptics are often my favourite subjects.
Perhaps you should find what makes him so skeptical while pointing out that the very fact he is highly skeptical is likely to mean that he is in fact also highly suggestible, just like anyone else who holds extreme "anti" or "pro" beliefs ;)

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Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig on June 23, 2008 at 12:24pm

I also immediately wondered what Anthony Jacquin would have to say on this. His bar-room video is pretty fascinating--but one comment. Some hypnotists have said that restaurant and bar staff are the perfect subjects for speed hypnosis, because they're already pretty close to trance as they go through their workday without thinking too much about what they're doing . . . That might suggest a difference between convincing a bartender that you're famous and convincing a military guard that you have high security clearance.

But what do I know? I don't really have much experience in speed inductions.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - HypnosisGurus.com on June 23, 2008 at 12:42pm

I think a segment of the population has such a diffused sense of self-identity (think borderline personality disorder) and is so unable to differentiate between where the self ends and another person begins, that a small but very real population can be "made to do anything". We have seen this in tandem crimes (Washington snipers), Stockholm Syndrome (Patty Hurst), and abusive marriages.

I think that the idea of mass hypnosis (think Hitler or pentecostal healing services) is quite real, and although as a profession we might want to cling to the idea that "a person under hypnosis will never do anything that is against their will" that assumes everyone has a will....

I think Anthony's theories, as scary as they are, are probably closer to the truth than Tebbett's or Boyne's ideas. Fortunately, though, there is only a very small segment of the population where this will apply.

I also don't think speed-induction vs. PMR vs. any other induction style has anything to do with whether a person will do something "against their will" or not. Rather, it has to do with whether they have a will in the first place.

Richard

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Permalink Reply by David Fontenot on June 23, 2008 at 1:31pm

Why should "street hypnosis" be any different than other areas of hypnosis? The reason I video sessions in my office is to have a record that I did not give anyone any untoward suggestions to my therapeutic clients.
I think Richard is correct in the fact that a small segment of the population cannot differentiate between fantasy and reality. I see a much higher number of these folks in my entertainment business, That's what makes hypnosis shows so popular.
As for the other questions, what if someone professes a moral objection to an activity or idea, but harbors a secret desire or curiosity? I live across the street from a Southern Baptist Preacher (who professes that I am an agent of the devil). His wife is a stereotypical religious leaders wife. I would think that if she had a secret desire to "cut loose" and be naughty, it wouldn't take much to have her follow through on a post hypnotic lap dance suggestion, much to the horror of her conscious mind. Those of us who do entertainment often hear skeptics who were won over by there shy friend who became the "star" of the show.

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Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig on June 23, 2008 at 3:03pm

I think the reason "street hypnosis" prompted this discussion is that it sometimes involves people who had not consented to being hypnotized. Someone who goes to a hypnotist's office or to a stage hypnosis show has made a choice to go.

As for the question of people harboring secret desires--I think a lot of them do. Consider how many crusaders against prostitution get caught with prostitutes, how many mega-preachers get caught stealing donations and sleeping with the church secretary . . . There are probably a lot of people who need only a little nudge to do things they would consciously insist are wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Synapse on June 23, 2008 at 3:15pm

"I think the reason "street hypnosis" prompted this discussion is that it sometimes involves people who had not consented to being hypnotized."

Yes the discussion was really directed at shock/instant inductions.

Another scenario from the skeptic..
You convince someone that their 22nd floor hotel suite is a beach house and that the window is a veranda where they can walk out to the sea. (I know in reality most hotels are sensible enough not to put in French windows, but indulge me here). Could that person be convinced enough to open that window and walk out, as horrifying a thought as that is? Would their unconscious know to either not accept the suggestion or wake them from the trance?

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - HypnosisGurus.com on June 23, 2008 at 5:28pm

I don't think the answer is balck and white. Sure 99.9% will not accept it, but I think .01% will accept the suggestion EVEN WHEN NOT HYPNOTIZED!

Hypnosis isn't magic. Speed induction, consent or no consent, long induction, metaphor or direct, blah, blah, blah.... People will accept the direction of others they percieve as expert, powerful or right -- even if it has deadly consequences and they are wrong. There is nothing that happens in hypnosis that doesn't happen apart from hypnosis... and this inlcudes blindly following otheres to their own detriment or even death...

Richard

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Permalink Reply by Marc Carlin on June 23, 2008 at 6:12pm

Richard,
You have expressed my thoughts beautifully, We often accept suggestions from many places that are not to our benefit, but to someone else's. It's called advertising. Hypnosis is a very small part of the world of influence and persuasion. People make mistakes all the time, they function in patterns mostly unaware of specific things going on around them. It becomes easier to slip something through at the time that they are distracted. A conman will prey upon folks who know they are being robbed as they reluctantly go to the bank and empty out their savings. They feel compelled to do so, even though they know they shouldn't .

Mark Cunningham has often said that while "I can't get people to do something against their will, I can get them to do whatever I want."

If anyone is interested, I'm hosting a free teleseminar with Mark tomorrow night. You should check it out. I think it'll be fun!

Marc

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Permalink Reply by Roy Hunter on June 24, 2008 at 9:14am

Simply understanding that all hypnosis is guided self-hypnosis provides a greater immunity to being tricked into hypnosis.

Several years ago a hypnosis professional(?) wanted to show off a rapid induction in front of Ormond McGill, but he failed to ask my permission to be hypnotized. He was quite astounded when I rejected the rapid induction and reminded him to always ask permission before inducing hypnosis.

Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP
Certified Hypnotism Instructor

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