This monthly newsletter is normally only available to paying members of the Houston Area Hypnosis Group, however, since this is the last newsletter of the year I have decided to share it with the whole group.

What is “Fear”? Here are a few thought provoking definitions:

A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined.  A response to a perceived threat that is consciously recognized as a danger.

An emotion, generally considered negative and unpleasant, that is a reaction to a real or threatened danger; fright. Fear is distinguished from anxiety, which is a reaction to an unreal or imagined danger.

In hypnotherapy, we consider a ‘fear’ to be related to an actual traumatic event, whereas a ‘phobia’ is an anxiety with no known or rational cause.

Whatever definition you place on it, it’s important to understand that ‘fear’ can protect us (like preventing us from jumping out of a perfectly good airplane), however it can also limit us (like preventing us from getting into a perfectly good airplane).

Over the last couple of years, first as a member, and then as the organizer of the Houston Area Hypnosis Group, I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting a number of interesting and talented individuals. Everyone that I have met at our meetings, whether they were just curiosity seekers or experienced hypnotist, have all brought a variety of views, questions and insights about hypnosis.

What has been interesting is to see 4 very distinct classifications of participants.

The first group registers online for the Houston Area Hypnosis Group, and may even RSVP for a meeting or two, but never come. You never get to meet them, they never participate in discussions, they never share their experiences. These folks just skew our membership numbers for a while, until I remove them from the group for inactivity. Nothing ventured…nothing gained. Too bad for them.

The second group, are fascinated with hypnosis and want to experience it, but have no real desire to become hypnotists themselves. This is great, because it means that we usually have some willing subjects in the meetings, which allows others to practice, while this group gains free hypnotherapy…a win/win scenario. The more the merrier.

The third group comes into these meetings, sometimes with previous training, sometimes without, and they jump in with both feet. Absorbing new information, trying out new techniques, questioning views and experimenting with ideas. They take what they have learned and they apply it in the “real world” and then share their experiences with the rest of the group. I have watched these individuals grow at an astounding rate into very skilled and competent hypnotists.

The fourth group that comes to these meetings may be new to the field of hypnosis, or may have been studying for years, reading books, watching videos, listening to audios, attending live trainings, etc. Sometimes they may participate in the practice portion of the meetings, but usually they are content to “just observe”, and they rarely (if ever) do anything with hypnosis outside of the meetings, other than more “research”. A small portion of the third group overlaps in this area as well. They participate heavily in the meetings and demonstrate phenomenal skills, but do not venture out beyond the meetings to apply their skills in other areas of their lives. There’s nothing wrong with this, if all you are interested in is filling your head with information. However, if what you seek is knowledge and a true understanding of hypnosis, you have to ‘do’ hypnosis in order to truly ‘know’ hypnosis.

This fourth group is the focus of this discussion of ‘fear’, because it’s fear that prevents most of this group from participating in the meetings or outside of the meetings. Fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of ‘doing it wrong’, or a general fear of the unknown. Often this fear stems from a lack of confidence in their ability to do hypnosis with others (especially outside of the comfort of the meeting ‘control’ group).

Believe me, I get it. I began my study of hypnosis nearly 25 years ago and I know how difficult it is to find people to ‘practice’ on. Hypnosis resources were scarce. The world wide web didn’t exist yet, so often times, the only resources available were library books, many of which were grossly outdated, or geared toward academic study or pure clinical work. Resources outside the library were hard to find and usually cost prohibitive, and there certainly weren’t any meet-up groups, at least none that were easy to find. And on top of all these limitations, there was still a great deal of misconception and resistance to hypnosis, especially here in the ‘bible belt’ south.

However, today, you have the internet, with an endless supply of free and cost effective resources on all aspects of hypnosis. You have special interest groups like the Houston Area Hypnosis Group, where you can meet with like minded individuals to learn and share and experience hypnosis first hand, in a safe environment. There are more and more scientific studies about hypnosis, and its acceptance in the medical and psychological fields is growing faster than ever. More and more people are becoming open to the use of hypnosis as an alternative resource for making positive changes in their lives, so it’s easier than ever to find eager and willing subjects.

So why is there still ‘fear’? It all stems from a lack of practical experience and self-confidence. Confidence comes from doing, and competence comes from doing something confidently over time.

There’s and NLP saying (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) that states “There is no failure, only feedback.”

It’s ok to make mistakes. It’s ok to stumble on the words or the order of the patter. I’ve been doing this for decades and I still fumble from time-to-time.

It’s ok if the techniques you are trying don’t always work. Sometimes a subject won’t respond to an instant induction, or they won’t take on the suggestion for certain hypnotic phenomenon. Anyone that has been to meetings with me has seen this happen with subjects that I have worked with…and I’m a confident, competent hypnotist. However, I’m successful at these techniques more often than not, and the reason why is because I believe they will work. I don’t focus on the so called ‘failures’. I see each miss-step as a learning experience. I analyze what happened, then I change my approach and do something else. If one technique doesn’t work, I try another. If I can’t get one phenomenon, I’ll try another. I almost always get success eventually, because I believe that I will.

I believe that hypnosis is something you do ‘with’ someone, not ‘to’ someone, and as a hypnotist, we guide people to the state of hypnosis on purpose, as opposed to by accident, which is how the subject normally gets there. However, we are guides to this state, and they have to be willing to experience it, or it won’t work. They can consciously choose to resist, and keep the state from intensifying, or reject a suggestion, but that doesn’t mean that we did anything wrong as hypnotists.

So, here is my challenge to you. End this year by pushing through your fear. Find someone…anyone, to practice with (preferably outside of the meetings) and get them into a hypnotic state, then induce some phenomenon (it could be as simple as locking their eyes closed, or a simple arm levitation). Then, come to a meeting and share your experience with the group.

Let’s end this year by eliminating any fear about doing hypnosis and start out the new year with a renewed passion for developing our skills as hypnotists, then use those skills as a positive influence for good in the world.

I know this has been a bit long winded, and I thank you for your attention.

Michael C. White, C.Ht.