What's So Great About Covert Hypnosis?

Let's face it; all of us wish we could be a little happier, feel a little less stressed out, and have things go a little bit better at least some of the time, when things are rough. Have you ever run into somebody who seems to simply exude good cheer, so that when you finish talking to them, you feel better?

That person may have been using something called "covert hypnosis." Although covert hypnosis can be used in a sort of shady way (such as the salesperson who makes you simply think you can't live without a particular product even though you very well could and can't really spend the money), it can also be used in a way to spread, well, happiness.

Happiness is contagious; have you ever noticed it? If you smile at someone, they're very likely to smile back at you. If someone is in a good mood, you're likely to leave with his or her good mood, too. Covert hypnosis works a little bit differently than that, though. With covert hypnosis, there's a sort of strategy to getting someone else to "agree" with you so that they become happier, too.

What is covert hypnosis, and how does it work?

Covert hypnosis is basically "conversational hypnosis" (another term it goes by). With conversational or covert hypnosis, the person managing the hypnosis (let's say the "hypnotist") uses a variety of techniques to slowly bring the other person (let's say the "subject") to his or her point of view -- even if the conversation starts out with the other person in complete opposition to your point of view.

Here's how it works.

- First, you establish rapport

First, you as the so-called "hypnotist" establish what's called rapport with your subject. That simply means that you absolutely, completely agree with what they say. So, let's say that somebody is really having a bad day and they say something to the effect of, "Life just plain sucks!"

Now, you as the "hypnotist" simply sympathetically agree, "I agree; life absolutely sucks, doesn't it? It's never going to get any better, is it?"

- Second, confusion is created

This absolute, wholehearted agreement with your subject confuses him or her. After all, they were expecting you to say something like, "Now, now, is it really that bad?"

Now your subject is off balance, so you can introduce a different point of view. Your subject will probably be taken aback and say, "What? Wait a minute; I didn't mean life was ALWAYS bad." And that gives you the perfect opportunity to:

- Implant a suggestion

With your subject off balance and confused, you can begin to introduce a different point of view, gently and slowly. For example, you can say something to the effect of, "Really? Life isn't ALWAYS terrible, you mean? Sometimes, it's actually good?"

Your subject is very likely to agree with you that at least sometimes, life is good, which puts them in complete opposition to what they said at first, which is that life "sucks."

- Take your time

Finally, covert hypnosis, or this type of mind hypnosis, doesn't have to take place during one conversation and in fact it's probably better if it doesn't. That is, you can gradually, slowly introduce your point of view to your subject, with the end result that you have, in fact, given them happiness. It may take a little time to go from "life sucks" to seeing life as something that's generally very happy, so take your time. That's what's fun about covert hypnosis. There's no timeline, you don't have to do it all at once, and best of all, you reap the benefits as much as your "subjects" do. In fact, you'll probably find that your happier, too, as a result of practicing this type of mind hypnosis.

The author of this article became interested in covert hypnosis techniques and NLP since he was 16 years old. Now he creates a site dedicated to this passion, which he called TheMagicOfCovertHypnosis.com, where you can find different interesting sources, among the other things a link to a 3 audio tape hypnosis/covert hypnosis course to download for free. He wrote many different articles about the covert hypnosis, we can recommend you to read his article, Leadership and Covert Hypnosis.