NLP? Hypnosis? You believe in that stuff?!

I think I read somewhere that NLP was a way to do covert hypnosis. Covert hypnosis? You mean it's possible to get people to cluck like a chicken, make fools of themselves, and generally just get people to do as you command - covertly? If that's possible, once I master it, I can proceed with my plans to take over the world... muuuhaahaahaaa.

Unfortunately (for my plans of world domination, that is), like many things, there are a lot of misconceptions and rumors surrounding NLP and hypnosis. I've been studying the two topics to try to unravel the mystery and get down to the nitty gritty. Is it real? If so, what exactly is it?

Let me first state that I am a skeptic. I think a healthy skepticism is a good thing. In addition, I am an engineer, so I have been trained to be very analytical and scientific about things. Whether or not this is a good thing when learning NLP and hypnosis, I don't really know, but that's where I'm coming from as I approach and learn about them.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand - NLP, hypnosis. What are they? Do they exist?

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), some say, is a pragmatic school of thought - an epistemology - that involves many aspects of being human. According to the NLP FAQ (http://www.rain.org/~da5e/nlpfaq.html) NLP is "a constantly evolving set of models, presuppositions, patterns, techniques, and observation-based theories resulting from the study of the structure of subjective experience, behavior and communication. Beyond understanding, NLP seeks to enable remedial and generative change quickly and ecologically."

Although I've been studying NLP for a little while now and have a document which certifies that I am a Licensed NLP Practitioner, it's difficult for me to give a concise description of it. Richard Bandler (co-founder of NLP and founder of the Society of NLP), says it is also "an attitude and a methodology that leaves behind a trail of techniques." There are a lot of books and web sites out there that may help you get a better idea. You might start with Google. That's all I'll say about that.

Now... hypnosis.

It has been given many definitions and some even say that it does not exist. The United States government defines hypnosis as "the by-pass of the critical factor of the conscious mind followed by the establishment of acceptable selective thinking," i.e., the by-pass of a person's analytical and judgmental ability combined with a concentrated focus of awareness.

It may help to add Steven Heller's view that "[included in the] definition of hypnosis is any form of communication in which a person or persons, whether a hypnotist, wife, husband, teacher, or [whatever]? uses words, tonality, expressions or movement that elicit and/or evoke within another person an internal experience, and that experience becomes a reality of its own. (For more information on-line, you can refer to the Hypnosis FAQ at http://www.royhunter.com/hypnofaq.htm)

Like many others, including Dave Elman and Steve Heller, I believe that we've all been hypnotized hundreds, even thousands of times throughout our lives.

If you've ever watched a movie or TV and were so entranced by what you were watching that you began to realize certain feelings (happiness, sadness, suspense), and you might even realize certain physiological responses (change in pulse rate and/or breathing, tearing, smiling, tingling, etc) - that's hypnosis.

If you've ever driven your car and realized that you can't quite seem to remember all the details of how you got where you were - that's hypnosis.

If you're superstitious and believe in the stories of Friday the 13th, to the point where you may allow your belief regarding that day to alter your plans or "reality", even though logically, it's just another day like any other - that's hypnosis.

Natural occurrences of hypnosis can be found everywhere in everyday life. It's a naturalistic state of mind. In fact, the term hypnosis is actually a misnomer and like many other things, many people have misconceptions and previous notions of hypnosis that are misunderstood or simply inaccurate. Many prominent hypnotists can't even agree on a definition of hypnosis. And to some, there's no such thing as hypnosis. (Or perhaps, it's all hypnosis.)

On a more personal note, most people I know harbor some type of fear regarding hypnosis (and NLP for that matter) even though a lot of them think it's bullshit. As for me, I started out like many of my friends. I wasn't really sure if it worked, but I leaned more towards the idea that it was bullshit. I didn't really know many people that were personally involved or knew much about either topic. The one thing that kept hope alive for me, though, was that when I was in high school, some friends of mine were volunteers at a stage hypnotist show at the county fair. I was amazed. And when I asked them about their experience, I trusted that they weren't bullshitting me.

In order to satisfy my skepticism of hypnosis and NLP, I decided to find out what they were for myself and then decide if it's bullshit or not. I've surfed the net, read books, attended live training, joined practice groups, and played with each for the past few months.

With that said, the question remains: do I believe in this stuff? I believe in a lot of it, but I'm still skeptical.