Although I’ve practiced and shared hypnosis with others for more than six years, I only formalized my work in this area in early 2012. It took eight weeks of research to develop a unique approach that I call the “Hypnotic Experience.”
Hypnotic Experience comes in a couple of flavors. It’s a blog; an entertaining show for community festivals, events, parties and fundraisers; and an informative seminar for stress management, career or academic achievement and athletic performance.
Plus, I have had the good fortune to teach self-hypnosis to individuals and small groups in a more intimate environment. This is enjoyable and incredibly rewarding as I am able to establish a personal connection during the process.
Last Wednesday is a prime example. A few weeks back I connected with a woman in follow-up to a seminar I co-hosted. She expressed an interest in experiencing hypnosis with her live-in boyfriend and a few of their adult-aged children.
The woman’s story is one of a great challenge, sacrifice and accomplishment. I won’t go into specific details, yet she’s the type of person who has persevered through situations that could have easily led her down an unproductive path.
Her introductory experience with hypnosis was incredibly positive. She slipped quickly into a trance state, and I focused the suggestions on feelings of confidence and empowerment. It’s a classic approach to stress management.
The two young adults in the session were equally fascinating. One is pursuing an undergraduate degree in fine arts and drips with creativity – from his appearance to his personality.
Hypnosis is a powerful tool for people who have a vivid imagination, such as artists and athletes. They can focus and they’re exceptional at visualization.
He was no exception. To his surprise, he entered a deep hypnotic trance and emerged from the session surprisingly refreshed.
The second young adult in the session was a first for me – a PhD student in clinical psychology. Although she enjoyed the hypnotic induction and definitely relaxed, she ultimately wasn’t able to allow her conscious mind take a step back to achieve a true hypnotic state.
At the conclusion of the session, we had a fascinating discussion about how the brain functions and processes stimuli.
Admittedly, my understanding of the science of hypnosis is limited. It’s an area where I plan to read more in the coming weeks.
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Here is an Email the woman sent to me after the hypnosis session:
“Thank you so much, Marc! I wish you could have heard the very positive and excited feedback on the car ride back! We were interrupting each other all the way home raving it about.
It totally worked for Jordan and he said he was skeptical about it at first. He is the artist son. Now he is very excited about it and went on and on about how you don't believe it until it works for you and then you have no choice but to believe in it.
Amanda is a big believer too. She likes the focus on the positive and said there is a lot of research to prove it works and is a valuable tool, so she thought it was great and enjoyed the way you presented it.
I went for Brian but realize I have a lot to learn about relaxing myself and while I usually go to the hot sunny beach in my thoughts when I am ill, I need to use that a lot more often like you do for maximum benefit. It was great that we all got a lot of positive out of it.”
