Guess what? You are not alone if you couldn’t see anything under hypnosis
There are several possible reasons why one might not be able to see anything when they go into hypnosis
And truthfully, it doesn’t matter too much whether you can or cannot see anything
Which you will read about later too!
So why would someone be able to see while another cannot?
Today I will be sharing 6 of the main reasons why someone cannot see under hypnosis
You can watch this Youtube video for the quick rundown or read below if you prefer to read 🙂
1. You aren’t ready to resolve your issue
You see, this might seem counter intuitive and yet it is so fundamental
If one isn’t ready to resolve their issues, then the hypnosis wouldn’t be effective to bring them to face their issues in the first place
Even if one were to book an appointment to see me for hypnosis, it does not mean they are ready to resolve their issue
Weird I know, but that is how it can be
Some people might book an appointment under pressure from their lover, their family, their friends
Others might book because they are desperate to resolve their issues
However, desperation doesn’t mean you will solve your issues
And then we have some people who book an appointment because they want to show their friends or family that they are interested in seeking help, but internally they might not want to
Of course there is a possibility they are ready to resolve their issues on the conscious level
However, their unconscious isn’t ready to resolve or let go of the issue
So you can imagine the layers within just one reason
I had a client who attempted hypnosis 3 times but each time she couldn’t see, feel or hear anything!
However, she realized it was because she didn’t want to face her issues
Instead, she wanted hypnosis to magically make the issues go away, without her needing to do anything
Unfortunately, this is also a misconception about hypnosis and about healing
You have to face the issue and work things through, whether physically or psychologically
Only then can you resolve and heal
2. You aren’t ready to face your past
This is kinda similar to the above reason
The difference is that the issue stems from a clear point in the past
Whether it be from a childhood trauma, terrible family upbringing, etc
The reason for not wanting to face the past is understandable
Because something happened, say a trauma, and revisiting the trauma seems scary and hurtful
Hence, some people might not be ready to face their past
Yet, if they are unable to face their past, they cannot move forward into the future
The past trauma, whatever it may be, is now a chain, restricting and holding one back
Holding one back from success, happiness, and more
I had a client who claims he want to resolve a past relationship issue, to let go so he can move forward
And when we did the hypnosis, try as we did, he couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t feel anything
Then I asked him if there was something that he didn’t tell me
He said he didn’t want to face it!
He didn’t want to revisit what happened, didn’t want to see the stuff, didn’t want to feel the hurt
If you were to imagine your mind is like your house
And you have some issue being represented as a cockroach in your storeroom
You need to get rid of the cockroach before it spreads and breeds to the rest of the house right?
That’s how issues are too
Leaving them alone and pretending they do not exist, will only allow them to grow in the background
Creating more issues and negative experiences for you
Whereas catching the cockroach, even if its just a moment of disgust or fear etc
Will allow you to be free of the issues
And be able to feel freedom, happiness and more!
3. You’ve encountered the unconscious defence mechanism
Ok this is pretty interesting
In this case, the “darkness” or “lack of sight” isn’t bad
Although it ain’t necessarily good either
It can be said to be a bit of both
So what is happening is that we have an unconscious defence mechanism
This defence mechanism is to protect us, our minds, our life, and so on
In the event a trauma occurs, especially during childhood but it is possible to experience this during adulthood too
If the trauma was so bad, such that the unconscious mind deems it better to block out this traumatic memory
Then the defence mechanism of the unconscious mind will do so and block out that particular memory
And this darkness or lack of sight is what we may encounter as we do hypnosis
We have come to the traumatic memory but due to it being blocked, we are unable to see it at the moment
Think of it as entering a room, and it’s the right room to resolve your issues, but the light isn’t on
This is, most of the time, easily rectified
For the record, I will not be “hammering down the wall” ok…
That might cause more harm than good
We will negiotiate with the unconscious mind to release the memory
It is good that it wants to protect you but the negative side effect is that the trauma still leaks out to create an issue
During a regression, a client ended up in a dark space and after some negiotiation, the darkness went away
She saw herself doing some coloring and outside her room, her parents were arguing
That was all!
However, to her 3 year old self, the parents’ argument was considered traumatic
Which gave her anxiety and panic attacks
And we resolved within that session itself
4. You’ve encountered the issue itself
This is a bit similar to the above, but yet very different
The above was talking about how the “darkness” was the unconscious defence mechanism at play
In this case the “darkness” is the issue itself!
You see, our minds usually processes information through images and symbols
Yes we got words too but you can pack a lot more information into a symbol or an image as compared to a word
That’s how something like a Memory Palace comes about
So instead of saying, “Oh the hypnosis isn’t working”, we have to resolve this issue in the form of darkness first
One such client couldn’t see anything and he popped out of hypnosis at first before going back in
Once we confirmed he couldn’t see or hear anything, he realized that he can feel something
He felt like he was in a box
When we asked what does it want for him, it replied that it wanted to protect him from outside people cause they are scary!!
Which made sense because one of his issues was social anxiety!
Naturally hearing the voice shocked him but because he wanted to resolve it
He told the box that he doesn’t want it anymore and it disappeared
And now he could see he was on a pasture with a path leading to a warehouse with a bunch of TVs playing a memory of negative experiences
We resolved all but 5 which came from the parents, he wasn’t ready to forgive his parents you see
However, that was a good session as we resolved the other issues that he wanted to resolve
Just a reminder that I cannot resolve issues that the clients themselves do not want to resolve
5. You can’t see as well under hypnosis generally
This is pretty straightforward
You know how there are so many people in this world and we are all born with slight differences?
Different abilities or disabilities of sight, different range of hearing capabilities, whether we get a complete physical body or lack thereof or even extra stuff
You get the picture
Similarly, this also applies to our minds
Some can see better, some can’t see at all
Some can hear stuff under hypnosis, some cannot
Most cannot taste or smell but there are a few who can
Essentially, if someone is unable to see anything, we got to do a bit of testing
Like the earlier male client where we tested and he can feel himself in a box
There was a lady who said she couldn’t see anything and she wanted out
So I told her to come out of hypnosis and open her eyes
But she couldn’t open her eyes!
That was a sign for her that she was truly in hypnosis, just that she couldn’t see anything
The thing that worked for her was sensations
In fact, it was interesting to work with her because when we focus on her anger issues, her face will turn red!
When we focus on her anxiety, her neck will turn red!
Hence, besides sensations, we… or I… get to observe physical experiences too
The more we test, the more we can conclude what is the next best course of action
Thus, trusting the process and the therapist is important
6. You are desperate to see in hypnosis
This might seem like a funny thing
But desperation (or expectation) creates limitation
The more you want to see, ironically, the more you might not be able to see
I share with my clients that anything can happen
Clear or blur
With color or just black and white
Many things or just one or two things
There are all possible
But when you expect to see many things, you might get disappointed when nothing appears or only 1 or 2 appears
That disappointment can make less stuff appear
Hence, expectations can create limitations
One of my clients couldn’t see anything but she can feel the moist brick wall on her left
Following it, she came to some stairs and went down
But because she couldn’t see, she could only feel, she got upset and sat on the stairs intending to wait for her unconscious mind to “light up”
I brought her out of hypnosis and chat with her
‘Is it more important to see something under hypnosis or to resolve an issue?’
She replied it is more important to resolve an issue
So what is this “obsession” or “desire” to see something?
If you can feel stuff, you know you are in hypnosis and we can resolve whatever issues you want to resolve
She went to the toilet to have a thought and realized I was right
When she tried again, she could see herself on the beach
Feeling the sand in between her toes, the warmth of the sun
Smelling the salt in the air and hearing the crashing of waves
The moment she let go of the expectations, her mind was free to create
Ain’t that something~
That’s why you cannot see under hypnosis
There are other smaller reasons for why someone might not be able to see something under hypnosis
If you are interested, I can share more next time
The main takeaway is this
Just because you can’t see anything, doesn’t mean you cannot be hypnotized or that you aren’t in hypnosis
And even if you aren’t ready to face the issues or something in the past
It’s ok
Sometimes you might just need a bit more time 🙂