Is Covert Hypnosis Real and How Does it Work?

Most people don’t understand hypnosis. Even fewer understand the concept of doing it covertly, through a seemingly ordinary conversation. So let’s talk a bit about what hypnosis is, and what it is not.

Hypnosis is not about falling under someone’s spell and following every command they give to you. When you see this in the movies, it is fake. When you see it on stage, you need to realize that the subjects wanted to be part of a comedy show. They may truly be hypnotized, and quite deeply hypnotized. But they came up on stage intending to go deeply into hypnosis. It’s no wonder they follow ridiculous suggestions on stage. Covert hypnosis is not like this.

So just what is hypnosis? It is a focused state of awareness. When you are in a hypnotic state, you are much more open to suggestion.

You’ve certainly been in a hypnotic trance thousands of times in your life. You just may not have realized it until now. Remember the last time you were in a car on a long journey? Did you ever just kind of “zone out”, driving the car automatically? What about watching a movie? Do you ever seem to forget that the movie is not real? Imagine how tense your muscles would be while watching an intense car chase scene. That is a form of hypnotic trance.

How do you create hypnosis using ordinary conversation? Well, you must first gain rapport with your subject. Once you do this, you need to get the subject intensely focused in on a single idea. This is accomplished using artful language, while watching the response you get.

One simple way to do this is to tell a story. If you tell a compelling story with vivid detail, your subject will be focused in on every aspect of the story. You will be controlling his focus. This causes trance. This opens his mind to suggestion. Once a state of trance is formed, you move to the suggestion phase.

Covert hypnosis generally does not result in deep trances. It produces a light trance. To the unskilled observer, it will not look like anything special. But a hypnotist knows what clues to look for to indicate that the subject is in trance. Covert hypnotic trances are usually light.

Therapeutic hypnosis, on the other hand, does tend to result in a very deep trance. This is because in therapy, the subject knows he is going to do hypnosis. He is a willing participant. He wants to fix a problem, and wants to learn how to go deeply into hypnosis.

Covert hypnosis can be incredibly useful as a way to influence someone to do something. It can help push someone over the edge if they are hesitating to make a purchase. You can help someone stop procrastinating. You can use it to make someone else associate good feelings towards you. You can use it to build trust. It’s truly endless.

How do you go about learning this skill? You can start with books on Ericksonian Hypnosis. But books are difficult to learn from if you are a beginner. Audio courses are much more effective. Courses such as “The Art of Covert Hypnosis” by Steven Peliari, or “The Power of Conversational Hypnosis” by Igor Ledochowski are worth considering. Most expensive, but also most effective, would be to study in person with an expert. There are plenty of seminars run by true experts. Chose this option if you are serious about developing these skills.