While it’s impossible to predict exactly the type of experience that each person will have in the hypnotic trance state, as everyone is completely unique, I have detailed below some of the things that you might expect…

complete relaxation

warmth: in trance you usually feel warm throughout your body.

complete relaxation of the eye muscles: as this is one of the smallest groups of muscles in the body it is easy to relax. When in trance you can relax the eye muscles so much they seem to be stuck shut even when tested, of course you can remove that relaxation whenever you choose to. This is known as eye catalepsy or eye lock.

In addition to complete relaxation of the eye muscles, larger groups of muscles can totally relax too. They might become limp or rigid. This is known as muscle catalepsy.

You might experience heavy or floating feelings.

You may feel that you can see and hear only the hypnotherapist, this is called a hypnotic rapport.

Your senses of smell and taste can change with suggestion. For example, an onion might smell like an apple.

You might forget about what has been said in the trance which can be very useful for bypassing the ‘critical faculty’ with post hypnotic suggestions.

Time often goes by very quickly in the trance state, much faster than clock time. Sometimes though it goes more slowly and at other times time can become meaningless. This is called time distortion.

Anesthesia and analgesia (pain relief) can be experienced in trance which is why hypnosis can be very effective for surgery and trips to the dentist.

It is possible that parts of the body can move without conscious will such as in the case of automatic writing or drawing.

You might see or hear something that is not there. Or you could not see or hear something that is there. These are known as positive and negative hallucinations and are often used to help you visualise.

There is a willingness to accept suggestions in the trance state that will be actioned when out of trance, as long as the suggestion does not conflict with any of the your beliefs or values.

While in trace the hypnotist can guide you back in time to specific points in your past so you can look at yourself at that time in your life. This is called regression. This can be done to identify the source of an issue and is particularly useful when dealing with phobia and other conditions that are borne out of a specific event or incident. Regression is also used to heal old woulds, so that the client can move on in life, perhaps through creative mothering, where a client’s older self offers support, comfort and advice to their younger self; or perhaps by reframing an old issue allowing the client to see things in a new way. In NLP regression is referred to as Time Line Therapy.

Revivification is the word used to describe actually reliving experiences from the past in the trance state. During revivification you feel all of the emotions as you felt them at the time of the original experience.

During hypnosis it is possible that you will experience hypermnesia which is a state of acute awareness whereby you can recall an experience or situation from your past in vivid detail.

All in all hypnotherapy is a profoundly moving yet extremely gentle therapy. Whether used for simple relaxation and stress reduction or to make significant belief or behavioural change my clients just love being in the trance and often would prefer to stay there than return to reality!

Claire Benson
Hypnotherapist
Registered with the General Hypnotherapy Register
http://www.unstuck-thinking.co.uk
claire@unstuck-thinking.co.uk