ABSTRACT
Let's begin by dispelling the myth that some people cannot be hypnotized. Erickson has said, "Hypnotism and hypnosis are the terms applied to a unique, complex form of unusual but normal behavior which can probably be induced in every normal person under suitable conditions and also in persons suffering from many types of abnormality" (CP III, p. 21). Again he wrote, "One hundred percent of normal people are hypnotizable . . . A mentally ill patient can be hypnotized, but it is difficult. The feebleminded person can be hypnotized, but it is difficult. Various types of neurotics can be hypnotized, but again, some of them are difficult subjects" (CP III, p. 29). Since hypnosis is merely a modality in which people communicate ideas and understandings and intensify concentrated internal awareness, we like to say that anyone who can be socialized can be hypnotized.
