ABSTRACT
What is suggestibility? It is an openness to accepting and responding to new ideas, new information. As this new information is acquired, depending on its subjective value, it can alter your experience anywhere from a little to a lot. In the therapy context, the client to be influenced is, to some unknown degree, suggestible; he or she wants to acquire some new information or experiences that will allow him or her to alleviate distress. The person is unhappy with some aspect of himself or herself, and seeks help from someone else who might be able to say or do
something to make a positive difference. Most people are not completely noncritical in accepting information, and so there is an appreciable difference between suggestibility and gullibility. Hypnosis does not make anyone gullible.
