Thoughts on Mass Hypnosis

The other day I mentioned working with a client on smoking cessation. I hope you read Michael's comment on it. It was very helpful.

In listening to my client, she mentioned that someone had suggested she try a mass hypnosis session for her goal of being free from cigarettes. These sessions are done by a traveling hypnotist who comes to town once a year and does a mass hypnosis session with several hundred people at once, relatively cheaply. Interestingly enough, this particular client choose to do individual sessions because she wanted the one on one experience and thought it would be more beneficial.

But guess what, I am not going to rally against the hypnotists who do this sort of work. I know there has been some news in the past about frauds, etc. and I am sure there may be some. Rather, I will say that my favorite "confusion" induction comes from Robert Otto, a hypnotist who engages in mass hypnosis and seems to have great success. Indeed, I am a bit envious of his talents, and use this to motivate myself to continue learning.

Many clients ask me about these mass sessions and if they "work." I admit to a little delight (and a sigh of relief) when I hear that they thought about going to such a session, but opted for me instead, simply because it means that they are making an effort. They have put some thought into their process of change. It is not that they chose me over another hypnotist, but that they weighed the options and made a choice. It shows initiative to some degree and this is always positive.

Now the people who attend the mass hypnosis sessions, do I think little of them. I certainly do not. I do not begrudge anyone in their efforts to help themselves. I hope that they have educated themselves in the process and made the correct choice that will work for them. There are just as many success stories with mass hypnosis, as not.

The client who brought all this to mind mentioned mass hypnosis because the person who told her about the mass session idea wanted to know why she chose to quit smoking in several sessions, when perhaps she could have done it in one. It was her choice to ween herself off rather than just diving in, and she had under lying reasons for this as well. It was not just smoking she wanted to work on, but wanted greater insight into herself (regression, etc.). With a mass session, the attention is focused to a group, and my client wanted the individual attention.