TEST YOURSELF
Only approximately 20% of people have the natural hypnotic capacity as sought by the stage hypnotist when she is looking for volunteers in a nightclub act. Most people are in the mid-range capacity (approx. 60% of the population). Where a person is on the scale tells more about how a person will feel, than how effective trance will be. Even those who can only achieve a light state of trance can experience effective therapeutic results.
A sense of hypnotic capacity can be drawn from the way people respond to a series of familiar situations. On the ten questions test that follows, score as a 0,1,2, or 3.
0 = never , 1 = seldom, 2 = occasionally, 3 = often or always
Questions
1.Do you ever become so involved in a television program, movie or play that you lose temporary awareness of your immediate surroundings? 0, 1, 2, 3.
2. In the midst of a conversation has the person you are talking to suddenly asked "Where have you gone?" 0 ,1, 2, 3.
3. When reading or hearing about somebody else's experience, do you often find yourself becoming deeply involved? 0, 1, 2, 3.
4. While waiting at a stop sign or red light, do you sometimes come back from a daydream to realise that the person behind you is honking their horn because the light has gone green or the way is clear? 0, 1, 2, 3.
5. Have you ever been able to recall an experience so vividly that you almost felt like you were actually re-living it? 0, 1, 2, 3
6. Have you ever been deeply moved by an eloquent or poetic speaker? 0, 1, 2, 3.
7. Have you ever arrived home from shopping with something which you had no intention of buying, but which a saleswoman/ man convinced you was perfectly suited to your needs, even though it isn't? 0, 1, 2, 3.
8. Do you often glance at the clock after being engrossed in a book, TV program, or computer, to findthat it is now an hour later than you expected it to be? 0, 1, 2, 3.
9. Do many people complain that you don't listen well or that you forget things easily? 0, 1, 2, 3.
10. Have you ever been physically hurt or injured, and only later realised after you find the cut or bruise? 0, 1, 2, 3.
If the score is between 20- 30, this indicates high hypnotic capacity. 10 - 19 indicate medium trance potential. Less than 10 indicate the lower end of the susceptibility scale, however any questions answered with a 2 or 3 indicate that hypnotic potential is greater than what the final score suggests.
Source: Discovering the Power of Self- Hypnosis, by Stanley Fisher, Ph.D.