How is hypnotherapy working?
Hypnosis may help you change your behaviors by reframing your comments on matters, perceptions, thoughts and emotions.

What is the relation between hypnosis and the subconscious?

You behaviors are determined in the same way the subconscious percepts itself. When the subconscious perceptions are altered, unwanted behaviors are altered, too.  It means that your behaviors have the same tendency with your subconscious. Your attitudes towards the events of life constitute the context of the subconscious. The most important peculiarity specific to the human brain is interpreting and being able to alter the things which it has interpreted.  Hypnosis is the most effective and the fastest way that I know in altering the meanings. Our history may determine our expectations, our expectations may determine our emotions, our emotions may determine our thoughts and our thoughts may determine the future.

Problems related with life and psychologic conflicts always effect the subconscious and add heavy loads to it. The principle function of the subconscious is to protect the person against psychologic problems and to produce concealed and open solutions.  The problems related with life which are consecutive and being accumulated within the subconscious, may prevent the subconscious to carry out its protection duty. My hypnotherapy method which is carried out by re-activating the subconscious is usually sufficient for resolving the problems.  I mean in hypnotherapy, I only use the own powers of person.

Is hypnotherapy dangerous?
American Proffesor Dr.William S. Kroger describes the hypnosis as the most reliable and safest psychotherapy method. Since the hypnosis state is a state of psyche which is generated with the guidance of the hypnotherapist, as well as it is a natural therapy method, also is the first remembered method used for many unsolved problems of a human being in the modern world.   However we emphasize that as long as the hypnosis is applicated by well-informed individuals, it is not harmful and there is no need to worry, preventing the person who is afraid of himself/herself, doesn’t trust almost anything, to accept hypnosis dangerous is a hard job.  

It is possible to make this subject clear by quoting from American Psychologist Proffessor Dr.Roberta Temes. “I think hypnosis is a reliable and wonderful means.” (Temes, 2000 p.319)

Do I lose my conscious when I am hypnotised?
Hypnosis is not the loss of the conscious. You are ceratinly aware of what you are doing and saying when you are hypnotised. Sometimes this awareness is higher than usual. When the hypnosis ends, you remember the most part of what you’ve told. Hypnosis is not a state of coma. You do not lose yourself during hypnosis. You only learn to look at your life from a different, inner window.. You do not lose yourself during hypnosis, on the contrary, you find yourself. Hypnosis is not being controlled by someone.  Hypnosis is curbing yourself physically and spiritually.

Hypnosis is a fine experience which you may probably wish to live it again and also, during hypnosis, you don’t perform or tell anything shameful for you.

During hypnosis are the information located in my subconscious revealed?

Not all individuals’ subconscious becomes visible abundantly. The subconscious doesn’t effect us during only hypnosis or is revealed when being hypnotised. No matter we are aware or not, the effect of the subconscious always exists.  For example, when you are annoyed or feeling happy, have you encountered with cases in which you feel that the person speaking is not you but someone else?   That voice is your subconscious mind. If your subconscious mind is able to effect you negatively, of course it might effect you also positively.   During hypnosis, we reach the goals of therapy only by using the capacities of our subconscious mind more effectively.  The learnings and beliefs existing there (within the subconscious) are stronger.  Hypnosis may help you benefit from this power. If these powers are used negatively, it means that problems have been produced.  Hypnotherapy teaches you to use these powers positively.

Do you remember the days of starting to learn driving?  You were very careful of what you were doing, like “Now bring the gear to 1. Accelerate slightly and take off your foot slowly from the clutch pedal”.  But when you get used to it, you don’t pay attention to them. Because you have taught your subconscious mind to drive and it is helping you instead of yourself. Do you see it, actually the subconscious is working and learning continuously in daily life. Hypnotherapy speeds up this learning process. This is the most important relation between hypnosis and the subconscious.

Briefly, hypnosis doesn’t mean washing someones dirty linen in public. A hypnotised person doesn’t perform or tell anything that he/she may regret.  

Are there any unwanted effects of hypnosis?

The side effect of hypnosis is bringing joy and relaxation to the person’s life.

I’ve called one of my  patients after the second session with whom I was having sessions because of his phobia. I asked him if his phobia is still existing. My patient answered “My phobia is still existing but I don’t care anymore. Because I am peaceful after hypnosis, I’m more relaxed in every aspect. Today I gave myself a leave of absence in my own office for the first time. I realised the fact that my personnel is living more comfortable than me. I’m going to go fishing when my personnel is working. Before hypnosis, I was in the mood of “thinking about everything but doing nothing”, now I’ve learned that there is no need to think about useless things.  From now on, my phobia is also classified as “useless”:))

The case story told above constitutes an interesting example for the appearence of side effect of hypnosis.

Many of my patients told me that when they came to session being quite tired because of their work, after the session they felt light as a bird and had a deep sleep. Neverthless, not all of graduated people in this area know the hypnosis and hypnotherapy subjects.

Is it possible to learn hypnosis by reading some books and apply it on myself and other people?

I advise you not to attempt such kind of an action. Me and my collagues are receiving too many e-mails from people who need help for the problems occured when they carried out such kind of executions on themselves and others. It is said that “One mustn’t bite off more than he can chew” If you are not an educated physician or psychologist in hypnosis, please do not use hypnosis on neither yourself and others because of what you’ve read. Hypnosis may lead to dangerous outcomes when used by not well-informed people. Today, I should remind you that some of the NLP applications are tried to be shown as hypnosis. Please let’s be very careful.

Does hypnosis cause addiction?
Hypnosis never causes addiction. Because there is nothing given to you from outside. During hypnosis you solve your problems using your own powers.

David Spiegel is one of the most famous psychotherapists and hypnotist of the world and says “People, including physicians may worry if they think there might be some risks with hynosis but hypnosis is neither dangerous nor has side effects, as in the medical treatments.”  

What is the similarity between hypnotherapy and psychotherapy?

I can’t think psychotherapy and hypnosis seperately. Every hypnosis is also a psychotherapy for me, as well as all effective psychotherapies are also hypnotherapies. Because all effective psychotherapies should give either concealed or open suggestions.

All known psychotherapy methods are applied easier when the person is hypnotised.  Hypnotherapy expands the effects of psychotherapies. Additionally, for people continuing to take medicine treatment, it accelerates the medical treatment and psychotherapy.

Is hypnosis used in order to forget the events happened in the past and which are wanted to stay unremembered?

Hypnosis may lead to forget some events happened in the past theoreticaly. It is possible to create amnesies (to forget) in hypnosis. I know that Dr.Ericson has such studies.  Although such kind of a thing is possible theoreticaly, in order to do it, one must be hypnotised close to a deep state.  This is something related with your capacity.

            Forgetting everything that hurts us is not the only way in other
            subject.  Human being is genuinely a strong living being.
            Hypnotherapy may cause the person to feel this strength. 
            Briefly, forgetting means escaping. Only the weak people
            escape. I prefer to use hypnotherapy not to support the
            weakness but to show some powers of the person which
            he/she is not aware of.

Is it possible not to come out of hypnosis?

It is not possible to take this subject under consideration; you may come out of hypnosis like you may always leave internet environment and my website.   It is definitely always possible to come out of hypnosis because hypnosis is not a thing that is applied to you but something that you learn to apply it on yourself from your hypnotherapist.  It means that hypnosis is essentially a self-hypnosis. Hypnotherapist only guides you to reach a trans state.

“The hypnotised person is like the captain of a ship. Hypnotherapist is the guiding captain. It is the hypnotised person who holds the rudder wheel. No one can direct the ship towards the rock cliff unless the captain wants so.  You are the captain during hypnosis, therefore, you may come out of it whenever you wish.  Because it is you holding the rudder wheel. Even if your therapist dies during hypnosis, because your concentration would fade away, you may come out of hypnosis by yourself. During hyponosis hearing no voice would be quite boring, therefore you may come out of it by yourself, even if your therapist dies. 

During hypnosis, is it possible to make someone do something that he/she doesn’t want to do?

I had hypnotised a female personnel who is working in our hospital. At that time she was wearing overshoes. I had inculcated her not to take off her overshoes after hypnosis session and she may walk to the minibus with her overshoes on. But my friend didn’t obey this inculcation. Many studies have been carried out and it has been revealed that human beings assimilate only the suggestions which are suitable for themselves and their personalities.  According to the outcomes which can be certainly extracted from these experiments, human beings don’t accept everything what their hypnotis says during hypnosis without questioning.  Hypnosis doesn’t mean to turn people into robots. 

No one can make me sleep!

It is not expected from a therapist to make you sleep. Sleeping and hypnosis are different things. We can list the clear differences between sleeping and hypnosis as follows:

1. When you are sleeping, you have to close your eyes, during hypnosis you don’t.

2. When you are sleeping, you don’t hear the voices around you. During hypnosis, you hear the voice of hypnotist.

3. When you are sleeping you may turn to right or left in the bed. During hypnosis it is not easy for the most of people to move.

4. When you are sleeping your ability to concentrate almost disappears. During hypnosis you use your ability to concentrate close to maximum.

5. EEG records show that the brain produces some alpha waves during the sleep. During hypnosis alpha waves are close to awakeness and high.
EEG device is able to measure the electrical impulses of the brain. When sleeping and during hypnosis the brain produces different kind of waves and this shows that hypnosis and the sleep are different than each other.

In addition to these, during hypnosis one do not lose himself/herself or control. Hypnosis is not a state of mental weakness or easy deception like some show artists present it so. 

For whom the hypnosis cannot be applied?

Hypnosis can not be applied on mentally retarded people.

How long does a hypnotherapy session last?

The hypnotherapy sessions that I apply last 1 hour under normal conditions. However, there is no fixed time, valid for every hypnotherapist.

How many sessions does a hypnotherapy take in average?

The number of sessions that you may generally carry out depends on 4 conditions. The more the following conditions are positive, the shorter the session is expected to be.

1. The problem that you are willing to solve,

2. The features of the environment which your living in,

3. The words used by the hypnotist and his/her approach to therapy.

4. The reliable and positive relations that you have formed between you and your hypnotist.

5. Peculiarities of your personality. (Suitable person and personalities may solve their problems easily within several sessions, but this period may be longer for the ones who are skeptical, perfectionist, obsessive and extremely anxious.)   

During the session, am I able to understand that I am hypnotised?
One can not realize easily if he/she is hypnotised or not in the first 1–2 sessions.  Actually it depends on the expectations and knowledge of people about hypnosis. During my hypnotherapy sessions, I always record every second of my sessions with a video camera in order to show my patients their hypnotised states after all.  In this way when my patients watch these pictures, they become sure of being hypnotised.

Being suspicious for anything strange exists in human nature. Therefore, someone who hasn’t been hypnotised could say “Was that hypnosis that I’ve experienced?”. But when he/she watches the video pictures and learns more about hypnosis, my patients are no longer suspicious about it.

Also the more my patients watch the video pictures, the better they realize the way covered in hypnotherapy.

The most reliable way to understand that you are hypnotised is the result you got.

Could a friend of mine stay in the room during hypnosis?

If you wish, yes, however

1. Those people may cause a confusion in your attention.

2. Your friend who is going to be with you may also be hypnotised when he/she is watching you.

3. The first rule of a successful hypnotherapy is mutual confidence.  There is no need for a third-party when there is mutual confidence.

4. Since the mates or friends who are willing to be with you during the session generally have faulty information about hypnosis in their minds, I think they worry unnecessarily about the person who is going to be hypnotised. This is the reason for why they want to be with you during the session. Pay attention not to make them infect their worries also to you. Otherwise the probability to benefit from the session decreases.

5. Some of the companions who are not informed about hypnosis forced my patients to tell them about what happened. Being too curious is also harmful. Even if they know what happens during hypnosis, the companions do not provide any benefit. 

Is there an aptitude for hypnosis?  Can everyone benefit from Hypnosis?

The 90% of human beings can reach to hypnosis state during the first session. The others learn to take themselves to reach a deep hypnosis state by living and learning it gradually.  Having an aptitude for hypnosis dosn’t mean the others are not able to learn it.

All human beings who have an average intelligence, health, emotional and social development can live the hypnosis. If one has not been hypnotised, the reasons must not be looked for within scoreboards of aptitude for hypnosis tests.  If a patient has not been hypnotised, his/her thinking structure and emotional needs should be revised.  Emotions of the patient are more important than the scores. I think it’s better to explain this situation using an example. One of my patients, who couldn’t live the hypnosis state, has told me that her husband was waiting outside and she was continuously thinking of him and her child because her husband was very angry and her child was naughty. Probability to live the hypnosis state for the patients who are in such psychologic mood decreases.

Generally intelectual people, children and young people who can use their brains’ right hemisphere functions more efficiently have an aptitude for hypnosis. In comparison with analytic and skeptical people, passionate and sensible people live the hypnosis experince easier. People who have an analytic mind think for 3-4 personalities, not only for one, and ask too many questions. The opinion “Weak people are hypnotised easily” is just a faulty opinion.

There is no type of personaliy which it has been proven as having an aptitude for hypnosis. Some researchers defend that there is direct proportion between the ability to mourn the eyeballs back and having an aptitude for hypnosis. Those researchers also defend that people who are able to roll-back their eyeballs have the best aptitude for hypnosis.

The most reliable to understand the level of your aptitude for hypnosis is participating in a hypnosis session. It is known that for people who don’t have an aptitude for hypnosis can shorten the distance by practising for a short time.

There are people who are not able to be hipnotised even by a very experienced hypnotist. Hypnosis is an effective and quick method but it can not be applied on 100% of people.

Is it possible to solve all of my problems?

None of the medical and psychologic methods can give assurance to solve the problems 100%. If there is anybody who tells you to solve your problems 100%, he/she certainly doesn’t know anything neither about medical science nor psychology.  Medical science of today is not able to give assurance to cure even a simple cold. If someone who got cold take his/her medicine regularly and take care of himself/herself, the probability of getting well increases. In the same manner, the benefit of hypnotherapy is up to you. We are responsible for doing our best for you, however, we are not able to give assurance.

My opinion about benefiting from hypnotherapy is as follows. I classify my patients according to their level of benefiting from hypnotherapy into 3 categories.

1. After completing 4 sessions, approx. 80% of my patients have found solutions of their problems and left very satisfied.

2. After completing 4 sessions, 20-20% of them have find solutions for 80% of their problems and continued with sessions once a month.

3. Again after completing 4 sessions, as well as the 10-15% decrease in complaints of 5% of my clients, together with hypnosis, they learned to form a state of relaxation by themselves. This  group is the one which has benefited from hypnotherapy at minimum.  As long as they showed patience with continuing hypnotherapy, their probability to benefit from hypnotherapy increases. 35-year-old and older men are included in this group. Naturally the older the age is,the harder the changes within the human being are difficult and time-consuming. Since women have greater aptitudes for hypnosis, they benefit more from it.

While being hypnotised, what happens if I remember bad memories which I don’t want to remember?

Just as watching an horror film over and over and making it turn into a comedy film for you, but you were frightened when you’ve first watched it, during hypnosis, the things you remember and describe as “bad” could be some kind of a remedy.  Of course it doesn’t mean that remembering everything would always be good for you. A qualified hypnotherapist knows which information would be beneficial when it comes out and which would be useless, and asks questions accordingly. Neverthless, in case an hypnotherapist asks a question which the patient wouldn’t like to answer, patients stay silence and never answer it. If the hypnotherapist insists on such unreplied matters, hypnosis session usually comes to an end.

Let’s say that there are some fundemantal fears related with your problems. Sometimes recognising those fears could be the key to solve your problems. “The worst enemy is the unknown enemy” is the same as the worst fear is the unknown fear.

Also during hypnosis, the things you may encounter and talk about belong only to you. Just as if you didn’t place something terrifying into your refrigerator, if you are not afraid of opening its door; if you didn’t do anything terrifying in your life, it is not possible for you to encounter with terrifying things during hypnosis.

The subconscious is composed of the things you have lived. The emotional, essential and inner sides of you experiences are recorded in the subconscious. The things which you haven’t experienced or has an  unreal quality can not take place within the subconscious. There isn’t anything new or unknown within the subconscious. It is the downstairs of our personality structure that we saw in it. Just like the strangeness of being afraid of yourself; being afraid of hypnosis is also strange.  People who hesitate to get hypnotised are the ones for whom accepting themselves is difficult.

Let’s have a look at Kaşgarlı Mahmut’s speech. “Devil is better if you know him, better than a stranger you don’t know” Emotions, thoughts and fears, which we can not define exactly, disturb the person more, compared to the known ones.

Also, in general, although human beings are not able to explain their fears verbally, they do it out of necessity in other ways. Mandatory residence within our fears always exists. People are forced to explain their fears by uncontrollable behaviors, body language, psychologic disorders, communication problems and  health problems. Briefly,  inside us (the subconscious) there is no vampire :). Inside yourself, there is only you. If you are afraid of hypnosis, it means you are also afraid of yourself.
Can people who are against hypnosis and don’t want it, live the hypnosis state?

The hypnotherapists do not wish to hypnotise people who don’t want it really. Neither do I.  Sometimes I have sessions with people who have been brought to hypnosis forced by their families and wants to look like as if they are volunteer. Such type of people resist to hypnosis but in the end they get hypnotised. However, hypnotherapy is not useful for such type of people. Therefore before deciding to hypnotise people, I always perform a pre-testing for at least an hour. Although sometimes the person express that he/she wants to be hypnotised, he/she may not be willing to get in real.

Is my choise of hypnotherapist important?

The curing part of hypnosis is not that you are hypnotised, but what had happened and been talked? Although every hypnotist can perform hypnosis, he/she may not be able to carry out the treatment. In this aspect, the abilities of hypnotist might be quite determining in treatment. Another hypnotist can get very successful results in a case which the other couldn’t do so. For example, in case the patient can’t get the inculcation directly, the hypnotist may present them by placing them into images, ideas, stories or metaphors. However those techniques are not known by all the people who know hypnosis. Even if he/she knows it, the ability of application differs. Even the vocal tone of the hypnotherapist is important in hypnotherapy. Also the ambiance in which the hypnotherapy is going to be carried out is veryt important. I very well know from experiences that people experince hypnosis better in places with a sea or natural view. Many of my patients said “Mr.Tuncay, you don’t have to do anything, this room, this music and this view take me to the hypnosis”.

Always remember that the number of hypnotists is equal to the number of hypnotherapies. What you have to do What you have  Wis to choose the hypnotist who is suitable for you.

Being hypnotised lightly or deeply affect the success of  hypnotherapy?

In some old scientific researches, a relation could not be found between the depth of hypnosis and the success of therapy. According to my experiences, I realized that the depth of hypnosis effect the success a little. But rather than the depth, the important and effective point is things that the hypnotist says. The important thing during the session is getting inculcation that fits your problem and personality.

Can a hypnotised person joke?
There isn’t any obstacle for my patients to joke during hypnosis. Because hypnosis is not the loss of the conscious. Additionally jokes constitute one of the ways which the subconscious use to express itself. During the operations of Opr.Dr.Hüsnü İsmet Öztürk, where hypnosis was carried out without using narcosis, patients were singing and joking. 

Does hypnotherapy mean self-mending of the soul?
A living being in rivers called Hydra Viridis has the ability to renew and treat itself after potential woundings.  Let’s say that you held a Hydra Viridis and cut it into pieces; the pieces tend to grow, tries to take the original shape of the animal and succeed in it. In other words neither the animal which was born in pieces die, nor the pulled pieces of the body. Moreover, maybe that poor little animal may thank you for your help in its reproduction. 

A living being with a several milimeters body has such extraordinary abilities, so why is it strange for the human being who is accepted as the owner and the lord of the world to possess a self-aiding mechanism? There are such abilities that mean nothing unless being aware of them. By helping you to discover your spiritual and psychologic abilities, hypnotherapy may of course help the organism to mend itself.

What is the age limit in hypnotherapy?
Hypnotists, who use conventional hypnosis methods, determines it as around 60.  In my opinion, probability of benefiting from hypnotherapy decreases after the age of 35. The lower limit for children is the age they start to go to elemantary school.

Is the treatment effect of hypnotherapy permanent or temporary?

If hypnotherapy is carried out by your therapist without neglecting the therapy part of it, probability of re-occurence of the problems acould be too little to be seen. Moreover, scientific researches show that hypnotherapy is the most reliable method to prevent problems occur again.

My patients have learnt self-hypnosis execution after approx. 3-4 sessions (5-6 hours). Because I gave them the necessary information. The effect of hypnotherapy may long a whole lifetime thanks to the hypnosis that they carry out by themselves. Thy use hypnosis against sevaral life problems  they may encounter.

How long does it take to get hypnotised?

While some people get hypnotised in 30 secons, some of them reach it in 45 minutes. The time in which you get hypnotised depends on your ability to get hypnotised  However the hypnotist and methods and words used are also important.

What is the reason for using imaginations in hypnosis?

This expression of Coue wonderfully emphasizes the treating power of imagination.  “The most important characteristic within oruselves is not the will, it is imagination, the ability to convince ourselves in something. Whenever the will and imagination struggle, the loser is always the will and the winner is always imagination.”   If the wills of my patients are not sufficient to solve the problems, they tend to apply for an hypnotherapy. Then the other power (imagination) that can be used in therapy is assigned to solve the problems.

Why are suggestions accepted? Do they have to be accepted?
Human being is not convenient to get inculcations when he/she is stressed, angry and feels sad. In such moments they usually say “get out of here!”. So you understand that it is not the right time to give suggestion. Human being becomes more convenient to get suggestion in contrary moments in which I’ve tried to give a dramatic feel. Because hypnosis is a state which is the opposite of stress and anger. 

Is it  possible not to get hypnotised because of high excitement?
I’ve never witnessed to hypnosis which is getting more difficult because of excitement, on the contrary, I can certainly say that it makes it easier. The reason for that is the excitement makes you pay attention better, therefore, helps you concentrate more. Excitement doesn’t make hypnosis difficult but if you are extremely stressed at that moment, your hypnosis may be delayed. For example, on the day of hypnotherapy, if there is something unfortunate or negative has happened, you got angry at something or because of these reasons you become inattentive, this psychologic state may partially prevent the hypnosis.  If you are stressed, a qualified hypnotherapist either chooses to solve them or postpone the session to be held on another day.

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