The other day I had someone ask me whether it was possible to get hypnotized online. Since I get asked this all the time, I thought it might be a good idea to write a post about it.
So is it possible to get hypnotized online? And if so, how? Yes! Not only is it possible to get hypnotized online, it’s also more convenient than in-person hypnosis for a lot of people. There are various methods ranging from recordings through to one-on-one sessions with a live hypnotist. As you might expect, each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we’ll go through all of this.
Wait! What? Online hypnosis is real?
Yep! Not only is online hypnosis real, it’s every bit as straightforward as in-person hypnosis.
I’ve done far more online hypnosis than in-person for one simple reason: It’s a lot more convenient, both for me and for my hypnotic subjects.
Hypnosis itself is a side-effect of human brain architecture, and everyone experiences it multiple times every day.
And since hypnosis happens inside the mind of the subject, it’s just as easy to get hypnotized online as by any other method.
The job of the hypnotist is to guide their hypnotic subject into hypnosis. It’s more like teaching than anything else.
That’s not to say there aren’t some differences between online hypnosis and in-person hypnosis.
A number of methods of inducing hypnosis rely on physical contact. Naturally, these don’t work online.
When you get hypnotized online, the responsibility for setting up a suitable environment falls on the subject rather than the hypnotist.
Luckily each of these is extremely easy to work around.
Why get hypnotized online?
There are numerous reasons to get hypnotized online.
Hypnosis has been known to help with a wide range of issues, including:
- Quitting smoking
- Losing weight
- Managing pain
- Overcoming anxiety
- Overcoming fears and phobias
- Helping with sleep issues
- Reducing stress
- Helping with motivation
and many more. For some of these, online hypnosis can even be superior to in-person. For example, if someone has social anxiety, it can be a lot easier for them to talk to a hypnotist online than it is to come into a clinic.
Beyond working with issues, hypnosis can be used for exploring the mind. This can be achieved by spinning up hypnotic realities inside the hypnosis subject’s mind and guiding them on a journey that allows them to address anything they’d like to address.
Hypnotic realities are a form of waking dream which some hypnosis subjects are able to perceive as being as real as real life. They can be used for working through your own issues, along with honing just about any skill you might imagine. Or just to go on the time-distorted vacation of your dreams.
Imagine spending 2 weeks chilling in a tropical paradise one evening after work, and still getting to bed on time.
Naturally, building an entire reality can require some work on the part of the hypnosis subject.
And finally, there’s the entertainment value. All those tricks you see in a stage show can be just as easily performed online. And more besides. If you’re into gaming, hypnosis has been used to make games seem more real. If you like VR, hypnosis has been used to make it more immersive.
So that’s what you can do with it.
But why online?
Well it’s mostly the convenience. There’s no reason to waste an hour in traffic traveling to a hypnotist when you could just set up a few simple things, and do everything over an online video call.
What do you need to get hypnotized online?
When you want to get hypnotized online, there are a couple of things that necessarily become your responsibility.
Setting up your environment to get hypnotized online
If you want to have a good experience of being hypnotized online, it’s important to set up your environment correctly beforehand.
This is easy to do.
You’ll want to find somewhere comfortable and quiet where you can sit or lie down. If you’ll be sitting, make sure that you won’t come to any harm if you fall asleep.
Eliminate as much distraction as possible.
Turn off notifications on all of your devices, and turn off TV, radio, and any streaming media.
If you’ll be listening to either a recording or a hypnotist, make sure you have a headset with sound that you can hear clearly.
Put any pets out of the room, and ask any humans to not disturb you for however long is required.
Set an alarm to wake you up later in the day in case you fall asleep.
Remove any contact lenses in case your eyes roll back.
And remember: You’re in control, so if there’s any kind of emergency, you’ll pop right out of hypnosis to deal with it.
Audio and video recordings
By far the least effective methods of online hypnosis are audio and video recordings. I’ve had numerous people tell me that they can’t be hypnotized because they listened to such a recording and it didn’t work.
Here’s the thing though: Hypnosis relies on feedback from the subject to the hypnotist. That’s impossible with a recording. So when you listen to a recording, you’re the one who has to move yourself into hypnosis.
Hypnotists try to work around this to some extent by placing very long hypnotic inductions on recordings.
Ultimately though, if you listen to a recording, it’s up to you to go into hypnosis.
If you’d like to know more about how to do that, you might enjoy my article on How to Hypnotize Yourself.
Recordings have one huge advantage over other forms of online hypnosis: You can listen to them over and over again.
It’s generally recommended to listen to a recording for at least 30 days to start to see results.
Online text hypnosis with a live hypnotist
Have you ever read a book and found yourself so caught up in the plot that it was almost like you could see the characters and events unfolding before you?
Well-written novels are a form of text based hypnosis.
And some hypnotists will offer online text based hypnosis sessions. Generally speaking, these are more useful for talking about the possibilities with an audio or video call.
But given enough skill on the part of the hypnotist, they can be almost as effective as any other form of hypnosis.
The main issues with text based hypnosis are that the hypnosis subject cannot close their eyes, and they have to be able to continue typing. Text based hypnosis also relies heavily on the hypnosis subject accurately reporting what’s going on back to the hypnotist.
Since a lot of hypnosis subjects don’t know what’s going on, this can be problematic.
These days I mostly use text based hypnosis to give people what you might call a booster shot after they’ve been hypnotized by me on a live audio or video call.
As an example, suppose someone has been through my quit smoking program and they find themselves thinking about cigarettes because something unanticipated happened. Often all that’s needed to stop that and consequently prevent them from smoking again are a few choice sentences delivered by text.
Online audio hypnosis with a live hypnotist
With hypnosis through an online audio or phone call, it’s possible to achieve just about anything that can be achieved at an in-person hypnosis session.
The main issue with hypnosis on an audio call is that the hypnotist cannot see the subject.
And since hypnosis relies on feedback from the subject to the hypnotist, this means that the subject has to articulate everything that’s happening to them. The act of doing this can disturb the session for some people.
Also, some people become quite unresponsive during hypnosis. When the hypnotist can see them, this is not an issue since it’s quite easy to see what’s going on by monitoring their expression, movements, breathing patterns, and so on. Naturally this can’t happen during an audio-only session.
That said, hypnosis via a live audio call can work brilliantly for a lot of people.
Audio is also my preferred medium for online coaching since the video feed is not usually required for that kind of hypnosis.
Online video hypnosis with a live hypnotist
By far the best way to be hypnotized online is via a video call with a live hypnotist.
For this to be effective, it’s important to set up your camera so that the hypnotist can clearly see your face. Ideally they should also be able to see your upper torso and shoulders.
Make sure that your camera has a high enough resolution that they can easily track your movements. Similarly, you’ll need enough internet bandwidth that video can be streamed in both directions.
These days, just about all cameras and internet connections are more than adequate for this.
You’ll want the camera to be mounted so that it stays in place without human intervention.
It’s also of vital importance that you can clearly hear everything the hypnotist says, and that they can hear you.
For most setups, this means that you’ll want a wired headset. It doesn’t have to be anything flash though. Usually the one that came with your phone will be enough.
You do not need to be able to see the hypnotist since your eyes will be closed during hypnosis anyway, but usually it helps if you can see them at the beginning and end of the session.
This is mostly because a lot of people like to be able to see whom they are talking to.
For hardware, just about any modern phone or laptop will do.
Before your session starts, install whatever app will be used, and test it to make sure that everything is working.
In the past, I’ve mostly used Zoom and Skype for online hypnosis sessions. I’ve also used Facebook messenger when customers couldn’t make Zoom or Skype work on their device.
How to have an awesome experience when you get hypnotized online
So you’ve decided that you’d like to get hypnotized online!
Naturally, you’ll want to take whatever steps you can to give yourself the best possible chance of having an awesome experience.
How to arrange your online hypnosis session
If possible, have a chat with your hypnotist before your session. I prefer that people do this before they even make their first booking, since that way I can make sure that they know what to expect.
This leads to happy customers.
In the chat, you want to talk about what outcome you’d like. You also want to find out how long the session is expected to be so that you can work it into your day. And you’ll want to know how many sessions are required.
Some problems are easily handled with hypnosis and may require only one session.
But many problems require several sessions. As a rule, if your hypnotist tells you that a particular issue will require 8 sessions, we only do that because we know that’s what’s required to get you the result you want. There are some problems where we won’t even do any hypnosis in the first session because we need to interview you first to figure out what’s going on.
It’s a bit like building a house: If you insist on only paying the builder for enough hours to build one room, you’ll only end up with one room.
If you’re both happy, it’s time to book your first session.
How to prepare to get hypnotized online
Follow any instructions your hypnotist provides about preparing for the session. These will usually be fairly similar to the ones I gave earlier.
Check that everything is working as best you are able before your first session.
And then show up in the appropriate place online at the agreed time.
Usually this means following a link that your hypnotist has provided to join an online meeting with them.
What to do during your online hypnosis session
When you get hypnotized online, there are a couple of things that are essential if you’d like results.
First, approach everything from a place of curiosity. Be curious about everything that’s happening. And ask yourself what else could be true.
And second, do your very best to provide accurate feedback to your hypnotist throughout the session. As I mentioned earlier, hypnosis relies on feedback from the subject to the hypnotist. If you don’t provide that feedback, your results are unlikely to be as good.
Despite precautions, interruptions do sometimes occur. Maybe someone walks in and disturbs you. Perhaps a notification goes off that you forgot about.
As a rule, if something happens that disrupts your experience, the best thing to do is tell your hypnotist about it. We can usually tell that something is going on, but unless it’s visible on the video stream, we probably won’t know what it is.
Modern microphones tend to be good at cancelling out other sounds, so don’t assume your hypnotist can hear something even if it sounds quite loud to you.
Hypnosis relies on the hypnosis subject being focused, so if anything distracts you, be sure to tell your hypnotist about it right away.
How to get hypnotized online by a live hypnotist
So what do you have to do to get hypnotized online by a live hypnotist?
I can’t speak for other hypnotists, but if you’d like to explore the possibility of being hypnotized online by me, the very first step is to make contact with me.
You can reach me by any of the methods on my Contact Max page.
When you contact me, we’ll have a chat to establish what you’d like help with, and how I may be able to help. Then you get to choose whether to proceed.
