Written by: McKing Lee, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We’ve previously gone through a mini-series of 3 parts, introducing hypnosis, what goes on in a hypnotherapy session, and even what types of regression are there.
So one of the biggest questions people have on their minds, is “will it work for me?”
What if the hypnosis fails?!
Can it even fail?
So today I thought to share what might hinder or create resistance for the hypnosis to occur
If you know someone who tried hypnosis and it didn’t work, share this article with them
Once you are ready, let’s get into it!
How To Resist General Hypnosis
Sounds weird right?
What is general hypnosis?
Once you read and understand the first 3 parts (go read them if you haven’t!) you can understand that hypnotic trances occur multiple times a day
And that anyone can hypnotize anyone, even if they don’t really know the context of actual hypnosis
So one of the ways you could be “hypnotized” is when someone gives a suggestion and your mind tweaks to follow that suggestion
It’s like when you have a great idea and you share it with your friends but your friends reject the idea
Their rejection can potentially influence you to feel bad or negative about that great idea, which you felt great about earlier!
Of course, if you reject their suggestions, you won’t be influenced as much
Yes, you can reject hypnosis!
And this is a very conscious thing you can do
So when we get into actual hypnosis, mainly for entertainment in this example
You can choose to reject the hypnotic suggestions that the hypnotist is suggesting
Maybe because you don’t want to be hypnotized in that moment in time, or perhaps you are surrounded by people in public and you don’t want to be embarrassed in front of them
These reasons can hinder or resist the hypnosis
How To Resist Hypnosis For Therapy
Now why will people want to resist the hypnosis when it can help them to resolve their issues?
There are also a variety of possible reasons why one might not agree to be hypnotized for therapy
One of the possible reasons is that they are not ready to face their issues
Something similar is if they are conflict avoidant
Being ready to resolve their issues might take time, having the guts to face the issues in order to resolve them is also something for consideration
This is especially when the issue relates to a particular trauma, and the fear of being emotionally hurt again is real
This is completely understandable and that is why we give them time, if they need it
In another case, if the issue was caused by someone, then forgiveness of that person will assist to resolve the issue
However, are you ready to forgive said person?
Sometimes, the person that caused the issue broke the trust of the client, and to forgive this person will take a lot of time, strong will, and big heart
We can’t force such a forgiveness to occur, we can’t force a release either
Forced hypnosis is false hypnosis, that’s why I tell my clients
I have some parents who bring their children to see me and want me to hypnotize their children to improve a trait or become a better or good child
Yea it doesn’t work that way
Of course, there is one more unknown factor which is the unconscious mind
You see, if a child were to experience a trauma to the point where the unconscious mind will want to protect the child’s mind
A defense mechanism might come into play and this can block out the memories of that particular trauma
The issue is that years later as an adult, they might not be able to remember a bunch of things, besides that trauma
If the unconscious mind deems the self as not ready to face the truth or resolve the trauma from the past, due to fear of being hurt again
Then the hypnosis might not work either
And in cases like this, if I suspect something did happen, I will inform the client to be prepared to face the truth of their childhood
Or to be ok to revisit those traumatic childhood moments in order to resolve that properly
How To Have An Effective Hypnosis Experience
Once you understand the above in how to resist hypnosis, then we can look at effectively resolving your issues
Of course, if you do find there is something that you do not want to resolve at this point in time, its ok to leave it for now
Recognizing that issue that you do not want to resolve (or that person you do not want to forgive) for whatever reason is a good step for awareness
Being aware of your issues and how you feel about them allows for a better understanding of yourself
From there, we can lead into acceptance, accepting that the issue exists, or that there are specific reasons you are unable to let it go
Rather than the opposite of acceptance, which is denial
If you deny the issue exists, or lie that you resolve it but it still exists inside you, then naturally you will continue to have the issue
After acceptance, it leads into action
Knowing the right steps and taking the right action will allow you to resolve your issues much more effectively
Whatever modality you want to consider, this is the flow of how to resolve your issues
Awareness – Acceptance – Action
If you do decide to do hypnosis to resolve your issues, then following the instructions of the hypnotist is key
Well, being honest and truthful with the hypnotist will help a lot too
If I tell you to close your eyes, don’t keep your eyes open and look at me
Or if we encounter a symbol and I ask you to ask the symbol a specific question, don’t paraphrase the question either!
Resisting or rejecting the instructions will hinder the hypnosis experience for you
Of course, there is some basic protection!
If someone were to give an instruction which you can’t agree with, such as to forgive your dad when you aren’t ready, you can still resist this
Depending on the circumstances and context, this is perfectly fine
Hopefully you understand how the mind works a little better so you can not only protect yourself from unwanted suggestions, you can also enhance your own therapy sessions!
If you want to read more weird things about the mind, be sure to share this article so you will be reminded about coming back to read more!
Or you can just check out my blog.
Watch my Tiktok videos too.
Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next time! :D
McKing Lee, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
McKing Lee is a conversational hypnotist, NLP Practitioner, and a student of life. After nearly dying in his sleep when his lung burst for no reason, McKing develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and fell into depression. He subsequently sought his own recovery through learning NLP and hypnosis. Having a unique understanding of how the mind works, he has helped many people with mental and psychological issues, relationship and emotional issues, and interestingly enough, sometimes physical ailments too. McKing was recognized and won APAC SEA Business Awards Hypnotist of the Year 2020, and has been featured in local and overseas media over the years. He aims to help people as effectively as possible, through sharing of knowledge and with the right application of skills.
