Hypnosis practices use hypnosis to help you explore familiar patterns and develop ways of feeling, responding and behaving that support your goals.

Hypnosis practices use the natural state of hypnosis purposefully to support changes in how you feel, respond and behave. Sometimes, habits, beliefs and reactions learned earlier in life continue to affect you without you realizing it. Hypnosis can help you explore these patterns and find new ways of responding that suit your life today.

A SAIH-trained practitioner works in a client-centered way, which means you take an active part in this process. Your practitioner guides you as you discover your own insights and solutions, based on what matters to you.

For an introduction, watch “Demystifying Hypnosis – Empowerment Through Understanding” on our Media page.

Hypnosis is a natural state of focused attention which allows access to your subconscious mind.

Hypnosis is a natural state of focused attention in which you can become deeply absorbed in your inner experience. You may notice less of what is happening around you as you focus on your inner world of thoughts, feelings, sensations and imagination.

You may notice similar inward-focused experiences in everyday life, including just before drifting into sleep or shortly after waking, when thoughts and images can flow freely. You may also experience deep absorption while enjoying a book or film, or daydreaming.

For example, imagining biting into a juicy lemon may make your mouth water. This simple example shows how an imagined experience can bring about a real response in your body. During hypnosis, focused attention, imagination and suggestions work together to help you explore different feelings, sensations and responses.

You do not need to be asleep or unaware for this to happen. You remain an active participant. Hypnosis is something you engage in, rather than something a practitioner does to you.

To explore further, watch “Curious about Hypnosis?” on our Media page.

In a personal session, hypnosis often feels deeply relaxing and absorbing, while you can remain aware and participate.

How hypnosis feels depends partly on the purpose it is used for. In stage shows, hypnosis tends to be lively, active and exciting, with the focus on entertainment.

In a personal session, the experience is usually much quieter and deeply relaxing. That relaxation can itself offer a welcome opportunity for your mind and body to settle and rest. At the same time, your attention can become highly focused on your inner experience. Some people notice a sense of heaviness or lightness in their body. Thoughts, images, feelings or sensations may become more noticeable, and time may seem to pass differently. You may still hear sounds around you and remain aware of what your practitioner says. There is no particular feeling you need to achieve. You can be relaxed and mentally alert at the same time. It can feel surprisingly ordinary.

You can speak, ask questions and let your practitioner know how you are experiencing the session.

For more on what to expect, watch “Debunking Misconceptions about Hypnosis” on our Media page.

Most people can experience hypnosis, a natural state of focused attention similar to the absorption they experience in everyday life.

Most people can experience hypnosis, which is a natural state, although how readily you respond to guidance depends on several factors, including your comfort and trust in your practitioner. Some find it easy to become absorbed, while others benefit from more time, reassurance or a different approach.

Hypnosis is a process you participate in. The practitioner guides you, while you remain in charge of whether to engage with their suggestions.

You do not need to have a particular personality or a “weak will.” A willingness to participate and feeling reasonably comfortable with your practitioner can help you engage.

Trying hard to “make it happen” or wondering whether you are doing it correctly can sometimes get in the way. There is no performance to deliver. For more, watch “Demystifying Hypnosis – Empowerment Through Understanding” on our Media page.

Yes, you remain an active participant and can speak, decline suggestions or ask to stop.

Yes. Hypnosis does not mean handing control of your mind to someone else. You can speak, ask questions, decline a suggestion or ask to stop.

Movies often sensationalize hypnosis for dramatic effect, showing someone being controlled, revealing secrets against their will or becoming trapped in a trance. These frightening portrayals give a misleading picture of hypnosis.

In a personal session, your practitioner works with your agreement and participation. Suggestions are invitations you can respond to, rather than commands you must obey. You do not have to share anything you wish to keep private.

A SAIH-trained practitioner works in a client-centered way, respecting your choices, boundaries and goals.

For more, watch “Hypnosis Unpacked – Podcast with Arno Stadler” on our Media page.

Most people remember much or all of their session, although some details may feel less distinct.

Most people remember much or all of their hypnosis session. You may remember the conversation clearly or recall the main points while some details feel less distinct, much as they might after any absorbing experience.

Hypnosis does not automatically make you forget. Being able to remember what happened does not mean you were not hypnotised or that the session was less effective.

Your practitioner can help you reflect on the insights and experiences you would like to take into everyday life. If you have any concerns, including about remembering the session,  discuss them with your practitioner beforehand. They will be glad to explain the process and answer your questions.  “Demystifying Hypnosis – Empowerment Through Understanding” on our Media page.

Hypnosis itself is safe; the per-session discussion helps establish which techniques are suitable for you and whether input from your healthcare practitioner is recommended.

Before starting the hypnosis part of a session, there will be a thorough pre-session discussion about your needs, relevant health history and any concerns. This helps establish whether hypnosis practices are appropriate for you. If you are receiving medical or psychological care, it is best to have the agreement of your healthcare practitioner before proceeding.

Your SAIH practitioner is trained to regard hypnosis practices as a valuable complementary tool rather than a replacement for medical or psychological care. SAIH hypnosis practitioners do not diagnose medical or psychological conditions, provide medical treatment or prescribe medication.

You cannot become “stuck” in hypnosis, and being hypnotized does not mean handing control of your mind to someone else. You remain an active participant and can speak, decline suggestions or ask to stop.

Hypnosis practices can support a wide range of ranging from relaxation and confidence to pain management,  changing habits, exploring emotional or relationship patterns.

Hypnosis practices can support a wide range of personal goals and concerns, from simple stress relief to exploring deeper patterns that seem to prevent change. Sometimes, familiar beliefs, habits or emotional reactions continue to affect you even when you consciously want something different.

People seek support for:

• Stress relief, relaxation and confidence building.
• Fears, phobias and emotional upsets.
• Unwanted habits, including support with stopping smoking or healthier eating.
• Motivation, focus and preparation for performances, exams or public speaking.
• Patterns that affect relationships and personal choices.
• Managing pain and preparing for or recovering from surgery, alongside appropriate medical care.
• Personal or spiritual exploration, including past life exploration.

You discuss your concerns and desired outcome with your practitioner. Together, you explore how hypnosis practices might support you and whether the practitioner’s skills and experience suit your needs.

For more, explore the videos on our Media page covering different uses of hypnosis.

Hypnosis practices can support meaningful change, with results influenced by your goals, participation, circumstances and the practitioner’s approach.

Yes, hypnosis practices can help people make meaningful changes. Results vary from person to person and depend on the concern, the approach used and the circumstances surrounding it. Research supports some uses more strongly than others.

Several things can influence your experience:

• Feeling comfortable with your practitioner and able to speak openly.
• Having a clear, realistic idea of what you would like to achieve.
• Your willingness to participate and explore different ways of responding.
• The practitioner’s skills and choice of approach.

You do not need to believe blindly, try harder or achieve a particular depth of relaxation. If progress is limited, this does not mean you have failed. You and your practitioner can review what is happening and adjust the approach.

Some people benefit from a few sessions to become familiar with hypnosis and feel more comfortable exploring their inner experience. Insights often emerge during a session or become clearer afterwards.

Some changes become noticeable quickly; others develop gradually. No responsible practitioner can guarantee a particular result.

Explore the wide variety of videos on the SAIH Media page to learn more about hypnosis practices and the different approaches available.

A typical session includes discussing your concerns , your goals, agreeing on a sign of progress, suggestions , imagery or other suitable techniques.

Your session begins with a conversation about what is troubling you and what you would like to achieve. Together, you and your practitioner agree on a desired outcome and a small, realistic sign of progress, called a waypoint. This gives you something specific to notice as you move towards your goal.

Your practitioner then guides you into the natural state of hypnosis and uses an approach suited to your needs. You remain involved and can communicate throughout the process.

Towards the end, your practitioner guides you back to your usual alertness. You then have an opportunity to discuss your experience, any insights and how you might apply them in everyday life.

Follow-up sessions include a review of what has changed and what still needs attention. As you become more familiar and comfortable with hypnosis, you may experience deeper states, making additional techniques available where appropriate. Your practitioner adapts the approach to your progress, comfort and goals. On our Media page is an opportunity to witness a Parts Therapy session :  Inner Conflict Resolution in Action – Live Parts Therapy Training Session

The number of sessions depends on your needs and progress, with some people noticing changes quickly and others benefiting from further sessions.

There is no fixed number that suits everyone. It depends on what you would like help with, your circumstances, how comfortable you become with the natural state of hypnosis and how you respond to the sessions.

Hypnosis practices offer a focused way to work towards change, and some people notice meaningful progress within a small number of sessions. Others benefit from several sessions to explore their concerns, build on their progress and put new responses into practice.

During your first session, you and your practitioner discuss your goals and agree on a realistic sign of progress. Follow-up sessions provide an opportunity to review what has changed and decide together whether further sessions would be useful.

Your practitioner may suggest an initial plan, but the number of sessions should be reviewed according to your needs and progress.

Hypnosis practices can support lasting changes in automatic responses, although no particular result can be guaranteed to be permanent.

Hypnosis practices can support lasting change by working with the underlying patterns that influence how you feel, think and respond automatically. The aim is for a different response to feel natural, rather than something you have to keep enforcing through willpower.

In SAIH’s client-centered approach, you discover your own insights and solutions, based on what matters to you. The aim is to change the subconscious patterns behind an unwanted response, so a new way of thinking, feeling or acting can become natural.

It may take a little time to become accustomed to that new response. Changes can become an enduring part of your life, although no practitioner can guarantee that a particular result will be permanent. Your needs and responses can also evolve as your life changes.

Hypnosis can help you explore experiences and their personal meaning but cannot verify memories or prove a single root cause.

Hypnosis practices can help you explore past experiences and the meaning they hold for you. Memories, images, feelings or insights may arise that you had not previously been consciously aware of. Some people describe experiences that feel connected to birth or a past life. These can be explored for their personal meaning.

However, hypnosis is not a reliable method for verifying what happened in the past. Confirming whether an event actually happened requires independent evidence. A memory can feel vivid or convincing, but that does not guarantee historical accuracy.

Because hypnosis can increase confidence in a memory without increasing its accuracy, SAIH-trained practitioners learn to avoid leading questions or suggestions that could influence what you recall. They allow your experience to unfold without supplying answers or steering you towards a particular explanation.

Regression uses hypnosis to explore experiences understood as belonging to your past especially those not re callable by your conscious mind and how they may relate to your present responses.

Regression therapy is an approach that uses hypnosis to explore earlier experiences, especially those you cannot consciously recall, and how you understand or respond to them today. With SAIH-trained practitioners, it is a form of guided personal exploration.

Sometimes, a belief or emotional response formed early in life continues to influence you, even though your circumstances have changed. When those experiences are outside your conscious recall, it can be difficult to understand or work with them. Exploring those experiences from your present perspective and working through relevant techniques may help you understand them differently and develop a response that better serves you today. Your practitioner guides the process without telling you what happened or what you should discover.

Regression is part of a more complex technique for exploring possible underlying causes of a difficulty. Parts Therapy is another approach that can be valuable for exploring and working with these earlier-formed “programs.” SAIH is the only training institute in Africa offering the internationally recognized Parts Therapy Facilitator certification.

Past life regression explores experiences that feel connected to another lifetime for their personal or spiritual meaning.

Past life regression uses hypnosis to explore experiences that feel connected to another lifetime. For some people, it can be a profound journey of self-discovery, offering a different perspective on present-day emotions, habits, relationships and questions about life. With your practitioner’s guidance, you may experience images, feelings, sensations or a story unfolding. You can explore what these experiences mean to you and whether they offer insights relevant to your life today. Some people understand these experiences spiritually, while others view them as imagination, symbolism or a way of exploring their inner world. The experience itself does not establish that a past life actually occurred, and you do not need to adopt a particular belief to explore its personal meaning. Related approaches may include life-between-lives exploration, which focuses on experiences people interpret as occurring between lifetimes. For more, explore the past life regression videos on our Media page.

Our approach focuses on easing the impact of painful experiences and finding useful insights, rather than trying to erase memories.

We are often asked whether hypnosis can make someone forget a painful event. Wanting relief from a distressing memory is understandable.

Hypnotic suggestions can sometimes make a memory harder to recall, but this is different from permanently erasing it. Forgetting also would not remove the effects associated with an experience.

Our approach is to help you work with the feelings, beliefs and responses connected with the event, rather than try to make you forget it. This may include exploring conclusions you drew at the time and whether they still serve you today.

Your practitioner works at a pace you feel comfortable with, helping you explore what you need now.

The aim is to help you draw on any useful lessons from the experience; recognize strengths you may have developed and move forward without its painful effects continuing to shape your life.

Yes, our Self-Mastery Through Auto-Hypnosis course and included Home Practice Kit help you develop a skill you can use throughout your life.

Yes. Self-hypnosis is a skill you can learn and use throughout your life, whether for relaxation, personal growth or working towards goals that matter to you.

Our one-day Self-Mastery Through Auto-Hypnosis course gives you practical guidance and the opportunity to experience and practice self-hypnosis. Your course includes a Home Practice Kit for continued self-study and practice afterwards.

We have been teaching this course since 1998. It usually takes place approximately once a month at our training centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

It is a worthwhile investment in a skill for life. You do not need to be planning practitioner training to attend. Check the available course dates on our training website. We look forward to welcoming you!  Website link to book:      video: Self Hypnosis – Proven Benefits towards Your Self Mastery

Hypnosis practices can support your decision to stop smoking or vaping by exploring the habits, emotional connections and automatic responses involved.

Supporting people to stop smoking is one of the better-known applications of hypnosis practices. The approach can also be used to explore the habits associated with vaping.

Smoking or vaping can become linked with particular feelings, situations and routines. You might reach for it when stressed, after a meal, during a break or in social situations. The temporary relief or reward can reinforce the urge to repeat it.

A SAIH-trained practitioner helps you explore these patterns and any inner conflict, such as wanting to stop while another part of you associates smoking or vaping with comfort, pleasure or belonging. Together, you work towards responses that fit your decision to stop, rather than relying only on willpower.

Nicotine dependence also has a physical side. Hypnosis can form part of a broader quit plan, alongside support from your doctor or pharmacist where appropriate.

Your practitioner will discuss your goals, previous attempts and what support would best suit you. No approach can guarantee that you will stop after a particular number of sessions, but hypnosis practices offer a way to work with the habits, emotional connections and automatic responses and can make stopping or changing a habit easier.

Hypnosis practices can support weight management by helping you explore your relationship with food, change familiar patterns and build motivation for activity.

Yes, hypnosis practices can support weight management by helping you explore the habits, emotions and subconscious patterns that influence your relationship with food. This can help you feel more comfortable choosing foods and quantities that support your goals, whether these involve losing or gaining weight. You can also work on motivation to begin or continue exercise you enjoy.

You may already know what you would like to change, yet find yourself eating for comfort, responding to stress or boredom, or slipping into familiar routines. Food can become associated with reward, security or belonging, making change more complicated than simply deciding to eat differently.

A SAIH-trained practitioner helps you explore these connections and any inner conflict, such as wanting to change while another part of you finds comfort in your existing habits. Together, you work towards responses that support your goals, rather than relying only on willpower.

Weight is influenced by many factors, including health, medication, sleep, nutrition and activity. Hypnosis practices can complement appropriate medical, nutritional and fitness guidance. Your practitioner will discuss your concerns and desired outcome with you, agreeing on realistic goals and reviewing your progress along the way.

The focus is on developing a healthier relationship with food and yourself. This can include exploring beliefs about your body, building confidence and finding other ways to meet emotional needs. The aim is for choices that support your well-being to feel more natural, comfortable and sustainable.

Hypnosis practices can help you explore recurring relationship patterns, build confidence and respond with clearer boundaries and greater self-respect.

Yes. Hypnosis practices can help you explore how you feel and respond in relationships, whether with a partner, family member, friend or colleague.

A session cannot change another person, but it can help you work with your own responses to how they behave or communicate with you. This may include expressing your needs more clearly, responding with greater calm and deciding what you are willing to accept.

Building self-esteem and confidence can make it easier to set boundaries and trust your own judgment. The aim is to support choices that respect your needs and well-being.

You can also explore why certain relationship patterns seem to repeat. Earlier experiences and beliefs about love, acceptance or your own worth may influence what feels familiar. Understanding and working with these patterns can help you leave unhelpful responses behind.

Your practitioner supports you in discovering your own insights and choices. The focus is on helping you relate to yourself and others with greater confidence, clarity and self-respect.

Look for thorough training, membership of a reputable professional association and a practitioner whose approach feels right for you.

Look for a practitioner with thorough training, membership of a reputable professional association and an approach you feel comfortable with. As in any profession, training, experience and standards of practice can vary, so it is worth considering all three.

Ask about their qualifications, practical assessments and experience with the concerns you would like help with. A reputable association should have clear membership requirements, a code of ethics and a process for addressing complaints.

The practitioners listed on SAIH’s referral platform have completed extensive training, practical assessments, examinations and case studies. They are required to submit Continuing Professional Education points annually and commit to ethical practice. Their specialty qualifications are listed under “Additional Areas of Expertise” in their profiles.

Personal connection matters too. Choosing a practitioner is a highly individual decision, which is why we do not recommend one listed practitioner over another. A sense of resonance with your facilitator can help you relax, speak openly and engage in the process.

An initial conversation gives you an opportunity to ask about their approach, relevant experience, fees and what to expect. Notice whether you feel heard, respected and comfortable asking questions.

Whether you meet in person or online, the aim is to find a practitioner whose professional skills and personal approach give you confidence in working together.

Genesis members can use available Self-Managed Fund benefits for smoking or vaping cessation consultations with eligible SAIH practitioners, subject to scheme requirements.

Hypnosis practices can offer valuable support for personal change. They are a complementary approach, rather than a separate profession registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), so ordinary medical aid cover should not be assumed.

Genesis Medical Scheme recognizes hypnosis as an option for supporting smoking and vaping cessation. Through its arrangement with SAIH, members can use their available Self Managed Fund (SMF) for these consultations with eligible SAIH practitioners, subject to the scheme’s requirements.

Look for practitioners displaying the Genesis logo on SAIH’s referral platform. They have the relevant specialty training and participate in this arrangement.

Confirm your available funds and claim requirements directly with Genesis before booking. Then contact an eligible SAIH practitioner to discuss your next step towards a smoke-free or vape-free life.