# stage versus clinical: effects?



## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

I donï¿½t understand the concept that hypnotherapy can not make us do anything we donï¿½t want to, and that we are always in control, not the person who is hypnotising us. Is this true for stage hypnosis as well as clinical hypnosis?I have just been watching ï¿½The Prioryï¿½ on Channel 4 with Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston, and Paul McKenna (stage hypnotist who is well known). He puts Jamie to ï¿½sleepï¿½, and tells him when he wakes up, the number 7 will be missing from his memory. Jamie wakes up, and duly forgets the number 7, not able to count 10 fingers on his hand, he jumps from 6 to 8, thus counting 11 fingers. I know that stage hypnosis is different in intention from clinical hypnosis. But is it different in effect also? In other words, can you be hypnotised into doing something you wouldnï¿½t ordinarily (not necessarily something you donï¿½t want to do?) do by stage hypnosis? Did this work because Jamie wanted to forget the number 7? Or did it work because stage hypnosis *can* make people do things they donï¿½t want to? If so, how is the stage hypnosis different from clinical hypnosis? Iï¿½m not talking about its intents ï¿½ I know that is the difference between stage and clinical. How is the process different?susan


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Susan, I will let Mike answer this, but you can't do anything against your own will with hypnosis if you don't want too. Here is some good information on questions about it though and Mike will say something I am sure. http://www.ibshypnosis.com/hypnosisabout.html ------------------Moderator of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Anxiety and Hypnotherapy forumI work with Mike and the IBS Audio Program. www.ibshealth.com www.ibsaudioprogram.com


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

On a side note this is one of the biggests misconceptions that needs to be cleared up to the public at large.------------------Moderator of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Anxiety and Hypnotherapy forumI work with Mike and the IBS Audio Program. www.ibshealth.com www.ibsaudioprogram.com


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## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

Eric, your thoughts are most welcome on this as well as Mike's or anybody else's. That website IBShypnosis.com is very good. It says: "This is not really helpless involuntariness, however. Experience shows that if you really need to or want to, you can resist any direct suggestion on part of the hypnotist. You can even wake yourself from of the hypnotic state if you really want to." So with reference to the example I gave in my first post, Jamie must have been quite happy to forget the number seven, talk like an alien etc etc'. Is that right?Thanks,susan


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Part of the stage hypnosis thing is that most people know that they are supposed to do whatever the suggested thing is, and people generally go along with it on some level.They cannot make you do anything you won't do, but some people may feel much less inhibited about doing silly things because they are being hypnotized (I have a good excuse for acting like a chicken). A friend of mine did stage hypnosis on me and the suggestion to forget the suggestion but just do the thing did NOT work. I was supposed to do something when they said a certain word, but I knew they were trying to get the conversation to that word so when they said it I just started giggling as it was so contrived. And I'm a good hypnosis subject. I go into deep relaxation stages pretty easily.People, in general, make really poor experimental animals in psychological research as they for the most part will try to do what they think the person doing the research wants them to do, so often times you have to go to great lengths to hide the real purpose of the experiment from the people in it. With stage hypnosis everyone knows what the expected behavior is, so most people play along.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html


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## Guest (May 3, 2001)

Hi Susan,K posted a good reply.I will fill in a few thoughts over the weekend - My comments on Stage Hypnosis.Generally, people who go to a stage hypnotist will be expecting something to happen. The hypnotist cannot change moral or ethical behaviour.I will come back to this very soon to answer more fully for you. Thanks for your patienceBest RegardsMike


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## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

Thanks K and Mike! K, I always thought I would also make a poor experiemental subject, not because I go along with the experimenter, but because as I generally DON'T do what the person wants me to, just because they irritate me so much.







I did wonder whether people only did what they wanted to - it reveals a lot about people who you might have previously thought had no sense of the bizarre in them!Interesting topic.susan


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## AZmom1 (Dec 6, 1999)

Wanderingstar,You've asked good questions. Here's what I understand of it.Stage hypnosis is done for fun, and a lot of people want to get into the act. In stage hypnosis, alcohol is often involved which may account for some of the relaxed inhibitions. You have to allow yourself to be hypnotised. If you have done Mike's tapes, you will know that if you don't at least TRY to relax and follow directions, you will not go into a trance. You also know that trance is a bad word for being in hypnosis. It is more like deep relaxation where we are more succeptible to suggestion. So, knowing that the participant is willing to do stage hypnosis, the subject probably knows that he may be made to do something silly. We've all seen stage hypnosis, and it's done for a laugh, so the hypnotist will probably ask him to do something goofy. The subject is willing to do something silly. BUT, the important part is that the hypnotist could not make the subject do something that is outside his belief system. The hypnotist could not make someone commit a crime for instance. If asked to do something against his beliefs, the subject may just come out of hypnosis by opening his eyes.Jamie forgot the number 7 because he was willing to go along with the hypnotist. It's not that he was pretending, it's more that he allowed himself to play along with the hypnotist. The processes are the same. Stage hypnotists know how to pick the right subjects. There are signals we all give off and a stage hypnotist knows what to look for. You'll notice that in most of these shows, the hypnotist asks for volunteers, then picks out the ones he wants to work with. He can quickly pick out the volunteers that will be suseptible to his tactics. There is a percentage of the population that are natural sonambulists, people that go into deep hypnosis very quickly and easily. Stage hypnotists are good at recognising this. They also use techniques that get the subject into hypnosis very quickly, unlike most techniques in clinical hypnosis. I hope that helps.AZ


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## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

Hi AZ, thanks for replying. I wonder what a stage hypnotist looks for when picking out easily hypnotised people? It's amazing that they can tell just be looking who is more of a somnambulist.Interesting also that they use different techniques to get the person hypnotised more quickly.So it seems it is down to the subject being happy to go along with what the hypnotist says. I know that on days when I was very uncomfortable or distracted, or had a list of things I needed to do on my mind, I would find it almost impossible to get into Mike's hypnotherapy tape on that day. Other days, I was in a hypnostised state within five seconds. Thanks again everyone,Susan


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