Hypnosis Overview Part II

You know you have a bunch to say on a subject when the overview takes more than one post ;)   See Part 1 of my Hypnosis Overview here. 

I want to say to Ashlie if she's reading this that I completely resisted the temptation to give you suggestions of my own making in the hypnotic state. When I did hypnotize you, I asked you what it was that you wished to change about yourself and what your desires were -- and then gave you suggestions towards this.  I don't want you thinking that I have been manipulating you in any way...as that has never been the case. I love you hun! 

Ash, the very first time I hypnotized you (in the condo), I asked you to think about what it was you wanted in life and to list off your main goals that you wanted to achieve --for what you wanted in life. You know what you answered? You said, "I want to be owned and to be a slave: a real slave."  I then asked you, "What is a real slave?" And you replied, "a real slave is just for sex and making her Master happy that way."  --Well, damn... talk about coming pre-loaded with the right software!!! I already knew you were awesome ...but it was at that moment I decided that you were fucking perfect. <3 

Ok, so let's looks the different levels of hypnosis that can be achieved.  There are a couple scales that I know of for this.  First is the simple 3-level scale: lethargic, somnambulistic, and cataleptic.  I like this one as it's simple and gives you a pretty good idea of where you are. Note: If you are wanting to be hypnotised, you may want to skip to the next section so you're not 'over-thinking' things while the hypnotist is working.

Hypnotic Levels

Awake State--  Our normal waking consciousness is still a form of hypnosis. A person tells themselves all sorts of things about themselves, their abilities  and their world...and they are constantly talking to themselves and deeply hypnotized at a fundamental level. Consider the incredible success rates of placebos: this simply wouldn't work at all if we weren't hypnotized into believing our descriptions of the world.  

Somnambulistic State- I think of this as the top level of hypnosis. This level is where you go when the patient has first been induced. Note: I'm going to call the hypnotized person a patient for these purposes...as everything I've read does so.  The patient still retains most aspects of their waking state and may have open eyes and can be spoken to easily. The main difference between this and the waking state is the tone of voice of the responses so listen carefully for shifts in the patient's tonality.  The patient may also be commanded to accept certain suggestions easily here as the patient is most susceptible to suggestions in this state. Of course, the suggestions must be in keeping with the character of the patient or the suggestion will be rejected.

Fun with Ashlie-- I noticed that I could give Ashlie some suggestions in this state that she could easily remember and recite in this state but upon awakening her...she had no memory of this whatsoever. I re-induced her and once again she could recite them easily. 

Cataleptic State-  This state is characterized by ridged body...that can be positioned and then held easily without any effort. 

Fun with Ashlie-- I took Ashlie's arm and raised it in a 'heil Hitler' position without speaking about it whatsoever. The arm was locked in place and didn't move nor waver for about 5 minutes as I continued the session. After this point, my amusement passed and I lowered her arm for her. 

Lethargic State- This state is like knocking a person into a coma. She's still aware but she's utterly non-responsive. This is also characterized by the patient having complete anesthesia and she cannot feel pain. The patient will eventually come out of this state of her own accord and it's important not to worry or panic that you've created a lump. :)

Not so fun with Ashlie-- I grabbed and firmly squeezed and tweaked her sensitive nipple: something that in a waking state would always get a lovely pain reaction.  In the Lethargic state...nothing. No change in facial expression...it seemed that she didn't notice it in the slightest.

Who is susceptible to hypnosis?

Personally, I've found ever single sub I've had to be highly susceptible to hypnosis.  I think subs are, by their very nature, the best subjects to hypnotize. They happily follow orders and like to give up control -- so in a BDSM scenario...subs seem to go under super easily.  

This is also helped massively by the added level trust between Master and slave. Additionally, unlike most hypnosis...touching and pain are allowed.  This allows for giving commands, suggestions and orders to notice certain 'feelings' that are super clear...and help to induce the slave extremely effectively. 

For example, a normal hypnotist might say, "Notice the weight of your body pressing down against the chair. Feel how it conforms to your shape. This causes you to feel more relaxed."   Well, it's way more effective to guide her attention if you can actually touch her body and cause her to feel different things and then assign meaning to it.

Joseph Friedlander and Theodore Sarbin came up with a series of tests in 1938 to test a subject's susceptibility to hypnosis. Basically, you induce them with a standard hypnotic induction and give them the following suggestions in order.  The higher level she reaches, the more susceptible she is to suggestion.  

	Item Number	Test Suggestion and Responses
	1	Postural Sway
	2	Eye Closure
	3	Hand Lowering (left)
	4	Immobilization (right arm)
	5	Finger Lock
	6	Arm Rigidity (left arm)
	7	Hands Moving Together
	8	Verbal Inhibition (name)
	9	Hallucination (fly)
	10	Eye catalepsy
	11	Post-hypnotic (changes chairs)
	12	Amnesia

Most successful hypnosis depends on 2 factors: trust in the hypnotist and  no fear or resistance to being hypnotized.  The patient has to trust you and want to be hypnotized (or at least not be resisting you) in order for this to work.  Even someone highly susceptible to hypnosis can score a 0 or 1 on the above scale if they are thinking to themselves, "Fuck that. I hate this dude and don't trust him at all. I'm not going to follow his suggestions." 

Now some people fear hypnosis simply because they don't understand it -- and this can be a huge factor in encountering resistance. So it's important for the hypnotist to discuss the process with the patient beforehand so she feels comfortable and safe with it.

Common concerns are are losing control of her mind (no, only you can choose be become a slave...it can't be induced by hypnotic suggestion) and will I ever come out of hypnosis (yes, always. Unless you're the first recorded patient that doesn't...heh heh.)

But the people that are most susceptible to hypnosis are, surprisingly, people in a lot of pain.  Why? Because they realize it is VERY MUCH in their interest to be hypnotized to stop the fucking pain.  So they get on board so easily.  This is something being employed at some (but not nearly enough) hospitals and used extremely effectively on patients that cannot be given traditional anesthetics -- which is most common in emergency situations requiring surgery.

Allow me to illustrate this point with a personal example from around the year 2001-2002ish:

A cyclist in Toronto tried to deek past the front of a streetcar and got hit by it: breaking his leg.  I was cycling nearby and witnessed the incident.  He was laying on the ground and seemed like he was in excruciating pain. Someone called 911 for an ambulance and, since it was a warm day in the summer -- I didn't think getting blankets would help nearly as much as hypnosis.  I told him I was a trained hypnotist and, with his permission, I would like to induce a hypnotic state in order to remove the pain.  He quickly agreed. I induced him in record time...under a minute. And then looked into his eyes and said, "The pain is gone NOW." And he immediately was relieved.  "Good, this relaxed state will help you heal faster."  I honestly was quite surprised as to how fast and effective it was. A shot of morphine couldn't have been more effective. I spoke about how he was safe now and that he would soon see doctors who would fix and fully heal his leg until the ambulance arrived. 

I told the ambulance attendants that I had hypnotized him to remove the pain and they looked at me like I was completely batshit crazy and promptly pushed me away saying something to the effect of, "Please stand back: way way over there. We will take it from here."   

Safety:

This is a biggie. Is it safe? It totally depends. Is doing suspension bondage safe? It depends. Does the person know what they are doing or are they a total noob? I think of hypnosis in the same category as suspension bondage.  You have to learn a lot and train yourself -- study the safety risks and common errors -- before you attempt it and even then start slow. 

I will go way more in depth on this later...this is just a general caution to read WAY more and be responsible.

But the biggest safety rule here:  Never, ever give suggestions to feel less pain in BDSM situations.  This is the equivalent of giving her prescription pain-killers just before a scene...and you want her fully able to feel her body so she can help you keep her safe.

Secondly, DO NOT explore past highly emotional events without being properly trained (or conversely, don't let someone do this to you they haven't been properly trained.) You can really fuck up someone this way. 

Self-Hypnosis

Basically, you can't be forced to do anything under hypnosis that you wouldn't do in a waking state. The sub is always in control here ...at a fundamental level.  Just like she is in control in that she can use her safeword to stop the scene at any time.  So hypnosis is and must be consensual. 

I believe we are all acting in some level of 'hypnosis' at all times and our normal waking state is simply the highest and lightest level of hypnosis. We do things because we tell ourselves to do them.  So training an transforming a sub into a slave involves convincing her that this is how she wants to choose to be. 

As a Master, you can facilitate this and help guide her and her thoughts so that she is willing. But ultimately, she has to hypnotize herself and dive in.

But getting on board, not resisting and not trying to control the experience are all key in making this happen. 

How to use Hypnosis

As a Master, I look to hypnosis as a great tool to see how my little pets are thinking and making sure that they are happy. Hypnosis can be used to transform negative habits sure, but it can also be used to strip off her conscious defenses and look at her real emotions and past traumas and how they are influencing her current thinking.  Number one: hypnosis can be used to make things easier for your slave: you can alleviate stress, make it easier for her to achieve her goals and enhance her self-image.   

The steps are:

1) Recognize the problem or behavior you wish to change

2) Determine the belief that is causing the behaviour

3) Remove the faulty belief by replacing it with one that better serves her

4) Visualize the new belief taking hold in her life -- rehearsing specific interactions in her mind

5) Reinforce the new behaviour in her life

6) Monitor the effect the new belief is having on her life and make sure that she is not developing any new behaviours (which is a transference of the underlying cause, which was ineffectively addressed, that caused the old behaviour switching over to a new one. If this happens, you have to go back in and find the real cause and address that. 

To me, hypnosis is a great bonding tool, that has brought me far closer to my slaves and it's tremendously effective.   It can be used for healing and improving your slave and so, when used correctly, it's the best tool a Master has for training his slave...not just training as a slave: for training her in life.