The Altered State

Marco was not exactly thrilled with my decision to meet again with the hypnotist. He was uneasy with the idea that a perfect stranger could play with my mind and, who knows, make me do bizarre things or change me into a different person. I would lie if I’d say that the idea didn’t cross my mind, but surely there had to me more to it than just what we see on TV. Never-the-less, I went. The desire to know what had happened to me was critical by then, there was not much room left for caution.

However, prior to even considering the use of hypnosis, I had done some research. I knew that it could be used as a tool in combination with therapy, but I was not too sure about what it entails exactly. Here is what I had found out:

Hypnosis is an altered state of awareness, one were the mind remains clear, alert and focused on something. It does not feel frightening or eerie as one might expect. During a session, you feel very relaxed. You can hear everything around, the sounds outside the room, a car down the street and you remain aware of everything that is going on around you as well as what your unconscious is revealing to you.

The reassuring part was that no one under hypnosis can be induced to do anything against his will. Whatever moral and ethical codes you hold in a normal waking state will still be in place under hypnosis. Just like you cannot be made to do anything against your moral code, you will not say anything that is embarrassing and will not reveal more than you are comfortable doing. Usually, if a hypnotherapist's suggestion conflicts with your value system, you simply bring yourself up out of hypnosis; you just "wake up." You are in complete control at all times.

And finally, mastering the art of hypnosis does not necessarily mean that one is qualified as a hypnotherapist. In my case, he called himself a hypnotherapist in spite of the fact that his training did not include a single class on therapy. Furthermore, he was incapable of recognizing or understanding a person’s basic state of mind or emotion and possessed no compassion what-so-ever. Still, he chose as a line of work, to help people heal their sorrow. Of course, at the time, I was unaware of such facts. Still, it is precisely his brutality in dealing with delicate matters which helped me move forward.

However, I must warn you to be cautious before you decide to use the same path. I strongly believe that I was able to make the most of it because I was tremendously insightful, I had already done a lot of work with my own trustworthy therapist and I had a great support system. Furthermore, I was very clear on what I wanted to achieve. In other circumstances, his gross incompetence might have caused much more grief that enlightenment. In retrospect I don’t regret what I did, but should I have known that every qualified therapist had basic understanding of hypnosis; I would have asked John to perform it instead, I would have been in better hands.