A question that I’ve been asked a few times is whether it’s possible to hypnotize someone online. I’ve been hypnotized online myself, and I’ve hypnotized thousands of people online. Yet there are still people who claim that it’s impossible.
So can you be hypnotized online? In short, yes you can. But not all methods are equal. Hypnosis happens inside the mind of the subject, so all that’s required for it to work is that mind. In this article I’ll cover how online hypnosis works, and what are the most effective kinds of online hypnosis.
What is online hypnosis?
For our purposes here, I’m going to define online hypnosis as any kind of hypnosis that can be consumed online.
That is to say, the person who wants to be hypnotized can sit at their device or computer, and have an experience of hypnosis.
As I mentioned earlier, hypnosis happens inside the mind of the hypnosis subject, so there’s not really any reason to suppose that it can’t happen online. And there’s every reason to suppose that it can.
Read more: How Does Hypnosis Work?
There are a range of ways to make online hypnosis happen.
These include everything from online video calls, audio calls, and text chats all the way through to watching video files, listening to audio files, and even reading text-based hypnotic inductions.
What’s needed for effective online hypnosis?
It’s one thing to have online hypnosis, but it’s quite another to make it effective.
Effective hypnosis relies on feedback from the hypnosis subject to the hypnotist. When this feedback is not present, getting the subject into hypnosis is a bit like trying to drive somewhere without being able to see. You might get there, but only by guesswork. But if the car knows where to go, it will probably arrive at its destination.
As I’m writing this in mid-2020, very few cars have this ability.
Online counseling example
So before we get into hypnosis itself, let’s talk briefly about a related field: counseling.
Suppose that you had some issue that you wanted to talk to a counselor about. There are a few possibilities for how you might talk to them.
Even a few text messages exchanged with the counselor might help.
But it’s going to be more effective to hop onto a phone call with them. The reason for this is that they can hear your tone of voice. They can better detect the nuances in what you’re saying.
It’s going to be more effective still if you’re on a video call with them, because they’ll be able to see you. Not only do they have feedback from your tone of voice and how you’re speaking, but they can also see your mannerisms, eye movements, and anything else that we humans use to work out what kind of state someone is in.
Here’s where it gets interesting though.
If you go to see them in the office, the only additional benefits that you get over the video call are that they can make physical contact with you, and they can create a space that is physically safe.
Everything else can be delivered through an online video call.
Not only that, but if you don’t want to talk to a counselor in person, you could also read online articles, watch self-help videos, and listen to self-help audio programs. When you choose these options, you’re the one who has to do all the work in getting you there.
Online hypnosis
As with counseling, hypnosis happens inside the mind of the subject.
And so the same methods of delivery work.
If you know how to go into hypnosis, you can quite literally have an experience of hypnosis by reading a hypnotic induction. This kind of induction is usually, but not always, a story. Hypnosis is what happens when we become fully absorbed in a good book. And written materials are easily delivered online. You’re reading something online right now.
You could also choose to listen to an audio hypnosis induction, or watch a video hypnosis induction. And as with the written material, it’s possible to experience hypnosis this way.
Here’s the thing though.
It works the same way as in our counseling example.
When you’re consuming something that’s already been created, regardless of whether it’s a piece of hypnotic writing, an audio recording, or a video that you watch, the obligation to go into hypnosis is on you.
If you’re a good subject, and the hypnotist is skilled, you’re probably going to go into hypnosis.
If you’re a less good subject, or the hypnotist is of questionable skill, you’re probably not.
And naturally, if you do anything at all to mess up the hypnosis, or don’t like it for any reason, it’s unlikely to be effective.
Unless you know how to hypnotize yourself, it’s likely to be a sub-optimal experience.
Online hypnosis with feedback
All of that changes when you’re hypnotized online by a real, live hypnotist.
As with our example of the counselor, the more feedback there is to your hypnotist, the better your experience is likely to be.
If you engage in text hypnosis, the only feedback the hypnotist really has is what you say, and the length of time it takes you to say it.
When you’re hypnotized by text, there’s not really any way for us to tell whether or not you’re in hypnosis beyond that. We also can’t tell anything at all about your environment other than what you tell us.
This means that once again, the responsibility for going into hypnosis is largely on you. If you’re completely honest with your hypnotist, you set up your environment properly, and your hypnotist knows how to induce hypnosis without you closing your eyes, text hypnosis can be very effective.
When you’re hypnotized on either a phone or online audio call, the hypnotist has more feedback. Now we can hear your tone of voice. We can hear any background sounds, and we can usually tell when something is distracting you.
Years ago I chatted to someone who had not been able to go into hypnosis online and she had no idea why. As soon as I got her onto an online audio call the reason was obvious. She was in a room with a loud TV playing, and her partner and friend having a conversation in the background. On further questioning, that was where she had always tried in the past.
I had her ask her partner and friend not to disturb her, and had her move to another room where it was quiet. Suddenly it became easy for her to experience hypnosis.
The truth is: Hypnosis through a live audio call tends to work brilliantly when the subject is in a sensible environment.
Which brings us to online video calls.
When you’re in an online video call with a skilled hypnotist, we can read all of the trance signs that tell us how far you are into hypnosis. We’re no longer relying on just the tone and manner of your speaking.
In my experience, online video calls work every bit as well as in-person hypnosis.
This is why my entire hypnosis practice runs online. There’s simply no reason to make people come into an office when they could just as easily be hypnotized from their device or computer.
What kind of environment do you need to be hypnotized online?
When you go to a hypnotherapist’s office, you’ll usually find that it’s quiet and peaceful. The temperature’s stable and comfortable. There’s probably some plants around.
All of these are for a reason: We want our customers to feel safe and comfortable, and we want them to be focused solely on the hypnosis.
Regardless of whether you’re the hypnotist or the hypnosis subject, there are some things that help a lot.
And they all come down to making yourself safe, comfortable, and unlikely to be interrupted.
First, make sure that any pets cannot get into the room you’re in. If you have pets that tend to demand your attention, this may involve putting them outside so that they’re not right outside your door.
Second, if there are other people around, ask them not to disturb you for however long you expect the session to be. Online hypnosis sessions can last for anything from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on exactly what you’re doing, so find out beforehand.
Third, eliminate any technological distractions. Turn off TV, radio, music, videos, and notifications on your devices.
Fourth, make sure you have somewhere comfortable that you won’t fall out of if you fall asleep. If you’re the hypnotist, make sure your subject does.
And fifth, make sure you have a stable and fast internet connection. Nothing bad will happen if it dies mid-session, but it will interrupt your hypnosis.
Online hypnosis safety
There’s not really anything bad that can happen during online hypnosis. But it doesn’t hurt to take some precautions.
I always ask people if they have contact lenses, and tell them to remove them if they do. This is because the eyes can roll back during hypnosis, and it might be bad if that happened while wearing contacts.
I tell them that they will come out of hypnosis automatically if any kind of emergency should arise, or the internet dies. This is going to happen anyway, but it helps to set their mind at ease if they know that it’s been considered.
Naturally I walk them through how to set up a good environment for successful online hypnosis as outlined in an earlier section of this article.
And as with all hypnosis, I explain about abreactions and what will happen if they have one.
Read more: How to Stop Someone From Freaking Out
If I’ve arranged to hypnotize them, and their environment looks off, I call them out on it. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. If you’re the hypnotist, you’ll have to use your judgment on that one.
Online hypnosis methods
So what are the ways you can be hypnotized online?
Online hypnosis inductions
Just about any induction will work. The only real exceptions are those inductions that rely on physical contact or proximity, such as the handshake induction.
My preference is usually to use a non-awareness induction, typically coupled with a guided imagery visualization.
Read more: Hypnotic Induction Visualization Scripts
On the rare occasions when I’m hypnotizing someone in text, I’ll typically just use a non-awareness induction and will layer in multi-dimensional fractionation. This works brilliantly since most non-hypnotists have no idea that it even exists. Consequently they don’t really have any way to notice it happening or mess it up.
You don’t have to use these though. Any induction that you can deliver through your means of communication tends to work.
Online hypnosis tools
Naturally, if we want to hypnotize people online, we’ll need some tools to do so.
Just about any chat, audio or video calling application will work for this purpose.
When I want to use a new application, I get hold of one of my regular hypnosis subjects and run a test with them to make sure it’s going to work properly. I also check on the various data security forums to make sure there are no known security issues. A quick search on your favorite search engine will usually suffice for this.
Do this before you work with any paying customers.
As I’m writing this, my preferred tool is Zoom. It works on just about every device, and unlike some other applications does not have a history of leaking your contact list. This is critical if you’re seeing people around sensitive issues, or one of you is covered by the strict privacy regulations found in some parts of the world.
Whatever tool you use, make sure that others cannot join your call. In Zoom you do this by setting a password.
How to get hypnotized online
If you’ve read this far, and would like to get hypnotized online, or even just talk about it, please feel free to drop me a line.
You can also book a paid Video Call with Max directly on my online booking system in the menus at the top of the page. If you’ve not already worked with me, I strongly encourage you to have a chat with me first.
