But the jist is this: Can hypnosis change my essential nature? Can it give me all the things I want?and want to be? And can it be done effortlessly'or at least painlessly?

The answer is no. And, well, yes.

You've heard the old, old joke: ?Can you change the lightbulb?? ?Only if it wants to be changed.?

Lightbulbs can be changed against their will, or more accurately, without any willingness or unwillingness on their part. Humans, however, are not changed by an outside force without their cooperation, except in cases of coercion or trickery.

In my line of work, as a mind coach (think hypnosis, NLP, EFT, and any other way I know to persuade the ?inner client? to be what he truly wants to be), it's my mission to facilitate change; for that I am hired and empowered by the client himself.

He essentially asks for all of these services, as needed:

1. To be reasoned into changing by providing new facts or old facts repositioned (more coach than hypnotherapist)

2. To be repositioned into changing (a new way to look at it that changes perspective)

3. To be lured into changing (make it desirable)

4. To be divorced from unpleasant myths that are holding him back from changing as he desires. Here are two examples that, while they seem opposite from each other, are really strikingly similar:

One client truly wanted to be married to a mate right for him, and asked for help letting go of the limiting belief that he most certainly would never find the right woman.

Another wanted to leave behind the notion that she absolutely had to be married to be ?okay.? This made her feel angry, trapped, and sent her running from romance.

Both are now happily married now, though not to each other.

The similarity is, of course, the shedding of a strong belief that limits the possibility of turning a desire into a reality.

5. To be enchanted into seeing, feeling, hearing and perceiving himself in the new state or situation already. If you already believe in your bones that you are a good speaker, and walk out onto the stage in that state, you will likely perform better than if you went out there trembling over how inept you expect to be. (Nevertheless, good preparation and rehearsal are invaluable.)

What I notice most frequently about hypnosis is that once any needed groundwork has been done (i.e., a course in public speaking for the fearful speaker to acquire the basic skills), hypnosis, and its companion NLP, can encourage a change that feels natural and often effortless. Smooth and without nasty sharp points. Fluid, and comforting. As if it has always been so naturally.

When clients say that a good job and worthy salary, a boyfriend, better grades, or a toned body, ?just came to them? after a series of hypnosis sessions, they aren't fibbing.

It's just that their subconscious mind did the majority of the work. They got out of the way and allowed it to happen?which is no small thing. ?2008 by Wendy Lapidus-Saltz. All rights reserved.