I’ve said it again and again that anyone can be hypnotised yet we have all come across those people that refuse to go into the hypnotic state. When I first started out I used to take this personally, I would assume that it was something that I had done wrong, or that I just wasn’t adept enough as a hypnotist yet. So why do some people find it hard to be hypnotised. This is my top 4 reasons hypnotic sessions fail. There are many more, but most cases I’ve seen fall into these 4 scenarios.

1. Your client isn’t relaxed enough.

To be hypnotised you need to be comfortable in your surroundings. If your client feels that some strange voodoo is about to happen to them they will resist everything that you suggest. You must explain fully to your client what is about to happen. Make sure that they know that this isn’t going to be a sleep state. Explain that they will not lose control of their minds or their bodies and that they can exit this state at any time they choose.

2. They don’t trust you as a hypnotist.

Think of the last time you were in a room with someone you didn’t like. I’m betting you were reluctant to turn your back on them, never mind lie back and close your eyes. While someone may be willing to close their eyes if they don’t feel comfortable with you then they won’t be relaxed enough to enter hypnosis. To ensure that people are at ease with you spend some time on your rapport building. Work on your instant rapport techniques, practise them in everyday situations as much as you can. I wish I could tell you at exactly which point you have created a good rapport with your clients but that is a purely personal assessment and one which you will have to experiement with and learn for yourself.

3. Unwilling to change aspects of themselves.

The third reason that people are reluctant to enter hypnosis is that they think you could change something that they don’t want you to change. A lot of people come to me to try and beat habits. They want to stop smoking, or they are trying to lose weight. While we all know that smoking is bad for us and will potentially kill us there are still a large number of people out there who love to smoke. If your client is one of those people who doesn’t want to give up their habits then it doesn’t matter how much you hypnotise them they will never stop smoking, because simply, they don’t want to. You can’t use hypnosis to make anyone do anything they don’t want to do. I say this over and over again, not because it’s morally wrong or any other high minded reasons, but because you literally can’t force someone’s mind to do something they don’t want to do.

4. Your client doesn’t believe in Hypnosis.

This is a powerful reason and I’ve seen it time and time again. I live in Scotland where there are a lot of big burly men and they often like to come up to me and say “Go on then Brenda, hypnotise me.” I usually just laugh and walk away. The challenges from people who don’t believe in hypnosis will come regularly. These people almost always will not be able to enter the hypnotic trance, for all all the reasons I’ve written above. The deliberately won’t let themselves relax, they won’t trust you enough to listen to anything you say and they won’t want to do any of the suggestions you suggest. These people are determined to prove you wrong. They aren’t looking to get anything out of hypnosis, they have no expectations other than the expectation to fail. Failure is always something that all of us can achieve so don’t allow yourself to be pulled into these games of one-up-manship.

There are though some people who walk in and say I don’t believe in hypnosis who can be hypnotised. I’ve seen a lot of people say this then overcome whatever issues brought them to me. There is a difference between the peole who boastfully say I can’t be hypnotised and those who say it to reduce disappointments. Again always make sure that people know what to expect when they are hypnotised, this will reduce your chances of failing to hypnotise anyone.

If you are using covert hypnosis then obviously you won’t be explaining to people exactly what is happening but you will then have to make sure that your rapport techniques are exceptional to overcome any fears that may be blocking your progress.

Tags: fears, habits, Hypnosis, hypnotic, rapport, techniques, trance