Is hypnosis legitimate, or is it just something you see on TV or on stage?
Well, hypnosis is completely legitimate in that it's an natural state of consciousness. Everybody experiences hypnosis several times a day. What you see on a stage show are people who are naturally highly suggestible. Let me explain that. If you were to take the human population, about 25% of the human population at large would be considered highly hypnotizable, or highly suggestible. Of that 25%, there is an even smaller percentage that have the ability to go into hypnotic trance almost instantly. A stage hypnotist can see those people, can spot them in the audience; and if you ever watch a show, you'll see there's some testing that goes on. A bunch of people are called up on stage, some are sent back to their seats, and the hypnotist ends up with that half dozen or dozen people that he or she knows will instantly go into trance, because they are just that suggestible. Now once they are in trance, they do zany things. They do those things because they want to. They want to be part of the show. So is hypnosis legitimate? Yes, because its a natural state of consciousness. Is it a legitimate tool for therapy? Absolutely. It's been used for 7,000 years. If something lasts that long there has to be a good reason for it, and it does work.
