In Part 1 of "Anatomy of a Successful Hypnosis Session" we discussed the importance of the pre-induction interview. Through this process, the hypnotist creates an atmosphere for optimal success by enhancing the client's imagination and imbuing the client with a powerful mental expectancy of success.

Imagine that you want to take a trip. The first step in this process is to decide where you want to go -- for example, from your hometown to San Francisco, California. What is your next step? Well, you cannot just point your nose in the direction of San Francisco and magically teleport to the City by the Bay. You have to do some planning. Will you drive, fly or take the train?

The simple answer for the question is we humans are slaves to habit. Hypnosis is an excellent tool for eliminating bad habits and creating good habits.

Imagine trying to tear a piece of paper in half. If you want the tear to go along a clean straight line, it's best to crease the paper first. In fact, the more times you crease it, the more likely the paper will tear exactly the way you want. It will tear right along the groove.

Your mind works in a similar way. The subconscious is a natural goal-seeker. It strives to create whatever goal is set for it. You can be sure that unless you program your subconscious — bend it the way YOU want it to bend — external influences will program your subconscious for you. And those external forces may create a groove toward ill health, conflict, financial loss or failure.

Over recent years, hypnosis has gained acceptance as a credible method of treatment within the traditional medical community. It is now recognized as credible by both the Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health, as seen by the information provided on their websites.

Hypnosis has been proven to be effective in treating many physical, emotional, and mental concerns. These include pain control, weight loss, phobias, quitting smoking, sleeplessness, and many others. Historically, the alternative medicine community has accepted hypnosis as a valuable option in treating distress.

Hypnosis is a process in which an individual goes into a trance, or a state of deep inner focus. The person stays in control and aware of their surroundings while in the trance, although their focus is channeled inward. A trance can be facilitated by another person, a taped recording, or by the person her or himself (self hypnosis). A common myth is that a susceptible person can be hypnotized without their consent, and this is just not true.

You've seen the stage acts where a hypnotist selects someone out of the audience and when he claps his hands, the unwilling participant struts around the stage clucking like a chicken. You've also seen movies where the hypnotist waves the pocket watch in front of the subject as he utters, "you're getting sleepy ... very sleepy." Hypnosis is a little more than what Hollywood or Vegas make it out to be. Below is a brief overview.

Hypnosis is a naturally occurring altered state of consciousness in which the critical faculty is bypassed (mind in the conscious mode) and acceptable selective thinking established. Wow! That's a lot of technical jargon! Simply put, this means that the reasoning, evaluating, judging part of your mind (conscious) is bypassed.