- A hypnotist who starts working with you without knowing anything about you is like a surgeon working without X-rays and other scans. The way the subject organizes information, the subject's dominant senses, fears and phobias, relationships, daily and weekly routine, medications, sleep pattern, diet, and previous experience with or preconceptions about hypnosis can all affect the success of the hypnosis.
- Usually as part of the interview, the hypnotist will establish an environment of safety, relaxation, trust and possibly fun. If the subject perceives that the trance work will be an adventure with someone they trust to take good care of him or her, the hypnosis will be more successful. A good analogy can be found in how personal trainers develop rapport with their clients, some of whom want more of a friend, and others who want more of a drill sergeant. The hypnotist may start out just being friendly and yet remote until the interview suggests a more specific approach that makes the subject more comfortable and/or confident.
- It may seem odd and reminiscent of vampires unable to cross the threshold of a home without permission, but it is very important before starting the induction for subjects to affirm with an appropriate amount of certainty that they are ready to be hypnotized. If, when asked if he or she is ready, the subject says something at all equivocating like "I guess so," the hypnotist may have to go back to interviewing or building rapport, because the subject may not be sufficiently prepared.
- Based on information from the interview, the hypnotist picks a style of induction to try first. There are dozens of possibilities and maybe a handful that he or she uses most often. There is a rapid induction used commonly in stage hypnosis shows in which the hypnotist may suddenly jerk the subject's hand to use surprise to induce trance. There is a confusion technique that is used on especially analytical minds to give them a series of statements, actions or descriptions that are too hard to follow because they contradict each other or otherwise do not make sense. Most often hypnotists will use a combination of progressive relaxation and eye fatigue--a technique that is the equivalent of boring someone into trance with repetitive instructions.
- Because trance may feel very normal to many subjects, it is usually important to prove to them that they are indeed hypnotized. Convincers may involve exploiting a medium-trance phenomenon called isomotor response, in which the subject's hand or arm raises without the subject consciously or intentionally lifting it. Other convincers use catalepsy of the eyelids or arms. When the subjects cannot lift their arms or eyelids, it usually convinces them that something unique is going on. And that can increase their investment and participation in the process.
- Convincers can be part of a process that continues to go on throughout the trance. Deepening takes the initial trance and tries to deepen it so that suggestions will be possible and more effective. Hypnotists usually divide trance work into three levels. Light trance (sometimes called lethargy) just feels like the body is relaxed and the mind is calm, but awareness of the environment is still total. Medium trance (sometimes called catalepsy) causes the body to feel so heavy and numb that it feels difficult or impossible to move. Awareness of the environment is spotty or vague at this level. Deep trance (sometimes called somnambulance) is often perceived like sleep, in which the subject's eyes move beneath the eyelids suggesting dreaming. Awareness of the environment is completely gone at this point.
- Part of the deepening process may also involve hypnotic suggestions, of which convincers may be one example. Hypnotic suggestions only work while the subject is in trance. Other examples may be inducing a feeling of warmth, a movement or a vocal response.
- If subjects get to a deep-enough trance, they may be able to take in and act on post-hypnotic suggestions. In post-hypnotic suggestions, subjects are given an instruction that the subject will act on after the trance is over. The suggestion may be vague and temporary (like "When you awaken, you will feel refreshed yet relaxed") or specific and consistent (like "Every time you get close to a cigarette, you will be reminded of something that really repulses you").
- Most people do not like to be jostled out of sleep, and the same is true of coming out of trance. Waking from a trance should be done gradually. The hypnotist may start to slowly bring back awareness of the subject's environment. The hypnotist may suggest an image like walking up a stairway that increases wakefulness with every step.
- After the trance is over, the hypnotist will talk to the subject a bit more. The objective is to help with the transition and to assure the subject that she or he had a successful trance. If post-hypnotic suggestions have been introduced, the hypnotist may explain where the subject's habits may be changing in a general way, because revealing specific triggers may cause doubt to start eroding the effectiveness of the suggestion.
