Newbie here looking for answers. My In-laws recently attended an "adults only" hypnotist show in Las Vegas. The hypnotist selected audience members to be hypnotized. I"m sure you all know the drill here. The selected individuals did all sorts of sexual (or inferd sexual acts) from masterbating a Teddy Bear to having an orgasm when another sneezes. My question here is are these acts real? I find it highly unlikely that a hypnotist could randomly select a group people everyday that can be hypnotized AND perform such acts. My rational thinking says these are likely actors and it is all in fun. ( I find it to be rather embarassing and certainly not something I would care to see) I would like to hear the opinions of the Drs. in this field- Do you find this type act degrades your profession? Is it ethical? Is it a form of abuse if these people were not in full control of their capacities? I would think in this day of lawsuit happy lawyers a participant could easily sue a hypnotist for "suggesting" this type of behavior. I know in the scheme of things this is really no big deal. But it really bothered me. Esp. that my In laws where so convinced that it was real. So, I ask the question- is it "real" or are these actors. Thanks for any input -Russ

First and foremost, such performers and stage acts should never be confused with clinical professionals or therapeutic settings. Indeed, that behavior by a hypnotherapist -- even separate from his or her therapeutic practice -- would be considered unethical.

Second, stage hypnotists with a bit of talent do lots of things that seem surprizing and amazing, usually without actors so far as I know. They are having fun with the audience and making a living being entertainers. The audience volunteers are having fun, too. Count on it. Third, just in case anyone was thinking of learning to hypnotize people for their own exploitive pleasure, think again. There are several shysters who advertise such "teaching." You'll lose both your money and your pride.

WHR

Hey Russ,

The short answer here is - I really dont know. *grinning*, But I do have a few thoughts on it.

Hypnotism is not "failsafe", and some people are a lot easier to hypnotize than others. There is basically a scale with some people being extremely easy to hypnotize, and a few people being completely impossible to hypnotize - with the majority falling in between of course.

For those who are extremely easy to hypnotize there are certain character traits that more or less goes with that ability. The same goes with the ones that are impossible to hypnotize.

So here are my thoughts on shows like the one you say.

1. It is entirely possible that several, all or some of the targets where hired by the hypnotist. Lets not kid ourselves - its a show and nothing more.

2. I can actually imagine a skilled hypnotist learning to gage the people in the audience and fairly accurately find the ones that are easier to hypnotize. I would think he then has some folks he knows or maybe even hires, and that he always knows he can count on if he doesnt think he sees someone hypnotizable enough.

As Dr. Reid said there is a HUGE difference between ethical and skilled hypno-therapists, and the people doing shows like that.

As you - I certainly dont feel comfortable with a hypnotist using his knowledge and skills for entertainment like that. Its pretty disgusting, and definitely questionable. If the person in the audience agree's to participate though, then I dont think there is anything illegal about it.

Da Friendly Puter Tech

Thanks for the input. My sister in law went to a hypnotist to stop smoking, it has been 9 weeks now and she has not smoked! Fantastic! I asked her how long the seesion took and she said about 2hrs total. She said it took about 45 minutes to "go under". This is one reason why I question the "ability" of a stage hypnotist. He is/was able to put these people "under" in about 1 minute. Possible? I don't know. Remember, this is a group- on a stage. No prior contact or consultation. Thanks again for taking the time to respond

Thanks for stopping by. Tell your friends.

Ohh, but that is why Dr. Reid said not to confuse stage shows with real hypnotic work.

Hypnotism in its pure form is really incredibly simple, and we all participate in it every day in some form or another. Good sales people use it, advertisement use it, the TV - dont even get me started on the tv... or the news for that matter....

Hypnotism is based on people being suggestible - ie you can get them to imagine something is real well enough that it becomes real for them.

A few years back I got into my car to go to work in the morning, and the radio talk show hosts had a hypnotist on the show. He was trying to explain how essentially simple hypnotism is.

He obviously knew that one of the radio hosts were easy to set off when it came to giggling. So in the middle of the conversation with the two radio show hosts the hypnotist told the one female host that he didnt think she would able to read the news, because she would be giggling.

Just that little suggestion to her, got her imagining having a giggle fit when trying to read the news.

Of course - when it came time to read the news the poor woman was in stitches laughing so hard. It was fairly comical to listen to, but it didnt sound all too pleasant for the radio host.

Whenever she tried to compose herself the hypnotist would say "see what I said, it really is impossible to read when you laugh so hard" or something similar to that. This started up the giggle fit again.

THis is VERY different from actually affecting a lasting change in someone with some real work.

The next day the radio talk show host could read the news with no trouble, so there wasnt a lasting effect to the suggestions imposed by the hypnotist.

Affecting lasting change in smokers is notoriously not easy..... And a totally different hypnotic ball game.

Da Friendly Puter Tech

Thanks for reading this thread! The Law, Ethics and Psychotherapy Forum gets a lot of readers, but few new posts. You are invited to contribute statements, comments or questions to keep the forum alive. Pick something you like, or something you don't like, but don't let the threads go stagnant! All I ask is that we avoid personal questions from patients (we can't do clinical work or second-guess therapists here, but we can have professional discussions among clinicians about ethics or forensic scenarios). We also avoid personal attacks.

The possibilities are endless. You can simply reply to a post in an existing thread, or start a new one. Do you have questions or experiences that involve the ethics or legal aspects of training? clinical work? termination? malpractice or malpractice lawsuits? forensic careers? criminal matters related to mental health? boundaries? work with courts or lawyers? work in correctional institutions? work with parolees or probationers? clinician impairment? laws affecting practice?

Choose something you're familiar with or something you want to know more about. If you want suggestions, you're welcome to check out my website at www.psychandlaw.org.

Thanks,
Bill Reid, Forum Administrator

Stage hypnosis is a far cry from 'real' hypnosis. The same way that stage magicians aren't actually performing 'magic'.

From Wikipedia:
Of course, it is possible that there are some other factors, some suggestion used. Having someone up on stage etc, even if they aren't paid by the performer, does apply a certain sort of pressure.

I think it is interesting that there doesn't seem to be a ton of documentation about people who have been 'hypnotized' admitting that they weren't in fact hypnotized.

__________________
Cheers,
David

Good point. Someone should do a study -- maybe some "exit interviews" of participants with follow up a few days later. I'll bet most were hypnotized, but having said that, trance is a very simple state and one that everyone can experience easily when willing.

I did clinical hypnosis a few years ago, with limited applicability and some success, but drifted away from it. One of the people who trained me said that everything a clinician can do in trance can also be done outside of trance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Reid Monte Carlo Vegas New York New York Hotel Vegas Good point. Someone should do a study -- maybe some "exit interviews" of participants with follow up a few days later. I'll bet most were hypnotized, but having said that, trance is a very simple state and one that everyone can experience easily when willing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Reid I did clinical hypnosis a few years ago, with limited applicability and some success, but drifted away from it. One of the people who trained me said that everything a clinician can do in trance can also be done outside of trance.

Ooooo sounds very interesting. Can you post any of this?

Fondly,
S. Wei
Luxor Vegas
Las Vegas City Center