Some of my hypnosis clients and friends sent me this news article about a hypnotherapist who was acquitted of molesting a female client
My clients and friends had various feedback when they shared this with me
“Lucky u video sessions”
“How sia if you kena?”
“Hi McKing, there is also indeed danger to hypnotherapy too. But of course, I know u McKing r an upright one!!šš”
“Wow”
“U saw this?”
And even after a few days have passed since the news came up, they still forward it to me
So I decided to share a bit about my opinion and how you can protect yourself
For the record, whether or not the hypnotherapist in the article did anything wrong, I don’t know, and whether the client lie or not, I also don’t know
The Yahoo news gave a bit more information as compared to the Straits Times one I read previously
For example, that the alleged incident happened in the third session of hypnosis, there was a video recording done prior, and even that the mother of the alleged victim was present during some of the hypnotherapy sessions
This is important because for any client to do hypnosis
A level of trust and safety has to be present
So if you find that you are talking to a hypnotist who is making you feel uncomfortable, it’s ok not to continue with that hypnotist and find another one
Every hypnotist got their own style, mannerisms, and yes, it’s possible to feel uncomfortable perhaps with how someone speaks or communicates
That is normal and in fact, in every day life
Like, you might feel uncomfortable or even weird out if you are talking to a policeman who is speaking like a gangster when you are reporting a case (just a random example)
There is usually a preliminary chat session with the hypnotist (actually, with a psychologist, therapist etc also) and for me, I give up to 2 hours for a complimentary chat
Use that time to not only share your issues, and also to ask your questions and concerns
This is because doing so can help you build that trust with the therapist
If you don’t trust your therapist (in whichever trade for now), then it’s challenging for the therapist to help you as best as he/she can
On top of that, sometimes, the concerns you have can hinder the therapy or hypnosis process
For example, as I operate a private hypnosis trade, there will be some female clients who raise concerns, or sometimes its their husbands who raise concerns, and that’s understandable
Regarding the concern of being alone with a male hypnotist, I have already included a videotaping of the client (both male and female) for the hypnosis session, and without their face been shown for some level of privacy and confidentiality as well
This helps the female clients (or their respective partners) to feel at ease
(You might notice most of the testimonials in my testimonial section are just initials with the exception of some who ok to put their name)
In addition, some clients do have the query of whether they can have someone with them in the session itself
Unfortunately, this is a bit tricky
Although yes, I’m perfectly ok for you to have someone with you during the hypnosis session, it is not up to me to say anything actually hahaha
It’s your unconscious mind~
As weird as that sounds, (hence the tricky explanation), it’s true
You see, if you are the client, and you want someone to be there with you during the hypnosis
It’s your unconscious mind that decides whether it’s ok or not ok, and whether we can proceed or not proceed with the hypnosis itself
In some cases, everything can go smoothly and we are done in that hypnosis session
In other cases, perhaps one of the issues (or even the core issue) stem from the other person in the room!
For this scenario, it’s possible the unconscious mind of the client (example being you for now) is unable to enter hypnosis to resolve the issues
Here’s an example, say someone came with trauma issues, perhaps physical abuse by one of the parents, and that same parent wanted to be in the hypnosis session
The client’s unconscious mind may have ideas that “if I reveal the truth is this abusive parent, then I might get beaten up again later at home” and hence, this hinders or stops the hypnosis completely
Of course, a lesser “punishment” might be a scolding from said parent
Even a lover or a friend is not exempted from such a scenario, while a lover can be potentially abusive, hopefully there are not many such friends…
Maybe just a tad manipulative shrug
The last major version of such a situation where someone else is present with the client for the hypnosis, is the level of privacy
It is possible that the client’s unconscious mind may have the idea that “certain things have to be kept private from this person”, and in such a scenario, they can enter hypnosis to resolve some issues, but not all the issues that they want to keep private from the other person in the room
Ok that was chunky
Essentially, they may need more than 1 hypnosis session to resolve their issues completely
For example, there was once a male client who wanted his girlfriend to be present during the hypnosis, and he even said, “It’s ok, I got nothing to hide from her”
Technically I know on the conscious level that he has nothing to hide, but we don’t know if his unconscious mind has anything that wants to keep private (which by the way, doesn’t mean private like super secret dark core stuff etc ok~)
And no matter what I did with him, he couldn’t be hypnotised!
The girlfriend was just sitting one corner, playing her game (or perhaps watching a movie, I have no idea what she was doing on her laptop) but when she realized 10 minutes have passed and nothing was happening, she decided to step out and allow her boyfriend the privacy his unconscious mind seem to want
Back then my office had a glass soundproof wall and as he said bye to her and watch her leave, the moment she was out of sight, his eyes closed and his head dropped!
He went into hypnosis the moment the girlfriend was out of sight!!
This is one example that shows how peculiar the unconscious mind can be
And why I want to create as best an environment for each client to resolve their issues
But of course, you still have free choice
Ok I’m digressing
Back to the concern about being alone with a hypnotist
Other than videoing, allowing someone else to be there, there is one more option
And that is to do hypnosis online
Yes I can do hypnosis online and in fact, it’s pretty safe to do so
This is because I do a modern style of hypnosis that allows you to still be conscious and working with a lighter trance instead of the traditional deep trance we see on TV
This means that if face to face, anything weird happening, you can immediately open your eyes to check what’s happening (so it adds another level of safety)
And for online, if the internet gets cuts suddenly (for whatever reason) or suddenly a burglar in the house (touch wood but Singapore relatively safe) or your baby cry (if you have a baby of course) then you can immediately open your eyes and solve the issue
Whether it’s restarting the internet, stopping the burglar in his tracks (or calling police), or feeding your baby
Compared to the traditional style where if the internet get cut off, you will likely sleep another 2 hours before you wake up and realize the internet got cut…
That will be a huge waste of time (and money if the hypnotist on the other end still charges you for it)
Now if after all that, you still have concerns, then feel free to find another hypnotist, maybe a female one
Unfortunately, I cannot change into a female
There’s only so much I can do to help you feel safe and secure until you are ready to resolve your issues
All in all, I will like to add one more thing
Regardless of any profession, there might be a bad egg or rotten apple… or two…
That doesn’t mean all of the same group are the same
If I could tell you the stories of how some other professions have used hypnosis for the wrong intention on their spouse, staff or colleague…
Yes… they go and learn it from somewhere and attempted to use it for the wrong reasons…
Thankfully it doesn’t work that way, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to find me to resolve their issues
I won’t share them here for now cause totally different topic, how other professions misused the art of hypnosis
But I can share with you if you ask me in private I suppose
To sum up, regardless which form of therapy or therapist you find, ask your questions and get your concerns settled, until you find a comfortable one to work with
Til then, take care and stay safe~
