Do YouTube hypnosis videos work?
Yes, they can but there are many reasons they don’t work for most people.
Let’s look in detail at why this is and why you must not put too much hope into a YouTube video changing your life.
The most important points are written in bold.
I thoroughly recommend also reading my pages Why can’t I be hypnotised? and When therapy doesn’t work. After reading these pages you’ll understand more about hypnosis than most hypnotists do!
If you want to see what real hypnotherapy sessions are like using advanced and master-level hypnotherapy then watch me doing hypnotherapy sessions with commentary to explain what’s happening and how it works.
The problem isn’t the problem
YouTube hypnosis videos focus on fixing the issue directly but that won’t work because:
The problem isn’t the problem!
A fear of driving has nothing to do with driving, weight loss has nothing to do with weight loss and insomnia has nothing to do with insomnia. It’s the same for everything but let’s stick to driving anxiety for this example.
Driving anxiety is the symptom, the way that another problem shows itself. It’s just the same as how sneezing means you have a virus. It’s no good working on the sneezing (the symptom) when you need to be working on the cause (the virus).
What the problem really is
Here are some basic examples of what the problem really can be. Notice how far removed they are from the real problem and this is why you won’t get a result from working on the problem directly.
Driving anxiety is often caused by a feeling from your past attaching itself to driving. The feeling from the past is what you deal with, not the driving.
Insomnia often comes from worries in life. You may feel guilty about something or have an unresolved issue that rumbles on in your mind. No amount of breathing exercises and listening to whale music is going to fix that.
Smoking is often caused by people hiding pain or being scared of not fitting in. They start smoking at school because they want to fit in with the cool kids who smoke and that need for acceptance continues into adulthood. This is why smoking patches and showing smokers images of diseased organs do nothing. In that case, needing acceptance and the worry of rejection are the real problems.
Therapists and videos that work on symptoms are like firefighters aiming their water at a house that isn’t on fire as the one over the road engulfed in flames burns down. They’re focusing on completely the wrong thing! Play the video below to see that actually happening.
I have a playlist of videos to help you find the root cause of your problem.
These firefighters aim in the wrong direction just like a lot of YouTube hypnosis videos do
YouTube hypnosis videos use weak suggestion-based solutions
If you’ve ever listened to a YouTube hypnosis track then you’ll know they tell you things like you’ll feel more confident, you’ll get rid of the problem.
This is what we call suggestion therapy.
This is the weakest and flimsiest type of therapy that will only work on a small number of people some of the time.
Many people think that all hypnotists do is sit telling people with a fear of flying to not worry and that they’ll be fine the next time they get on a plane. It’s nothing like that at all.
Real hypnotherapy uses interactive techniques.
It’s no good sitting back and expecting me to do the work for you because I can’t. Only you have access to your mind so only you can make the changes.
The client must always do, and probably speak, far more than the therapist if a session is to be succesful.
That brings us to the next point.
There’s no interaction with YouTube hypnosis videos
You’re just sitting or lying there listening to someone talking. What if they’re going too fast? Too slow? What if you aren’t even in hypnosis?
YouTube videos take none of that into account.
A hypnotherapist like myself will be able to guide you at a pace that suits you. If you’re struggling with anything then I can help and I won’t just keep marching on like a robot ignoring you!
Contrary to what many think, you can still speak when in hypnosis.
Hypnosis is not about being asleep or “going under”.
Hypnosis is about accessing your unconscious mind, not being unconscious!
It’s hilarious how many people make this mistake: they hear about the unconscious mind and think that means you have to be unconscious to use it.
Being unconscious means you’re not awake because you’ve banged your head, fallen asleep etc.
Accessing your unconscious mind means just that – it’s not about knocking yourself out!
Good therapy sessions rely on interaction with the client because they need to tell me what they’re experiencing. They wouldn’t be able to interact if they were unconscious!
Do YouTube hypnosis videos work? It’s unlikely with there being no interaction.
This video of mine contains a very powerful technique but even this doesn’t work as well without interaction.
They’re just scripts
Hypnosis scripts are the bane of the industry and the sign of a bad hypnotherapist.
What is a hypnosis script? It’s a pre-written story that low-quality therapists rely on to get results but they do nothing.
Some therapists (usually the ones that take on anyone with any problem) will simply go online and type in “Hypnotherapist script for” followed by the client’s problem. For example, “Hypnotherapy script for driving anxiety”, “Hypnotherapy script for fear of flying” etc.
They then buy the script and sit reading it out to you which is absolutely useless because:
The script has nothing to do with you or the problem!
It’s just a ready-made, one-size-fits-all approach which fails in every way possible.
Script readers are so busy reading the script that they miss all the unconscious clues you’re giving off during a session. They wouldn’t even see the clues or know what they are anyway.
Watch me doing hypnotherapy sessions where I give commentary on what’s happening. It’s a million miles away from just reading a script!
An example of a hypnosis script
A hypnosis script for driving anxiety goes like this:
“You are sitting in your car and you feel so calm. And you are driving and you feel so calm. And then a unicorn comes up to you and you dance together on the road as the mystical moon passes through the stars and your brightest dreams are coming true. You can drive, and the unicorn whispers in your ear that you can drive, and you will feel so calm next time you drive…”.
Scripts are absolute drivel from therapists who don’t have a clue what they’re doing.
The client is my script. I read what they are telling me and use it to help them.
I thoroughly recommend you watch me working with a client to see how it is done properly.
They tell you it still works if you fall asleep
One of the biggest errors made by hypnotists is thinking that audio tracks or videos will still work if people fall asleep while listening to them.
You do not take information in while sleeping!
This is a total lie, myth or whatever you want to call it. It has been scientifically proven to be untrue over and over again.
If it was true then how come you don’t know things when you wake up that you didn’t before? How come you can’t remember a car pulling up outside when you were asleep?
Because you don’t take things in like that.
Proof you don’t learn as you sleep
There was a huge fad in the 1970s where you could buy audio cassettes that you’d listen to through headphones as you slept. The idea was that you could learn a foreign language by your subconscious mind taking in all of the information overnight.
There was one big problem with this: it didn’t work!
If you fall asleep during a hypnosis track you will NOT benefit from it. People that say they did have already done the work before they fell asleep, during which their subconscious then processed it.
If you don’t believe me then go and buy an MP3 to learn a foreign language, play it as you sleep and just see if you can speak that language when you wake up.
It has been proven that people can take in one or two words now and then while asleep so saying things like “Sleep deeper” or “Sleep longer” can sometimes work.
There is no way you’re going to take in a whole audio track though.
The video above looks at how subliminal messages work and talks about this whole thing about being asleep and unconscious. It’s made-up nonsense!
Hypnosis videos use weak inductions
A hypnosis induction is a process that guides you into hypnosis.
You may know of classic inductions such as asking someone to stare at a spot on the ceiling or the one where they swing a pocket watch in front of your eyes.
The slowest and weakest kind of induction is called progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). This is when you are guided through the imagery of a rainforest, walk down some steps or are told to relax your muscles by having a white light pass from your head to your toes (yeah, you’ve heard that one, right?).
The problem is that this is the weakest kind of hypnotic induction which often results in people barely being in hypnosis at all.
Again, it’s a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t take into account your preferred style of induction.
Let me tell you a big secret that even most hypnotherapists don’t know:
All hypnosis inductions are fake!
I realised this in my first few days of training yet some people go through their whole career thinking they’re real.
There is no such thing as an induction and anyone who thinks there is doesn’t have a clue what they’re doing. These are weak therapists who don’t understand what hypnosis truly is or how to use it.
All inductions are fake but some people waste years “mastering” them!
There’s no rapport with a video
Rapport is when you get on well with other people and share positive feelings.
Good rapport is an essential part of therapy because for your mind to listen to someone and let them help you, it must trust them.
Videos have a hard time building rapport. Until you have listened to several tracks by the same person and got used to their voice, their mannerisms and their personality, your mind will naturally resist what they say. It’s like how you feel comfy and relaxed with friends yet tense and wary around strangers. It’s natural and it takes time to trust someone.
A lack of rapport explains why people who just listen to one video can often find that it doesn’t work. If you keep repeating that track and listen to other tracks by that person then the chances are it will work better because your mind will get used to them and start to trust them.
There are no safety checks
You shouldn’t use hypnosis if you have a history of mental illness. If you have epilepsy or asthma then hypnosis can trigger an attack.
Many hypnosis tracks I have used don’t even mention these things. When people ask me ” Do YouTube hypnosis videos work?” I often advise against listening to them for this reason alone.
That brings us to the next point.
Anyone can make hypnosis videos on YouTube
Anyone can make a video about hypnosis and put it on YouTube.
Why would they though? Maybe because YouTube pays you to put adverts on popular videos and you can make lots of money.
Due to this, there are many self-proclaimed “experts” making videos on all kinds of things and hypnosis is no different.
I’ve been making driving lesson videos for years and have made thousands of pounds from YouTube. I did that by being an expert driving instructor. I know what I am talking about and that’s why people flock to my YouTube channel.
Some people just want the money but don’t care about the quality of their content.
This video of mine helps with driving anxiety but it’s unlikely to fully clear it
Do YouTube hypnosis videos work for anything?
Online hypnosis tracks are an OK way of getting an idea of what hypnosis is like. Just don’t go putting everything into them working because they often don’t.
Do YouTube hypnosis videos work for anything? Yes, they can but it’s unlikely. Many people listen to one hypnosis track on YouTube and then form the impression that hypnosis doesn’t work. They then spread that message to everyone they know and discard hypnosis thinking that it doesn’t work. They go on living for years with problems that hypnosis could easily get rid of, as do all the people they spread the message to.
It’s just like someone that learns to drive with a bad instructor and then goes around telling everyone not to drive because it’s horrible. The driving wasn’t nice because of the bad instructor in the same way hypnosis didn’t work because it was just a YouTube video.
If you want professional help then don’t rely on amateur YouTube videos.
Contact me now for professional help or learn more on my page Why can’t I be hypnotised?
