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Is NLP Hypnosis?

Chris Harrison - December 2007
©2007 PlanetNLP Ltd

I have met NLP practitioners who are scared of hypnosis even though NLP's founders use hypnosis constantly.

I have also met NLP practitioners who do not believe they use hypnosis, but obviously do.

Its the same with NLP training. Some trainers teach hypnosis covertly,and some don't.

In fact I believe that all NLP practitioners use hypnosis whether they realize it or not.

The reason is the same as the reason that some people believe they can never be hypnotized - they simply have an unrealistic view of what hypnosis actually is.

Hypnosis simply refers to an "out of the ordinary" state of mind.

Generally hypnotic states involve some kind of inward attention, and most hypnotists will want their subjects to be in the most susceptible state possible.

That state could be eyes shut and tranced out, or it could be an incredibly focused eyes open state.

People usually imagine hypnosis as simply being someone relaxed in a chair with their eyes shut, and most people who are absolutely sure they cannot be hypnotized believe it is a state where the hypnotist absolutely controls the subject.

Is that an interesting paradox?

Hypnosis is a much more familiar and subtle state.

We've all drifted off waiting for a train or standing in a queue.

We have these mini hypnotic breaks throughout the day, so technically we are all "in hypnosis" every day (though some of us spend more time there than others!).

So is NLP really hypnosis?

A practitioner may use a lot of hypnotic techniques to enhance their work, either covertly or overtly.

Any form of communication causes the 'listener' to send their attention inwards momentarily to decipher the message, which really means that all communication is hypnosis.

So they use NLP and Hypnosis!

So considering that communication is hypnosis then, as all NLP techniques between two people involve communication, so is NLP.

QED

Note: Anyone familiar with E-Prime is probably having kittens by now. Obviously NLP isn't Hypnosis in the same way that cheese isn't cheddar.