"Is doing it yourself [self hypnosis] as effective as being hypnotized by someone else [hetero-hypnosis]?"

Self hypnosis can be more, the same, or less effective than hetero-hypnosis. It should go without saying that, in general, hetero-hypnosis with a professional — for therapeutic purposes, not a stage show — is superior to self hypnosis. But not by a lot. At least not always. And the independence, control, and breadth of application you achieve with self hypnosis more than make up for the differences between self hypnosis and hetero hypnosis.

It might sometimes take a little longer to get there with self hypnosis, but you will have done it under your own power. And it is much better to risk taking a little longer than to risk putting yourself into the hands of an incompetent hypnotist (and spending a lot more money and time in the process).

"Is hypnosis a New Age thing?"

No, not really. Something does not have to be newto fall under the rubric of "New Age," and it is true that many New Age practitioners advocate the use of self hypnosis. However, the earliest known descriptions of hypnosis date back 6,000 years to rites performed in Egyptian sleep temples. European physicians such as Charcot and Bachofen were using it in the 17th and 18th centuries. Benjamin Franklin, who was the United States ambassador to France at the time, investigated the so-called animal magnetism of Anton Mesmer and substantiated the successes animal magnetism was producing (Franklin attributed it to suggestion). (We still use Mesmer's name today when we say someone was "mesmerized," meaning raptly attentive, or that they were somehow temporarily deprived of their normal conscious qualities.) The term "hypnosis" was coined by one of the most respected scientists of his day, James Braid, in 1843. Today there are many legitimate university-based studies of the various phenomena of hypnosis and it is not uncommon for dentists and physicians to use it in their practices.

Safety and other Concerns

"Is it safe?"

It is just as safe as anything else. If you stick to selfhypnosis, you have the same protective mechanisms working for you that you have any other time. You will not do anything in self hypnosis that you would not otherwise do. Of course what some people would otherwise do can surprise you. If you have seen a stage hypnotist's show you may have seen people doing things you would not want to do. And you probably would not; the only reason people do strange things in a stage presentation is because of what we call the "demand characteristics" of the situation. That is, being on stage in front of a lot of people exerts a tremendous pressure to do as one is told. It is generally wiser not to volunteer for any stage demonstrations of hypnosis, or to use it in any way just for entertainment.

Various religions have at different times had something to say about hypnosis. The ancient Egyptians thought it was a Good Thing. On the other side of the coin, the Church of Latter Day Saints thinks otherwise. Some of the Church Elders believe, I'm told, that hypnosis is dangerous because it opens up the mind for the devil to enter. Based on my own years of experience and research, I don't think self hypnosis would be any more likely to open up one's mind to the devil than, say, listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Maybe even less so if you happen to dislike church choir music.

Another frequently heard bugaboo about hypnosis is the presumed danger of the "release of repressed material." This and other common concerns of Freudians and others have never been a problem in self hypnosis. A person practicing self hypnosis has the same safeguards available to her that she has in a normal, waking state. (Hypnosis would probably play a prominent role in modern Psychoanalysis if Freud himself had not been such an inept hypnotist.)

"I understand that people learn more about themselves when they begin to practice self hypnosis. What if I discover something I don't want to know?"

You can sometimes make yourself uncomfortable, but you will not hurt or create any serious problems for yourself. In many years of experience I have seen thousands of people — this is not hyperbole, I mean literally thousands — in hypnotic and self-hypnotic states. And I have never seen a single case in which the emergence of repressed memories caused anything worse than temporary discomfort.

Actually, I have seen more problems created by inept therapists than by anything associated with hypnosis. And we all know how troubling some people can be; they don't need hypnosis to work their evil. If you happen to get into a situation with one of these people and hypnosis is involved, you might unfairly blame the hypnosis when in fact it had nothing to do with the problem. This is another reason to steer clear of amateur and stage hypnotists, and to never volunteer as a subject when hypnosis is being conducted for entertainment.

Self hypnosis does sometimes help a person become more aware of his problems. But this enlightenment should not be confused with causation (which, in such a case, is a matter of blaming the messenger for the message).

"Will the regular practice of self hypnosis make me more suggestible?"

Yes, but only in the good sense. That is, with practice, you get better at responding to your own suggestions. This is a Good Thing because it gives you more control over yourself. At the same time, you become more resistant to the manipulative attempts of others. There is an inverse relationship between responsiveness to hetero-suggestion (suggestion applied by others) and autosuggestion (self-applied suggestion). The better you get at autosuggestion, and the more you understand it and how it works, the more you become resistant to manipulative attempts by others. The regular practice of self hypnosis is great for developing discipline in those who find it difficult to "just say no."

"Do you lose consciousness when you practice self hypnosis?"

Only if you fall asleep. However, you might have certain areas of memory lapse later which make it seem like you were unconscious, but you were not. It is a little like the experience we have all had of doing something — like driving a familiar route — only to realize later that we don't remember doing it.

"What if I can't wake up?"

Never happens. Getting out of hypnosis is never a problem. You'll put all of your efforts into getting into a hypnotic state, not getting out of it. The worst that can happen is that you drift off into normal sleep, in which case you will wake up — or oversleep — just as you would any other time.