Can anybody be hypnotised?
Most people can. The exceptions are: those who are educationally subnormal or suffering from senility, very young children, hard drug addicts, anybody under the influence of large amounts of alcohol.

How do you hypnotise somebody?
Mostly by voice induction, there is no special way of speaking, no 'incantations' or magical words, and the accent is quite often on producing a very relaxed state of mind. Normally, a slow and soothing approach is taken. Mostly, the client will close their eyes fairly soon in the induction, but an individual can quite easily be hypnotised with their eyes open. After hypnosis is induced (usually in a matter of a few minutes) a deepener routine might be used to deepen the state. Many therapists work from scripts, especially when they are new to the profession, but most soon build up a store of suitable scripts and stories 'in their heads'.

Can people be made to forget things, like suggestions or the session itself?
You cannot actually 'make' anybody do anything in hypnosis. Hypnosis gives nobody any power over the person who is hypnotised. However people come to hypnotist's to remember things such as misplaced objects.

How can you tell that somebody is hypnotised?
There are several external signs, though few people show all of them. Some of the most noticeable are: A facial flush, total immobility and relaxation, rapid eye movement, eyelid flicker, enhanced salivation (causing frequent swallowing), slowed respiration, drooping lower jaw.

Can you get 'stuck' in hypnosis?
No, you definitely cannot! If you were hypnotised and the hypnotist just walked away and left you, you would simply bring yourself out of the state whenever you wanted to.

Is it dangerous in any way?
People have been using hypnosis for thousands of years. Self hypnosis is a very useful thing, and very often hypnotists teach self hypnosis.

How does hypnotherapy differ from stage hypnosis?
Once you are in trance, we use suggestions to achieve what you want from the session. Remember you cannot be made to do something that you do not want to. All those stage hypnotists carefully select their victims on the basis that they are very suggestible and that they are willing to act in ridiculous ways.

What's the difference between hypnotherapy and psychotherapy?
Usually, psychotherapy makes changes to the subconscious by using the understanding and imagery of the conscious mind. Hypnotherapy attempts to bypass the conscious mind to a large extent, working directly with the subconscious. For this reason, hypnotherapy is often quicker than psychotherapy. But it's 'horses for courses' - there are some clients who will respond better to psychotherapy and for them, this would probably be a better form of treatment. Usually, these individuals are very analytical and guarded.