e@earthlink.net

Hi. Does hypnosis really work? Can a hypnotist really put someone in a
trans and let him/her act like a chicken or dog without him/her knowing
and then with a snap of a finger he/she wakes up and doesn't have a clue
what he/she just did? Anybody know Marshall Sylver? I saw his act on a
late night tv show where he jerked a lady by her arm and she
immediately went into a deep hypnosis. Is this real? .

Andi

In article <44CEF5B8.43D0FF3D@earthlink.net>, e@earthlink.net writes

Hello again e

>Hi. Does hypnosis really work?

It depends what you mean by hypnosis. Can it be used to heal? Yes. Then
it works!

There are various theories about it. Trevor Sylvestor is a therapist
that believes we are in trances all the time - just that we don't
normally define a trance that way. The most well known trances are when
we are half-asleep in our beds - twice each day. So this type of
hypnosis is done when you relax and talked into a trance, nearly asleep.

> Can a hypnotist really put someone in a
>trans and let him/her act like a chicken or dog without him/her knowing
>and then with a snap of a finger he/she wakes up and doesn't have a clue
>what he/she just did?

If you have ever seen the Gerry Springer Show, or Ricki Lake show, the
audience knows how people are supposed to react on stage, and in the
audience. There is no hypnotist there, yet people act that way.

Paul McKenna says that a stage hypnosis show is like that too. The
hypnotist represents an authority figure, and the subjects give up their
authority to them, do as they are told. And this is just as strong a
trance as any other.

>Anybody know Marshall Sylver? I saw his act on a
>late night tv show where he jerked a lady by her arm and she
>immediately went into a deep hypnosis. Is this real? .
>
I have heard of him - excellent showman.

Jon Chase is a stage Hypnotist in the UK, and he uses what is known as
"Rapid inductions". He explains that a stage hypnosis show would be
boring if they had to go through the relaxation hypnosis techniques -
not much for pulling crowds.

Most of the subjects on the stage have already been hypnotised before
the show began. Those that you see have been specially chosen because
they are more susceptible to suggestions. Only about 1/3 of the people
tested backstage have been allowed into the show.

There is no doubt that hypnosis exists. But... the audience has an
expectation of what it is going to be like. If you expect to do strange
things like squawk like a chicken, then you will be more likely to do
that. If you expect that you won't be hypnotisable, you won't be willing
to go anywhere near the show.

There was a trick that Derren Brown showed on his TV show 'Mind tricks'
where a person would hear a public telephone ringing in a phone booth,
answer it, and within 5 seconds fall asleep and slump to the ground. He
explained that only the susceptible people will answer the phone in the
first place. What he says to them, they don't remember.

You have to remember, there are several types of hypnotism;
- healing people with relaxation therapy techniques
- influence and persuasion using covert language patterns.
- entertainment.

I have heard of NLP being described as a sub-set of hypnotism.

--
Andi