Does Hypnosis Exist – Hypnosis & the Placebo theory – The Hypnotist Radio show number 1

Does Hypnosis exist?

Back in the 1960′s the Amazing Kreskin the mesmeric mentalist and something of a hero of mine, proved in a court of law that hypnosis was the applied art of suggestion and that as an entity it actually does not exist. Sadly of course he’s totally wrong. Even though I can’t ‘prove’ it and claim the reward he offers in his latest book Kreskin Confidential.

Hypnosis is a word that describes the process of interaction between two people. It also describes the result of that interaction as a state of mind. Now Kreskin argues that there is no altered state but that’s like saying that when you are in love or in lust you are exactly the same as when you are in distress or angry.

Actually you are. You are in a mood and it’s pretty obvious to anyone who has ever had moods that they may not exist in the same way as Mount Etna exists, but just like Etna they are there and often just as hard not to notice or climb over.

Emotions and beliefs are the stock in trade of the hypnotist as we deliver our suggestions to the root of our moods and behaviours directly to the subconscious Mind. Which unlike the conscious Brain also doesn’t exist in any way we can put bits of it into a test tube and see how it works.

So emotions, faith, hope, disgust and despair likewise don’t exist so that’s good and bad because as they don’t exist you can’t feel them and they can not affect you even thought they do every single minute of every single day. Mmmmmmm.

Hang on, just let me wipe the tear from my eye because this thinking makes my brain sting.

Lets look at this. There is no such thing as hypnosis. Then there is no such thing as suggestion which in psychological terms means – and this is from dictionary.com not my head,
a. the process of inducing a thought, sensation, or action in a receptive person without using persuasion and without giving rise to reflection in the recipient.
b. the thought, sensation, or action induced in this way.

And hypnosis basically means the same thing, it certainly describes it. But it can’t because it does work but does not exist, so it can’t.

Is it making your head hurt as well. Well that’s okay because pain is subjective and does not cause an altered state of focus, belief or concentration and therefore, jut like hypnosis, it, and you for that matter, don’t exist.

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Hypnosis and The Placebo theory

I’m going to put aside the above and assume that a process of the delivery, management, creation and acceptance of suggestion does exist and that for sake of clarity and because it’s easier I’m going to call it Hypnosis.

Now the argument springs forth every now and then that hypnosis is Placebo. Of course this is because the people who put forth this idea haven’t read the dictionary again and don’t actually understand the word they are using or that they have some vague idea that placebo is a bad word, like work or haemorrhoids, and that like those things you shouldn’t wish the experience of a placebo on your friends.

Of course if truth is told you will and do wish such things on your worst enemies but then that is what worst enemies are for. It creates balance.

The fact is Placebo means – again with many thanks to the dictionary;
a substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine.
b. a substance having no pharmacological effect but administered as a control in testing experimentally or clinically the efficacy of a biologically active preparation.

And it is also from the Roman Catholic Church. Meaning the vespers of the office for the dead: so called from the initial word of the first antiphon, taken from Psalm 114:9 of the Vulgate. {No I don’t what it is either!}

Now, seeing as how hypnosis isn’t a substance and the person who experiences is probably aware it isn’t a medicine, and that as a process it has nothing it can substitute for, except maybe some other form of psychological technique – maybe it would be as impossible for hypnosis to be a placebo as it would be for a chemical pill to be a cure for phobias.

I rather suspect that this idea comes from the fact that both hypnosis and placebos apparently work because of the human belief and behaviour system. Although in actual fact Hypnosis has a much better success rate than placebos. For that matter education and religion also work on the good old ‘this happens so I do this’ system so I guess they are a placebo as well by this understanding. Although what medicine they could be replacing is hard to fathom.

The fact is that it really doesn’t matter whether you are sold Snake Oil or a chemical concoction based on extract of tarmac. If it works is the whole point surely? With hypnosis the important thing is has your belief, and therefore your behaviour, changed? And if so, well no placebo has been administered because after all – there is no such thing as hypnosis. [wink]

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And finally

This Friday at the time of 18.30 hours or 6.30 pm in the UK GMT I’m launching my first The Hypnotist Radio show on BlogTalkRadio.com

If you go along to the page you can get it to remind you in your local time when the show is but for the record here’s the gumph from the show page:

The format show.

Laying down the format for all forthcoming The Hypnotist Radio shows. The first of many.

Joined by co-host Reg Blackwood, Hypnotist, Comedian, Trainer, New Zealand’s number 1 and the world’s only Street Hypnotist who makes money doing it not just teaching hypnosis at http://www.Quicknotist.com

You can call in using a phone or indeed Skype, use the text chat room and you can send emails and owls or pigeon post.

Live on the show You can ask the BIG [Brain In Gear] question about using hypnosis to add value and profit to your business and marketing.

Tell us about your Situation which maybe we can help your sort out, confidence, habits, cravings, stress, habits, emotional angst, phobias and of course habits. All sorts of problems can be sorted in the Dear Jon section of the show.

When ever I can persuade a famous, infamous or just free hypnotist to throw caution to the wind, I’ll be conducting the Hypnotist Interview asking all the questions you really want to know like who, what, why, when and where.

And to spice things up there will be prizes and Blatant Bribes and you’ll be mesmerised by the magnificent content on the only hypnosis show online designed not to therapise you!

Tune in to the Hypnotist Radio with me Jonathan Chase and get ready to Sleep With Strangers

The Hypnotist Radio is an Edutainment Production from the Academy of Hypnotic Arts ltd.

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