Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis - Stage Hypnosis Explained

What is stage hypnosis? Learn the secrets of stage hypnosis.

Well, maybe, although stage hypnosis bears little resemblance to hypnotherapy. Watching a stage hypnotist mesmerize his audience can be very amusing and fascinating to witness, but it's definitely not hypnotherapy. The purpose of hypnotherapy is to promote health and well-being, whereas stage hypnosis is part of the entertainment business.

Stage hypnosis shows can be amusing to see and take part in........BUT there's a huge difference between stage hypnosis, performed in front of an audience out for a good night’s entertainment, and a private and confidential hypnotherapy session. Hypnotherapy is sometimes known as clinical hypnosis, or less frequently as medical hypnosis.

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There are a great number of myths and misconceptions about hypnosis - many perpetuated by stage hypnotists..

Much of what people know about hypnosis is a result of them having seen stage hypnosis on television. But stage hypnosis isn't the same as hypnotherapy.  Admittedly some of the same relaxation techniques can be used in both therapeutic and entertainment hypnosis. Also the underlying principles of hypnosis remain the same for stage hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

You've probably seen people do the most outrageous and embarrassing things during stage hypnosis performances on television. Audience members ‘obey’ the hypnotist and dance around the stage pretending to be ballerinas.  Or the hypnotist ‘commands’ them to quack like a duck or bark like a dog when he says certain words.  So, very clearly someone who's hypnotised is under the power of the hypnotist.  This is, in fact, a totally understandable belief - but a totally misguided one.

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A hypnotist - or hypnotherapist - is never in control of the actions of his subject.

A stage hypnotist is very skilled at carefully choosing from the audience only those people who are not only highly suggestible and go into a deep level of hypnosis very quickly, but those who also are 100% willing to carry out his ‘commands’. A stage hypnotist is a very skilled psychologist as well as a good entertainer. He scans the audience for members who seem trusting and extroverted.

Normally they choose to act as they do because they're having fun, they're extroverts, or they're playing along with the audience, happy to be the centre of attraction. Often the volunteers are looking for an excuse to do something they wouldn't normally feel ‘allowed’ to do. Afterwards they may feel that they had no choice but to go along with what was suggested - because, after all, they were hypnotised!

The truth of the matter is that they could never have been made to do anything that was against their moral code or that they simply didn't want to do.

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One of the main ingredients in stage hypnosis shows is the clever choice of volunteers.

Maybe you've noticed that sometimes a stage hypnotist invites six or so volunteers onto the stage and after chatting with them and asking them to carry out certain activities, he dismisses some.  The audience members he asks to leave the stage are usually the ones he's decided would be the least likely to carry out his ‘commands’, or are the people who could be 'troublesome'.

Strangely enough, stage hypnosis involves people being given the scope, or the permission to do exactly what they want to do. They're ordered (i.e. given permission) to be funny and entertaining. They do these things because that's precisely what they want to be doing.

In order to play along with the audience’s perception of mind control, mind reading and a sense of awe, a stage hypnotist also often employs some of the magic tricks used by stage magicians.

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If you have any questions big or small, please contact me. I'd be very happy to answer them.

......And remember that when you decide to book an appointment, your first hypnotherapy session comes with a guarantee.

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