Yes Virginia… there is a dark side to hypnosis by Michael Harris, PhD

Because of the people involved, I won’t be discussing any specifics of the case just some generalities so that you can get the scope of what has occurred and perhaps by reading this you may be able to avert any situations that could cause yourself or someone you know harm. HYPNOSIS WORKS.

I had an opportunity the other day to work with a client on a pretty scary subject and yes, I’m talking about HYPNOTIC MIND CONTROL. You hear about it on the news, you see what Hollywood wants to produce in movies but most people never get to see it. The appointment was right out of the same place where people like Charles Manson or Jeffery Dahmer live aka crazy land. Only this wasn’t on the news… it was in my office.

I also find it interesting in light of the recent media fervor over a stage hypnotist that recently had a problem after doing a hypnosis stage demonstration at a girl’s school. I’m not a fan of hypnosis used as an entertainment tool for this reason. The poor guy was doing what he normally does and things went wrong, very wrong.

The subject came in and at my request, brought a friend to sit in on the session.

The short version is that this person, a female subject had met a man who has a least a understanding of how hypnosis works. The subject who had a boyfriend was having some relationship issues and the man offered to “listen” to her issues.

One day, the man offered to do some “relaxation” techniques so that the subject’s headache would abate. From this point forward, the man regularly did hypnosis with the subject over a period of about 6 months. It might be also worth mentioning that in the 6 months period she broke up with her boyfriend and guess what? That’s correct. She began a relationship with the “friendly man” who was just trying to help her with her headache.

When the subject came into the office, she was very easy to induce into trance. I found it interesting that even though she was very frightened, she was still extremely suggestible. We methodically when through the last six months of her life and the subject discovered that she had been programmed (these are the exact instructions) to CRY, TO BE USED and TO BE ABUSED. We also discovered that the subject had been programmed to be in a heightened sexual state at any time that she was in the presence of, or thought about this man. Apparently, the goal was to condition this woman to be his sex slave and to be so broken that she could not leave him.

We were able to undo all of the programming and the subject is living FAR AWAY from the man. So the question you may be considering is… HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? The answer is very easily.

About 5% of the U.S. population is VERY SUGGESTIBLE and the rest of us are equally susceptible to a wide variety of hypnotic techniques like REPETITION, AUTHORITY FIGURES, TRUSTED RESOURCES and plain old-fashioned GULLIABLITY.

For most part, we as humans have a desire to believe others, to accept what they say is true and in general have a positive expectation that what people are telling you is the truth or what they believe is the truth. What happens when you meet someone who knows about that? You get situations like the one described above.

The dichotomy is this. How do you life your life with an expectation of a safety and simultaneously protect yourself from predators? My answer is with some difficulty and a degree of vigilance.

According to Martha Stout, author of “the Sociopath Next Door”, approximately 1 person out of every 25 has the capacity of being a sociopath. I find this ratio to be alarming and based on what I do for a living I also find it to be fairly accurate. So what do you do?

I like the “Ronald Regan method” TRUST BUT VERIFY. You cannot spend your whole life checking out everything that every person tells you but you do have INTUITION, NATURAL INTELLIGENCE and an innate ability to sense when people are “blowing smoke up your skirt. If what someone is saying sounds like B.S. you’re probably correct. The question is, is what the person is telling you going to affect your life? Your life decisions? Your health or career? If yes, it may be time to investigate a little further.

Let’s get back to the topic at hand. HYPNOSIS WORKS! The subject, I had in my office, the other day is going to be an isolated incident and I may or may not ever see this type of client again, but they are out there. There are bad people who use hypnosis and other mechanisms to control others. The media and advertisers have been using these techniques for decades the only reason there isn’t a public outcry is NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

Just remember, HYPNOSIS ISN’T A TOY OR AN ENTERTAINMENT DEVICE. Do not let people “practice” hypnosis on you. If you have a problem or an issue that you believe can be solved using hypnosis or you think someone is messing with your head, GET A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL to help you.

There are a great many organizations that produce high-quality hypnotists and NLP practitioners. If you need a name or a referral to an organization email me and I’ll be happy to send it to you. You also have my permission to forward and re-post this article to anyone you think will benefit from this article.

About the Author:

Michael Harris, PhD, internationally known hypnotist, transition coach, speaker and author is an expert in language of communication of Sensory Stacks.
He is active locally and nationally, including private and public speaking on the Mind/Body Connection, Hypnosis and Sensory/Learning Styles. See his latest video on youtube and on BlogTalk radio To make an appointment call or just to ask a few questions call - 214-702-3774