A hallucination is defined as a perception in the absence of a real external stimulus. Usually the occurrence of a hallucination is a symptom of a psychotic disorder, but under certain circumstances, normal people may hallucinate. These situations include conditions of sensory deprivation, extreme hunger or thirst, fever, drugs, REM sleep (nocturnal dreams), and, in some cases, scrying (crystal ball gazing). Normal people may also hallucinate under the influence of suggestions, hypnotic or otherwise. Read more

There are a number of articles discussing a purported relationship between
hypnosis and ESP phenomena thai are cited here because they raise issues
that require comment (Eisenberg, 1978, Fourie. 1981; Nash, 1982: Sargent,
1978; Shaposhnikov. 19S2).
Read more

Since an emotion is generally regarded as a combination of the activities of the ANS, the subjective perception of these activities, and the accompanying ideation, it follows that hypnotically suggested emotional states are closely related to the physiological effects of hypnosis. Because the ANS is generally not under voluntary control, many of the physiological effects producible under hypnosis may in fact be mediated by emotional states that are more directly produced by hypnotic suggestion. Read more

Hypnotically induced dreams can be generated either under Hypnosis or subsequent to it, in which case they are just a specific type of Posthypnotic phenomenon. The subject may be told to have and remember a dream, or the theme of the dream can be suggested with varying degrees of specificity. If the dream is produced under Hypnosis, the subject can be asked to describe it as he is experiencing it. However, since dreams are predominantly visual experiences and one picture will take much more than the proverbial 1,000 words to describe it in all of its details, such simultaneous verbal reports must of necessity be gross abstractions and therefore distortions of the ongoing dream process. What will be reported is a function of the subject’s expectations and mental set and what he perceives the experimenter expects. Read more

Really check out your entertainer before you hire. Be aware of those hypnotists that cannot give you repeat references from a venue or client. Compare their promotional materials with other hypnotists and if at all possible try and get a video, DVD that shows a full show. Viewing highlights is just what you will get.—For some hypnotists the show is about them and not the audience. Read more

Just as there are a great number of ways of inducing heterohypnosis, there
is also almost no limit to the varieties of autohypnotic techniques. Some of
the works listed in the References and Bibliography of this book that were
addressed to lay audiences provide an idea of this variety. It is improbable,
however, that even a good subject would be successful in inducing self-hyp-
nosis as a result of reading a book. What is generally required is personal
training by a hypnotist, and this always includes some degree of heterohyp-
nosis, whether in the form of a formal trance induction or in the form of
helpful suggestions and supervision. An example of a self-hypnosis training
procedure that the author has found effective (and which the reader may
modify as he desires, to meet the requirements of his own personality and
the needs of his patients) will now be described. Read more