What Is Hypnosis? 

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A precise definition of hypnosis has yet to be established, a difficulty arising from the fact that hypnosis is a highly subjective experience that varies in quality from individual to individual. Defining “love” and “spirituality” pose the same kinds of challenges. Despite the lack of a precise definition, we can certainly describe some of the defining characteristics of hypnotic experience:

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Hypnosis involves an experiential absorption, a powerful focus on some stimulus (such as a thought, a feeling, a memory, an expectation, a sensation, the words of the clinician, or any specific aspect of experience).

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Credit: Michael Yapko, PhD