The psychological risks of stage hypnosis -- what they are, how to prevent them, and how to handle them when prevention fails.
Mental safety is the most consequential domain in stage hypnosis. Physical hazards are visible and correctable before the show begins. Mental safety risks are invisible until they surface on stage, in front of an audience, with no time to prepare. The performer who understands this domain is not just a safer performer -- they are a fundamentally better performer, because the same knowledge that prevents incidents is the knowledge that produces clean, controlled, high-impact shows.
The primary cause of mental safety incidents in stage hypnosis is poor suggestion wording. Not bad luck, not unusual volunteers, not hypnosis itself -- poor language choices by undertrained performers who do not understand how suggestions interact with a subject's existing emotional landscape. This is preventable. All of it.
An abreaction is a spontaneous release of subconscious emotion. Additionally, an abreaction can be any unpleasant response that is generally unsuited to the suggestion or suggestions given for a specific routine in the show, or as a general response during the induction. Abreactions are almost always disturbing for an audience and are, fortunately, rare.
An abreaction is an abnormal response brought about by many different possible stimuli and can be very disruptive to a show. The primary cause of an abreaction is poor suggestion wording.
A secondary cause of abreaction can often be an undisclosed phobia to an uncommon stimulus, such as a specific color, object, animal, or setting. Other causes can include a desire to continue the pleasant experience of trance as a means of escaping an ongoing and highly stressful situation in the volunteer's daily life -- an escapism response.
A stage hypnotist suggests to a woman sitting on stage that the man next to her is her ex-husband and that she is angry with the man. The hypnotist's intent is to get the woman to yell at the man. Instead the woman becomes a shuddering basket case and starts crying uncontrollably.
The cause was due to the fact that the woman had been stabbed several times by her ex-husband before he was arrested and put in jail for attempted murder. This was a situation that the hypnotist could have avoided by using more generic language, such as "the man next to you has made you angry and you feel the need to tell him off." Also note: suggesting that someone is angry can invite a situation in which the angry volunteer then lashes out and hits the other volunteer.
A stage hypnotist suggests that there are spiders running across the stage and several volunteers panic. One volunteer jumps off stage, spraining an ankle, and several others huddle on their chairs, screaming in absolute fear.
Fear-based suggestions are inappropriate and can cause instant and violent abreactions. They are not recommended for use in a show due to the fact that the hypnotist can trigger a violent and uncontrolled response in the participant. If you must use a fear-based hallucination in a demonstration, set it up with parameters that would provide a safe place for the participant to retreat to mentally if the suggestion goes wrong -- or frame the idea that the participant was watching the demonstration on a screen.
These can include facial tics, increased breathing rate, a flushing or blanching of facial skin color, unusual perspiring not caused by environmental conditions, squirming in the seat, and fidgeting.
It should be noted that most people in hypnosis tend to have lower levels of spontaneous movement as their level of hypnotic depth increases. Spotting these warning signs can be highly useful to the performer in disrupting an abreaction prior to its full onset.
To prevent abreactions, include avoidance of direct fear-based suggestions that would include possible phobic responses to dogs, cats, rats, birds, snakes, insects, spiders, and other fear-based suggestions.
Always set your volunteers up at the beginning of the show with practical suggestions: "We are going to have fun tonight." "Any time I say sleep, you will be in a fun, relaxed state perfectly at ease." "Tonight's show is about fun."
Halloween skits are fear-based, and although everyone is afraid of a scary movie and will react with jumps and screams, scary movies will not generally create a phobic response. However, since you do not know if one of your volunteers may have been robbed by someone in a Halloween mask, it is recommended that the performer keep the suggestions about scary movies limited to watching the suggested scenes instead of telling the volunteers that they are actually participants in the movie. The latter is only justifiable if it is clearly suggested that the volunteers are actors on the set of a movie and acting, as opposed to experiencing an alternate reality depicted by the movie.
Always make certain that your volunteers are aware of the stage and are coached to not launch backwards out of their chairs or run off the stage.
Making all suggestions clear and repetitive with safety guidelines will prevent an abreaction in most cases.
Get to the volunteer immediately, put him or her back into trance (Sleep Command), and tell the volunteer this: "On the count of three, you are going to a safe place where you are happy and unharmed. You are safe, and as you go there you will forget instantly and without care or concern any discomfort or unpleasant memory that you had. 1, 2, 3."
Always do this off mike.
Then bring the subject back to awareness, suggesting that he or she is happy and well balanced. Once the subject is aware, ask how he or she feels. If the subject says good, then all is well. If the subject does not respond positively, send the subject back to the safe place so he or she can just enjoy the trance and leave the subject alone until the end of the show.
Once the show is over, take the subject to the side and make certain that he or she is fine. If not, find out why and make the proper suggestions so that the subject leaves happy.
Do not simply wake the subject and send him or her off stage. In some cases the subject will spontaneously go back into trance during the show and could abreact in the audience.
Those who would like to restrict the practice of stage hypnosis often point to the psychological complications that can occur. However, the Mayo Clinic describes hypnosis as a "benign process." It should be understood that individuals with psychiatric issues are as likely to experience disturbances or symptoms of mental illness in situations apart from hypnosis as they are when under hypnosis.
Hypnosis in and of itself is not the cause of psychiatric illness, but those with pre-existing conditions may manifest a range of behaviors and symptoms that have the potential to require unique handling on stage.
The performer's responsibility is to recognize and manage -- not diagnose.
Phobias, as noted above, are common. Most people have at least one irrational fear of something. However, the level of a person's reaction to that fear is what determines whether it is a full-fledged phobia or merely a repulsion or dislike.
Understanding what the most common phobias are can go a long way toward helping a performer avoid triggering an unpleasant reaction from someone who has such a fear. The critical point for stage hypnosis is this: hypnosis does not create a phobia. What it does is remove the buffers that normally modulate a fear response. Someone who is afraid of snakes in an ordinary room will react to a snake suggestion. That same person in a deep, receptive hypnotic state will react with dramatically amplified intensity -- the fear is real, the phobic response is real, and the hypnotic state has removed the layer of conscious modulation that would ordinarily contain it.
It is impossible to create a show that has no themes that someone would not be phobic about. Nevertheless, understanding the most common phobias allows a performer to make informed choices about which risks are acceptable and which are avoidable.
Ranked from most commonly occurring to most rare:
Arachnophobia -- the fear of spiders.
Avoid all uses of spiders in your suggestions and props unless doing a specific and previously consented-to demonstration of phobia release work.
Social Phobia -- the fear of social situations.
The definition of social phobia ranges and is dependent on a person and the particular circumstance or situation. Anyone who voluntarily comes on stage is probably not suffering from this phobia. Still, a person who enters hypnosis in the audience may be socially phobic. Ask permission before bringing anyone up on stage, and honor anyone's refusal to join the group.
Aerophobia -- the fear of flying.
This particular phobia is powerful, and people who suffer from it may need some type of medication in order to get on an airplane. Suggestions regarding flying can be a trigger for some people. Be watchful.
Agoraphobia -- the fear of being in a place or circumstance from which there is no escape.
Of the ten most common phobias, agoraphobia is the most complicated. This is a very serious phobia and in some instances it confines people to their homes because they fear going out. Agoraphobia is often confused with a fear of wide open spaces, which is sometimes part of it. Suggestions about being trapped should be avoided.
Claustrophobia -- the fear of tight places.
It is one of the most publicized phobias and can be seen on television and in movies. See Agoraphobia and also avoid any suggestions such as being wrapped tightly in blankets.
Acrophobia -- the fear of height or of high places.
A very common phobia. In this situation a high place can be where the ground cannot be reached easily -- it could be a chair on which a person is standing or a bridge a person is crossing while in a car. Falling is always a safety concern on stage. Any demonstration that involves falling should be approached with great care for the safety of the volunteer, or avoided entirely.
Emetophobia -- the fear of vomit.
A rather uncommon phobia, except at places where thrill rides are common. Be aware of extraneous sounds, such as those of someone getting sick in the audience or off stage, and suggest that the volunteers neither see nor smell the effects.
Carcinophobia -- the fear of cancer.
Persons who experience carcinophobia are quite choosy about their daily activities and their food. This is a rare phobia and not one that is likely to impact the average stage hypnosis show.
Brontophobia -- the fear of thunderstorms.
Typically regarded as a phobia for children. The foundation of the fear is the lightning or the thunder during the storm. For hypnotists working outdoors, this can be a challenge, especially if the parent is on stage and his or her child goes off in the audience. Nothing will bring Mommy out of trance faster than her child's cries of distress. Be aware of it and make allowances.
Necrophobia -- the fear of dead people and the fear of dying.
Ghosts in scary movies, because of the movie aspect, may not be as phobia-eliciting, but having someone "see" a "ghost" in front of them may well trigger a panic reaction. Be aware of this and avoid such reactions by wording your suggestions appropriately.
Phobic anxieties can be deeply hidden in a person's subconscious mind and may be automatically and instantly triggered during a bit or stage show demonstration. It is crucial that the stage hypnotist is aware of the physical signs of a subject during a specific bit.
Signs include extreme blinking of the eyes or extreme twitching or spasms of the eyelids, which may occur as you are giving the stage show bit or suggestion to the subjects. Another sign is rapid breathing or twitching of a specific area of the body, such as a leg, an arm, or the head. Also during a routine be aware of traumatic facial expressions, which might indicate that you have stepped on an emotional land mine.
Over 50 million Americans suffer from extreme fears or phobias. Some people have social anxiety disorders and phobic responses to suggestions relating to intimacy or sexuality, and this should be taken into consideration when conducting a hypnosis stage show.
If a phobic response is manifested, the hypnotist should immediately:
Wake the subject.
Reorient him or her to the room.
Reorient him or her to their safety.
Seek and gain assurance that the subject is now comfortable.
Re-induce and have subject sit quietly until the next skit.
Alternately, set the subject on the side of the stage wide awake and to remain there quietly until the end of the show, at which time you can take a few moments to make certain he or she is out of trance and feeling fine.
While there has been much debate about using age regression in a show, it is a commonly used skit and provides for much hilarity as long as one simple guideline is followed: always tell your volunteers that they will regress "to a place where they are happy and safe."
Failure to do so may result in an immediate abreaction in the volunteer because in navigating the past, a strong negative memory may surface that could wreak havoc during the show. A direct suggestion for placement is crucial.
Word your suggestions so as to be as specific as possible for what you want your volunteers to do and not to do. Take any precautions necessary within the suggestions to ensure that the volunteers clearly understand what is to take place, and make sure that they know how the suggestion will be stopped -- which can be done generically for all suggestions at the outset of the show via either a "freeze" trigger or a "sleep" trigger.
It is important that the skilled hypnotist learn language patterns that specifically communicate suggestions accurately. If a subject misunderstands a suggestion, have the subject freeze, then re-induce a deeper level of trance and rephrase the suggestion accurately. Or have the subject freeze or re-induced and simply remove the misunderstood suggestion completely, telling the subject that he or she will remain "firmly and safely in his or her chair" and then move on to another skit.
Always make sure that your triggering suggestions are specific as to who, what, where, when, and how long.
In addition, make sure that any suggestions that initiate unusual behavior or that re-induce trance in a volunteer are specific only to the hypnotist -- or someone the hypnotist designates during the show only -- so as to avoid any inadvertent triggering of these behaviors by anyone who should not be doing so.
This also avoids the problem of mischievous friends of the volunteers using any of the triggers from the show in ways that might cause the volunteer or volunteers embarrassment or discomfort after the show is over.
This specificity should extend to the duration of the actions suggested -- how long will they be doing these things, which might be until told to stop, until they complete the task, or under whatever other specific conditions you need to set.
Triggers should also be specific as to who can actually activate the trigger and should be limited -- for triggers that people other than the hypnotist can activate -- to the show only.
The suggestion of the performer should be given a "right-of-way" over other triggers that other people can activate so that the performer can maintain control of the show, the volunteers, and the audience.
Suggestions that use key words to trigger specific responses should be phrased in such a way that the response is only produced when the hypnotist uses the key word. If the key word or trigger is intentionally designed to be given by members of the audience or other subjects, the hypnotist should take care to remember to remove the trigger or key word when the desired effect is no longer warranted.
And certainly the hypnotist should remove all specific suggestions at the conclusion of the show.
Refusal to exit trance is usually an indication of any one or a multiplicity of causes. These range from the volunteer who is shamming trance and is trying to gain attention from the hypnotist -- snagging the spotlight -- to one who has not heard the suggestion to emerge from trance (the most common for a first-time non-response situation) to someone who is attempting to retreat from his or her daily life.
In very rare circumstances, a refusal to exit trance could be an indicator of the volunteer having experienced a medical event, such as heat exhaustion (more likely in outdoor event situations) or a stroke.
In working with Grad Night seniors, for example, be aware that the students may have been awake for 24 hours or more, having attended their graduation and then their all-night party. Their refusal to wake up may be due to sleep deprivation or, in the case of a diabetic, low blood sugar. Always ask if anyone knows if the sleeper is diabetic, and check for a "Medic Alert" bracelet. At the start of your show, make certain that all volunteers understand that when you say wide awake/wide aware they will sit up in their seats focused and present. Test this at the start of the show.
Ascertain, off mike, whether the volunteer is responsive and is not having a medical event, if you are trained to do so. If the volunteer is responsive, there are a number of ways to deal with this reaction.
Position the volunteer with arm or leg catalepsy in the air and tell the volunteer that when his or her leg or arm gets tired, he or she will suddenly awake. The uncomfortable nature of this positioning will wake most with little or no fuss.
Tell the volunteer that he or she will stay in deep trance, but on the count of three will open their eyes and act and behave just as though he or she were wide awake, but will still respond to your specific suggestions to them. Then have the volunteer sit and imagine that he or she is doing some dull but interesting (to them) task -- such as fishing -- for the rest of the show and deal with the volunteer after the show is over.
Let the volunteer stay in trance until the show is over and have the volunteer march off stage, directly to see you. Ask why he or she won't emerge from trance and act on the volunteer's refusal appropriately.
Note: it should be obvious that giving a volunteer a suggestion such as "At the count of three, you will emerge from trance. If you don't, you will never be able to be hypnotized again" can cause problems, because with some volunteers that simply gives them permission to stay in trance "forever." Even though it is a provable and demonstrable point that this cannot and will not happen, very few stage hypnotists on tour have the time to stay around until the next morning or even for several hours while the volunteer "sleeps it off."
Sometimes a volunteer will bask in the attention that he or she is receiving by refusing to wake up after a program has ended. Some will wake up temporarily, then dramatically fall back to sleep, to the horror of the parents and their concerned friends. They simply fake sleeping and being non-responsive.
If you suspect that you are a victim of your volunteer's antics, the following has proved to be helpful.
Isolate the volunteer from the party. Take the volunteer to an empty room where nothing is going on. A parent chaperone is required to stay with you at all times. Do not allow yourself to be left alone at any time with the subject. Make sure that the chaperone hears everything that you say to the volunteer.
It is very important to give the volunteer an out. The volunteer may have started the game in fun and now does not know how to stop it without losing face.
You can give the volunteer and yourself the out by offering the following suggestion:
"I know that you can hear me, as I know you are not asleep. We are here in this room, and it is just you and me. The rest of your friends are out at the party. We have to stay here by ourselves until you wake up. You do not want to sleep through your whole Grad Night while your friends are having fun. If you feel rested, you can wake up any time you want and go back to the party. Just slowly open your eyes and stretch out and you can go back to having a fun night."
Once you have given the suggestion, sit quietly and wait. As soon as the subject gets bored and realizes that no more attention is coming, he or she will miraculously wake up. This works well because it gives the subject the opportunity to end the game without being embarrassed.
Another suggestion you can add is to suggest that you really need them to wake up, as they are scaring the parents and their friends who are worried about their welfare.
Tell the volunteer: "I need you to wake up and be your normal wide-awake self. You do not want to scare your parents and your friends."
This works well because you have now taken all of the fun out of the game.
Young adults are very sensitive to their friends and family. If their group is upset or afraid for them, they will do whatever they need to do to alleviate their fears. This suggestion also works well on a subject who is actually having a hard time waking up. Sleep is very comfortable, and it helps if you give them a motivational reason that is important to them as a reason to wake up.
Hypnosis is the most wonderful, carefree state to be in, and refusing to exit trance, as noted above, has solutions. It is impossible to stay hypnotized, and the worst thing that can happen is that someone takes a nap for a few hours.
The ultimate threat is this: "When I count from one to three, if you do not wake up, I will never allow you to feel this good and relaxed again."
Use a commanding tone when you state this. This command works because the one thing that no one wants to have taken away is the feeling of ultimate relaxation. The volunteer will wake up and you will be able to look at the volunteer and smile, saying: "That is good. You will be able to go back there again; however, if I ask you to, you will be wide awake with no questions asked."
Get their assent, and from there it is your decision to continue with them in the show or leave them wide awake. It is not advisable at any time to send an abreacting volunteer or someone who refuses to exit trance back to the audience. Deal with them promptly, and then pay personal attention to them at the end of the show.
Unless you are a trained medical professional, leave the sleeper alone to avoid startling or otherwise arousing the audience, and quietly ask your assistant to calmly seek medical assistance. Close the show and stand by to assist medical personnel.
Abreactions are the most common and preventable problems any hypnotist can face. If you do not feel that you have sufficient training to comfortably deal with one, please seek additional educational resources.