Can’t Be Hypnotized? Hypnosis Isn’t the Hard Part

At the mention of hypnosis, I tend to hear one of two things: “I don’t think I can be hypnotized” or some version of “I’m not sure I want to go there.”

The concerns are different. One is about whether hypnosis will work on you. The other is about what might happen if you do.

The first group tends to be my intellectuals.

Logic is their navigating compass. Their minds work overtime and the thought of being hypnotized seems ridiculous. They’re used to figuring things out by thinking them through so a state that asks them to turn their attention inward can feel like unfamiliar territory.

They’re often exceptionally good at understanding themselves. They can tell you exactly why they are the way that they are. But as many have found out the hard way, knowing you developed an avoidant attachment style in childhood doesn’t tend to make you any less avoidant.

Naming the problem isn’t the struggle. The struggle is what happens when the moment comes to respond differently and something more visceral overrides what you know. When your rational mind can’t seem to lead the way, it can feel like you’re failing yourself.

Much to their surprise, getting into hypnosis is often the easy part. They tend to be masters at directing their attention and when guided, they shift focus without issue. For people who live in their heads, it can feel like a relief rather than something they’d want to resist.

But getting into hypnosis and getting to the root of a pattern are two different things.

The other group hesitates for a different reason.

These are the “I’m not sure I want to go there” people. Their concern isn’t whether they’ll be able to let go but what might be waiting for them if they do. To them, hypnosis can feel like opening Pandora’s box. What if something surfaces that they aren’t prepared to face?

I don’t think that apprehension is irrational. If you don’t know what’s waiting on the other side of letting go, staying in control can feel like the safer option.

But this work has taught me that safety isn’t always the absence of fear. For many, it’s the absence of surprise.

Where the usual approach can fall short

In my experience, regression work can present different challenges for these two groups. For someone who tends to analyze everything, the mind can keep trying to make sense of what’s happening while the body is being asked to experience it.

When a memory surfaces during regression, it’s natural to start describing it, interpreting it or trying to understand what it means. The mind goes back to doing what it knows how to do. But understanding an experience and staying present with the response it brings up aren’t the same thing.

For someone who’s apprehensive about what might surface, the concern is different. They may worry about encountering a memory they’re not prepared to face. The possibility of what might emerge can make it difficult to let go enough to stay fully present with the body.

What I’ve observed is that the deepest layers don’t require more analysis or dredging up the memories attached to them. In fact, they often demand the opposite: stillness, presence and an absence of story.

Find the coordinate first

In Predictive Remodeling, we don’t ask the mind to keep searching for answers once hypnosis begins. We do that work beforehand.

While fully awake and in control, we map out the specific prediction underneath the pattern. This isn’t about more insight. Most of the people I work with already have plenty of that. Instead, we look at what the pattern is trying to prevent. What does your system fear will happen if you respond differently or stop doing what it’s learned to do?

That prediction gives us a coordinate. Instead of entering hypnosis hoping to discover what’s wrong, we know what we’re working with before the hypnotic work begins.

By the time we enter hypnosis, we’re no longer unpacking the story or searching for a memory. We’re staying with how the body responds to the prediction we’ve already identified.

For the intellectuals, this means they don’t have to keep figuring everything out while in hypnosis. Their minds have already done the work they’re good at. They can turn their attention fully inward.

For those worried about opening Pandora’s box, we’re not going in to dig for whatever’s there. You already know what we’re working on so you can stay present with how your body responds to it.

Getting into hypnosis was never the hardest part. The hardest part is reaching the deepest layer. So we map the prediction first and go in knowing what we’re facing.