Is Hypnosis a Dirty Word?

The self improvement movement is growing by the day. Both the internet and the lecture halls are awash with self-help gurus who promise that their methods can make you a better person. Often the main crux of these programs revolve around positive affirmations, creative visualization and NLP. Yet these people have a grubby little secret. All of these techniques are lifted directly from the instrument of improvement known commonly as hypnosis.

So why don’t these people ever mention hypnosis is part of their methods? Two simple reasons. Firstly the majority of them are not trained hypnotherapists, and secondly the public has a lack of understanding of exactly how hypnosis works.

There’s an inherent danger in both of these issues. By “re-dressing” hypnosis sham self-help gurus can attempt to use the successful methodology behind it without having any real training or qualifications and unfortunately their followers never question them.

The average person on the street still doesn’t fully understand how hypnosis works. Instead their mind conjures the image of a stage hypnotist making a member of the audience think that they’re a chicken. This is exactly why even well trained and fully qualified hypnotists such as Paul McKenna now prefer to call themselves self-help gurus or personal coaches. Indeed you can visit Paul McKenna’s official website right now and you won’t hypnosis or any variant of the word mentioned once on the landing page.

Is There a Way Back for Hypnosis?

Yes there is. Hypnotherapists have to stage a fight back of their own. This means taking back the word hypnosis and making it a respected practice. Doing this is actually quite easy - just by having hypnotherapists call themselves as such shows pride in the profession.

Secondly they need to make the effort to reach out to more people and explain their training and exactly how hypnosis works. It’s no surprise that people are scared to try hypnosis for themselves when their only knowledge of it is what they see on stage or on TV and in the movies since these usually show hypnosis as either a light-hearted or sinister method of mind control. Of course this couldn’t be further from the truth. Hypnosis is actually one of the most powerful methods of self empowerment.

Fortunately there’s an outside force that’s actually proving to be a very positive ally to hypnosis - science. With every scientific study seems to come another glowing testimony for the power of hypnosis, from its ability to help people quit smoking to the increased speed of healing it offers. Even the NHS now presents patients the opportunity to use hypnotherapy as an anaesthetic due to its safety and high success rate.

There are many websites that proudly proclaim themselves as selling hypnosis products, and they make them very affordable and easy to understand for the average person which is exactly what is needed to continue to take positive steps forward. It could be that the future of hypnosis is still a bright one.