The popular image of the hypnotist is of an almost superhuman individual who is able to get other people to do whatever he or she wants them to do. And while hypnosis can and does help people achieve remarkable results, and while it is often positively life-changing for clients, hypnosis can’t do three important things. Here they are:
(1) Hypnotism Cannot Change Your True Character
Instead of changing someone’s character, a good hypnotist will help you to recognize, and draw on, your inner resources and inner strength. Often, those powers have been buried by years of negative messages and hindering self-talk.
In a sense, hypnotism might be thought of as the process of “de-hypnotizing” the individual from limiting, negative, or self-defeating false beliefs. Rather than trying to change your character, hypnotism is about you becoming the most effective and authentic version of you.
(2) A Hypnotist Cannot Change Your Moral Beliefs
Your beliefs about right and wrong are deeply ingrained. You (and I) act them out every day, all day, without even thinking of it. When someone is trying to persuade us to do something we don’t want to do, we get a knotted feeling in our stomach, a shortness of breath in our chest, and a lump in our throat. We react against it instinctively. It feels wrong.
A deep state of relaxation and a sense of comfort are a large part of the hypnotic experience. As such, trying to force beliefs or ideas on a hypnotized person, that are against their morals, would only feel incongruent, and would send alarm bells ringing. And that would shake anyone out of hypnosis.
(3) Hypnosis Won’t Work On A Person of Low IQ
People sometimes think that they are too clever to be hypnotized. (Of course, anyone can block out the words of a hypnotist by repeating “la, la, la” over and over again.) But, in reality, intelligent people don’t generally have any trouble being hypnotized. Quite the opposite. Why?
Although, as noted, hypnotism is generally a very relaxing experience, going into hypnosis means that you’ll be paying attention to the words of the hypnotist who is guiding you into the hypnotic state. And you’ll receive simple, verbal suggestions to carry out mentally (such as to count down from 10 to 1). And you might be asked to explore in your own mind.
Almost everyone possesses the power to focus on someone’s voice, carry out simple mental suggestions, and explore their thoughts or feelings, but a small percentage of the population may have trouble doing this. Hypnotism is about the mind, after all. (And your hypnosis is all about your mind.)