For a long time, hypnosis was portrayed in TV shows and movies as a form of mind control. With just their voice and a stopwatch, a hypnotist could make someone do whatever they wanted – dance, spill embarrassing secrets or even sing. In the altered state, the hypnotized individual had no say what they did and appeared mindless.

Today, this portrayal of hypnosis still affects how people think about the practice in the real world and raises the question: does hypnosis online work or is it just a hoax? The answer to that is yes – online hypnosis does work, although it’s certainly not a person waving a stopwatch back and forth and bending people completely to his or her will. But, you can be hypnotized using the online resources available on this site.

What is Online Hypnosis?

The basic definition of online hypnosis is to enter into a trance-like state using various methods, such as suggestion or visual imagery. Despite sounding a little different or new, entering into a trance isn’t uncommon at all–anybody who has ever daydreamed, “spaced out” or been so focused on a task that they forget everything else has been in a trance. A trance, essentially, is just a state of focused attention.

Daydreaming is a good example of this – an individual who is daydreaming is not extremely aware of their surroundings and may not notice a bug scurry across the floor. Although if someone else were to address them, they would immediately leave the trance state and be brought back to reality. As mentioned before, hypnosis is just a tool for individuals to enter into these trances. In these states, the part of the mind that makes judgments, plans and thinks critically (the “conscious mind”) is not as active.

Instead, the unconscious mind, which controls things such as heart rate, breathing, and physical responses, is more active and the attention of the individual is a lot more focused. Here, suggestions can be made and the unconscious mind can be “reprogrammed” to think differently about something or to recall a past event. The next question, though, that often seems to come naturally after the explanation of hypnosis is: who uses it and why?

Who is using hypnosis online?

Hypnosis has been used for around the world a long time for different reasons. Buddhist monks, for instance, practice a form of self-hypnosis to better enter into a trance during meditation. There are plenty of online sites instructing salesmen on how to hypnotize their customers through touch or by repeating certain words. Despite these wide uses, perhaps the most popular use of it has been in medicine – primarily in psychology.

Just in psychology alone, hypnotherapy can be used for practically anything. For example, a patient with extreme insecurity about their body might benefit from a hypnosis session where the psychologist is “suggesting” body-positive messages and in short, reprogramming the patient’s unconscious mind to think more positively about themselves. On a different spectrum, patients who suffer from chronic pain may explore both hypnosis sessions and self-hypnosis in order to decrease their pain.

Although these are both different uses, the results have been positive and psychologists may use hypnotherapy for other issues as well–overcoming phobias, stopping a bad habit, or recalling a traumatic memory.

What are the pros and cons of using self-hypnosis online?

When it comes to self hypnosis, there are both pros and cons. As far as pros go, perhaps the most important one is that it can resolve an issue. Based on the use of hypnotherapy by psychologists, people have had a lot of success with hypnosis–they experience stress relief, a decrease in chronic pain, more positive thinking and can conquer their fears and bad habits.

There are many success stories of smokers who have overcome their addictions and people who are crippled by their phobias that are finding relief. Not only that, it’s also drug-free–there are no odd side effects or withdrawals to worry about. Both of these aspects make hypnosis extremely appealing. On the flip side, there are some cons with hypnosis. For one, it takes time to work. It’s not very often that patients with chronic pain or an addiction like smoking are able to walk out of one hypnosis session pain-free or ready to throw out their cigarettes.

It can take several sessions to see serious results, and this is one reason why many psychologists don’t use it exclusively. Most of the time, they are also treating the patient with psychotherapy and medication, too. The other common con is that hypnosis, while a success for many, has varied results for everybody. The practice deals with the human mind, and human minds vary from individual to individual. Sometimes, even those who have been through several hypnosis sessions and are open to the idea, don’t yield any results. In other cases, some people may see some improvement, but not enough to be worth the amount of money they’ve spent for treatment.

Where can I get free hypnosis online or even learn hypnosis online?

Overall, the question of whether or not hypnosis works has a bit of a complicated answer to it, but the answer is yes. The various studies that have been done and the application of it in the medical field show that it does have an effect on the brain. In the real world, hypnosis is not about waving stopwatches or watching people dance like chickens against their will. Truly, it’s most effective when used as a treatment for people to overcome various issues.

If you are looking for free online hypnosis for both your own self-improvement and learning how to do self-hypnosis, then you’ve found the right place. I encourage you to go over to my hypnosis downloads page and you can download both the free audios and see all of the other online hypnosis programs available to you.