Hypnosis is an altered state of mind resembling sleep, that is induced by suggestion and that itself creates heightened suggestibility. As long as there have been human beings, there has been hypnosis. Everyone has experienced hypnosis. For example, every time we become engrossed in a novel or a movie, we are in a natural hypnotic trance. For the ease of understanding, we may specify hypnosis as an altered state of mind characterized by deep relaxation and strong suggestibility. Technically, the U.S. government defines hypnosis as having two parts: 1. the bypass of the critical factor, and 2. the establishment of acceptable selective thinking.

Hypnotherapy is therapy that is carried out with a subject in hypnosis. The hypnotherapists typically use exercises that bring about deep physical and mental relaxation, and an altered state of consciousness, also known as a trance. A person in a trance or deeply focused state is unusually responsive to an idea or image. Suggestions given in trance states are usually received without resistance, but this does not mean that a hypnotist can control the person`s mind and free will. On the contrary, hypnosis can actually teach people how to master their own states of awareness; by doing so they can affect their own bodily functions and psychological responses.

A Hypnotherapist focuses on the role of subconscious behaviors and influences on the client`s life. Charles Tebbetts taught: all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, and the power is in the mind of the person being hypnotized. So, in reality, the hypnotherapist is more like a guide who facilitates the hypnotic process.