Much is still not understood about the mental and physiological mechanisms involved in hypnosis. They are difficult to define because they seem to assume many different forms in different people, depending on their personalities and their moods at the time. Hypnosis probably occurs in daydreaming to some extent; it probably is also involved when a mother lulls her child to sleep or when a customer succumbs to suggestions from a salesperson. We all seem to be--vaguely and to some degree--familiar with the phenomenon, yet we remain, paradoxically, ignorant of its existence. WHAT HYPNOSIS IS LIKE For most people, the experience of hypnosis is something of a letdown. They anticipate that they will have an extraordinary experience in a trance state, and yet what actually happens is very similar to their probably familiar experience of drifting into a state of relaxed distraction from time to time when daydreaming. Often what happens when we daydream is that our attention is focused on an object, and we gradually relax and begin to drift into a state of partial awareness. The phone may then ring, but for a moment it can be unclear whether we are just imagining this. The hypnotic state induced by a trained hypnotherapist is very similar. When in a hypnotic trance, you never become unconscious; your mind continues to be active. As you go gradually into a deeper trance, your breathing and heart rates tend to slow, and you feel increasingly more deeply relaxed. Usually, the experience is one of being lulled into a state of calm repose. Sometimes--for example, in former surgery patients who have had unpleasant experiences with anesthesia--hypnosis may cause people to become anxious or frightened and to refuse to continue. You relax physically while in a hypnotic trance. You will slump in your chair; your breathing becomes slow and deep; you move very little. In other cultures, however, trance states take very {219} different forms. Behavior may become ecstatic, even violent; individuals may begin to dance frenetically and to spin about, as in the case of Algerian dervishes. But in Western society, hypnotic trance usually takes the form of deep, passive relaxation. After their first experience with hypnosis, most people tend to disbelieve that they have really been in a trance state. They realize they have been pleasantly relaxed, but they feel that "hypnosis" has not occurred. Clients who are suspicious, hostile, or feel threatened by the experience, or who do not trust the therapist, tend to resist hypnosis. Frequently, on the other hand, clients who are extremely anxious and feel greatly in need of help turn out to be especially good candidates for hypnosis. If their first experience with hypnosis is comfortable, safe, and pleasant, clients will usually allow themselves to drift into a deeper trance state in subsequent sessions.