Many people who come to a hypnosis practice are afraid of flash hypnosis. Read on to find out why this is the case and why this fear is unfounded.
What is flash hypnosis?
Flash hypnosis is one of the hypnosis inductions. It is therefore a method of inducing hypnosis. There is a large variety of hypnosis inductions. These can last 30 minutes, around 6 minutes like the Dave Elman induction or just a few seconds like flash hypnosis. Other terms for flash hypnosis are flash induction or rapid induction.
Flash hypnosis is used to put a person into hypnosis very quickly.
Flash inductions are often used in show hypnosis. You often see subjects being hypnotized in a standing position with a flash hypnosis, where the hypnotist shouts “Sleep!” and people then fall over backwards. This sometimes creates fear, because it gives the impression that these people are somehow “gone”. This has led to some misunderstandings about lightning hypnosis, which we will now clarify.
Misconceptions about flash hypnosis
Misunderstanding number 1:
When a hypnotist says “Sleep!”, everyone who hears it falls into a deep hypnosis.
No, it’s not that simple. A hypnotist can walk through the pedestrian zone, look people in the eye and shout “Sleep!” as much as he likes. Nobody will “fall into hypnosis” and certainly not fall over. Flash hypnosis follows a certain pattern. The “Sleep!” instruction is one of four steps in the lightning induction process. People who are “flashed” simply go into hypnosis quickly, but they are by no means asleep. “Sleep!” is an instruction for the subconscious so that the test person automatically closes their eyes and relaxes. Together with the other three steps, the command “Sleep!” causes the person to go into hypnosis. As always, the prerequisite is that she has agreed to be hypnotized in advance.
Misunderstanding number 2:
During a flash hypnosis, you fall over backwards.
There is no “one” lightning induction, but many different variants. Hypnotizing someone standing up and having them tilt backwards is a variation that is often used on stage or during street hypnosis for show effect.
Incidentally, it is possible to hypnotize people while they are standing and they remain standing. There are also numerous variations of flash induction that can be used when the person to be hypnotized is already sitting or lying down. These can be used very well in a hypnosis practice in a therapeutic context or as part of hypnosis coaching. The shorter the hypnosis induction, the more time there is for the transformative work to solve the client’s problem.
The following video shows different variations while standing and sitting:
Misunderstanding number 3:
After a flash hypnosis you are “gone”.
It doesn’t matter whether it takes 30 minutes, 6 minutes or a few seconds to hypnotize a person. The state of hypnosis is the same for all variants. You are not “gone” in the sense of being unconscious or unconscious or having a blackout with any induction, no matter how long or short it is.
Advantages of flash hypnosis in a hypnosis practice
Using flash hypnosis in a hypnosis practice is not dubious, but has several advantages.
- It can happen that a client falls asleep if the induction lasts 10 minutes or longer. Then he is neither hypnotized nor “gone”, but asleep. This does not happen with flash hypnosis.
- Clients do not pay hypnotherapists or hypnosis coaches for long inductions, but for the fact that their problem is being worked on. The shorter the hypnosis induction, the more time there is for the transformative work to resolve the client’s issue.
- Due to the speed of the induction, the client has no time to think about whether he can be hypnotized, whether everything will work, what the hypnosis will be like and so on. His focus is fully on hypnosis.
- As already described, flash hypnosis can be performed while sitting or lying down, so it is completely practical.
Once all preconceptions have been dispelled, nothing stands in the way of using flash inductions as part of hypnotherapy or hypnosis coaching. What’s more, lightning hypnosis is fun!
You can learn flash hypnosis in the OMNI hypnosis training course.
