"I Can't Be Hypnotized", She Thought. Or Could She?

In mid-January, I partnered with a social group called DC Global Adventurers to host an event entitled “New Year, New You: How Self-Hypnosis Can Help You Say True to Your Resolutions.”

Nearly 20 professionals attended the event to learn about the power of positive visualization, and experience a hypnotic induction.  You can read my recap of the event here.

One of the participants was enthusiastic about the soothing and relaxing comfort of hypnosis, yet she had trouble maintaining a trance in a group setting.  She bobbed in and out of the hypnotic state, and at times opened her eyes to compare how she was feeling with the others in the room.

I was pleasantly surprised when she reached out to me a few days later to arrange a one-on-one session.  We agreed to meet-up this past Saturday for what turned out to be an exceptional experience.

Here are a few of my impressions:

--Like most people who are attracted to hypnosis, she is intelligent, career oriented, active and athletic, and confident in her physical appearance.  She radiates energy, strength and comfort.

--Yet, I’ve also found these highly charged and successful professionals find any weakness (real or perceived) to be unacceptable.  For her, the flaw is an inability to maintain a high level of focus and attention on a particular task.

--Ironically, I have struggled with a comparable issue in my persona and professional lives.  Although never formally diagnosed, I consider it a slight case of ADHD; not severe enough to medicate, yet still limiting.

--As we began the induction she wasn’t convinced she could actually be hypnotized.  Admittedly, it did take some time to get her focused on concentration and visualization.  After the initial induction and a deepening process that lasted about 30 minutes, she began to immediately respond to my suggestions.  There was no doubt about whether she was hypnotizable.

--In my post hypnotic suggestions I focused on two guiding principles: 1) a positive feeling about hypnosis and a realization that she could easily return to this state during future sessions; and 2) a strong sense of clarity and focus on work-related tasks.

What was the outcome for her?  It may be too early to tell as the meaningful change through hypnosis can take time.  I’ll keep you updated when I receive feedback.

UPDATE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2013

In an Email exchange with this woman, she shared the following about the positive outcome from this one-on-one hypnosis session:

"I feel good focus on my job ..positive and for sure feel more productive.  Thank you so much once again!"

Hypnosis can help a person maintain a high level of focus on the job.  Image:  Scoremoresales.com