Hypnosis...

Flora actually was hoping for a thread on self-hypnosis in particular, but I thought one on hypnosis in general would be a good idea. Admittedly, I have little experience and training time in this subject, but I have taken courses on Ericksonian hypnotherapy and used techniques successfully in a few different contexts.

I'll give Flora time to post here, before I add what I know. Suffice it to say that, with APA approval (they even have a division dedicated to the study of hypnosis), and successful use of hypnosis in treating a variety of physical and psychological issues, it's a valuable topic to know about. On the other end of the spectrum, it's a tool, like any other; like any other tool, in the wrong hands, it can have some dire consequences...

There's a pretty good article on hypnosis and NLP here by Guro Marc Denny from the Dog Brothers.
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I believe Ron Van Clief also uses self-hypnosis.

I agree; hypnosis is a powerful tool. I've been hypnotized a couple times; kinda hard to hypnotize me though for some reason. I have to be really committed to being hypnotized. Been thinking of finding a hypnotherapist to help quit smoking. 

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It is supremely hard to hypnotize anyone; the truth is, people hypnotize themselves much better than any hypnotist ever could. In fact, it may surprise some to discover that they're going into, and out of trances throughout the day, and hypnosis, being closest to the R.E.M. stage of sleep and optimal learning state, is just one of these possible trance states

In fact, a trance is actually just any focused attention, especially when it makes a filter through which you experience patterns and associations

Indeed. 

Listening to just about any kind of music. Watching television. Playing video games. Reading books. Doing a puzzle magazine. ...Drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol, lol. These all induce trance like states. Back in the day I think they even referred to such states as "enchantment" or something; like True Blood vampire "Glamour" or whatever lol.

二百四 wrote:

I agree; hypnosis is a powerful tool. I've been hypnotized a couple times; kinda hard to hypnotize me though for some reason. I have to be really committed to being hypnotized. Been thinking of finding a hypnotherapist to help quit smoking. 

--204

I have access to a file for that if you're interested.

Oh coolness! I'd definitely be interested; so would mom haha.

Emotional states are also trance states, such as anger, depression, love, joy...

Indeed. Just about every waking moment is spent in some kind of a trance like state.

People tend to go into trance when going about their everyday rituals; most people's day to day lives are comprised of little more than a series of rituals.

二百四 wrote:

Oh coolness! I'd definitely be interested; so would mom haha.

Alright, I'll send it to you asap.

Coolness; thanks a ton.

Hypnosis is also used by cults, but not in the same way as therapeutic hypnosis. They work a crowd into a state of hysteria, hypnosis by stimulation, rather than relaxation. The other dangerous distinction is that that these people don't realise they're being hypnotised. 
Scientology use a more refined method, their "e-meters" are a primitive polygraph that tells the operator when the subject is in an alpha-state during their "audits", and ripe for programming.

This book goes into detail on cult mass hypnosis. It seems most of these cults sprang up after American studies on the mass hysteria of German Fascism were declassified. Whether by accident or design, Hitler was a master of the technique.
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Coolness; thanks for sharing.

Conversational hypnosis can be used, as with any tool, for good or bad. Dr. Erickson used it to help some of his most resistant patients. When you're working with a crowd, you have to go for something you know is probably a common experience for them, such as certain types of music that have certain tones and beats that synch with certain heartbeats. Working with individuals, it's easier to observe and utilize what they give you to guide them through a therapeutic trance. In regard to the description of brainwashing, it's true that some hypnosis is involved, but just like with propaganda and some forms of psychological operations, there are also conscious tactics involved, including Social Engineering tactics and principles of Social Psychology, Sociology, and Ethnography. There's a good video by Dan Jones on how the government uses some very subtle techniques to influence their citizens and maintain social order. In his video, he covers how seeding and nudging are used, in part, to cultivate a form of reality blindness that helps guide people in ways that minimize crime and maximize positive social changes, especially leading up to times of crisis

I oughta get more into this at some point. Seems like a very useful talent.

Self hypnosis would probably be more useful. You can use it to slow bleeding, treat psychological issues to a degree (it's unprofessional, and in some cases against the law, for a hypnotist of any kind to tell people that they can cure anything with hypnosis), and it can break through certain subconscious barriers and negativity. It can help you sleep, it can help you change unhealthy patterns for better ones, and it can help with many different kinds of pain, injury and internal problems, like IBS. My teacher has even used it to help with addictions, and to help children in institutions in the UK

Nice. I'd say they're equally useful. It's a powerful thing to be able to control others; powerful thing to be able to control yourself as well. I'd probably want to learn that first. With mastery of self, mastery of others will come more easily.

That actually brings up something I was surprised to discover about how hypnosis can have unintended bad results. Of course, this is more than just a "bad result", but you'll see what I mean...

Recently, documents were released that show that a young Hitler, when he was fighting in WWI, developed hysterical blindness and had to be sent to a psychiatrist for treatment. The psychiatrist used hypnotherapy to treat the disorder, but in doing so the shrink used phrases like, "You are special", "You are destined for greatness", and "You are the one who will bring about a united Europe and an age of peace". After his hysterical blindness was cured, Hitler became obsessed with hypnosis, and studied how he could use it himself. In fact, the Nazi salute was modeled after an arm levitation.

Of course, that's a very extreme and rare case, but there are other cases of people - mostly in the NLP community, - teaching others how to use hypnotic techniques to manipulate and harm others on a psychological level. There are also ways in which cults do use hypnotic techniques without even realizing it, to control their members. That's not even taking into account the cases of theft, robbery, and even rape involving the use of hypnosis. I really hate to say it, but hypnosis can be used to hurt people or gain an unfair advantage over them. It isn't evil or good, in and of itself; it's just a tool, and like a hammer in two different sets of hands, it can either build a house or smash someone's skull in.

They even found that in certain cases of apparent sexual abuse the "repressed memories" were inadvertently implanted by suggestion by the hypnotist. So as you can imagine a lot of old cases had to be reopened. All because we still don't completely understand the human brain.

Good work on the research.

One good group I can recommend is the Human Givens Institute. They're from the U.K., and though their form of training isn't well-known here in America, I personally think it should be. They combine 160 different psychotherapy modalities for their approach and focus on how needs are met as a determining factor of mental health or illness. One tool they use is hypnosis, and they've done a lot of study and research into hypnosis that could very well change the view of it. To summarize, here's a video...

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Here's a video on the dangers of hypnosis gone wrong...

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Scientologist audits use a lot of very loaded questions to push you towards certain conclusions, like blaming your parents for things. Separating you from your family emotionally is one of their tricks. 
Another favourite is encouraging you to discuss your sexual fantasies in a psychiatrist-like setting. But of course the important distinction to remember here is that they are not medical professionals, "patient confidentiality" does not exist for them, and they record everything to use as blackmail material in case you try to leave.  

Hitler naturally did a lot of the things that cult leaders from the 60's to now also do, every speech he gave was a perfect example of this technique- the voice of a man in hysteria, repetition, self-contradiction, I've seen a class of schoolchildren react to his voice just like the crowd at the rallies, a shiver went through the whole room when he barked, even though none of us spoke German. It never works on everybody, but a skilled orator who knows the technique can always get a good proportion of the crowd under.
I've seen a cult leader, the name escapes me, but he was doing the same thing, yelling repetitive gibberish about a picture of a sprout he'd painted. Dumbest damn thing I've ever seen, but his audience was eating it up. And his voice was cracking like he was on the verge of tears, same technique. And once you're in an alpha state you can be very suggestible, you may not even remember what you've been told when you're under.