"The predominant school of thought on hypnosis is that it is a way to access a person's subconscious mind directly. Normally, you are only aware of the thought processes in your conscious mind. You consciously think over the problems that are right in front of you, consciously choose words as you speak, consciously try to remember where you left your keys. But in doing all these things, your conscious mind is working hand-in-hand with your subconscious mind, the unconscious part of your mind that does your "behind the scenes" thinking. Your subconscious mind accesses the vast reservoir of information that lets you solve problems, construct sentences or locate your keys. It puts together plans and ideas and runs them by your conscious mind. When a new idea comes to you out of the blue, it's because you already thought through the process unconsciously. Your subconscious also takes care of all the stuff you do automatically. You don't actively work through the steps of breathing minute to minute -- your subconscious mind does that. You don't think through every little thing you do while driving a car -- a lot of the small stuff is thought out in your subconscious mind. Your subconscious also processes the physical information your body receives. In short, your subconscious mind is the real brains behind the operation -- it does most of your thinking, and it decides a lot of what you do. When you're awake, your conscious mind works to evaluate a lot of these thoughts, make decisions and put certain ideas into action. It also processes new information and relays it to the subconscious mind. But when you're asleep, the conscious mind gets out of the way, and your subconscious has free reign. Psychiatrists theorize that the deep relaxation and focusing exercises of hypnotism work to calm and subdue the conscious mind so that it takes a less active role in your thinking process. In this state, you're still aware of what's going on, but your conscious mind takes a back seat to your subconscious mind. Effectively, this allows you and the hypnotist to work directly with the subconscious. It's as if the hypnotism process pops open a control panel inside your brain. Researchers have also studied patterns in the brain's cerebral cortex that occur during hypnosis. In these studies, hypnotic subjects showed reduced activity in the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, while activity in the right hemisphere often increased. Neurologists believe that the left hemisphere of the cortex is the logical control center of the brain; it operates on deduction, reasoning and convention. The right hemisphere, in contrast, controls imagination and creativity. A decrease in left-hemisphere activity fits with the hypothesis that hypnosis subdues the conscious mind's inhibitory influence. Conversely, an increase in right-brain activity supports the idea that the creative, impulsive subconscious mind takes the reigns. This is by no means conclusive evidence, but it does lend credence to the idea that hypnotism opens up the subconscious mind. Whether or not hypnosis is actually a physiological phenomenon, millions of people do practice hypnotism regularly, and millions of subjects report that it has worked on them. " (source http://science.howstuffworks.com/hypnosis2.htm)

No it's a magic trick,theres a logical explanation

With the right professionals, YES! I was sent to a Christian Home at 16. I worked every week one on one with a wonderful therapist, Susan, that tried everything under the sun. After many months with little progress she contacted a Hypnotherapist & explained to him the tramatic event she was trying to help me overcome. I did not know the hypnotherapist, this was our first meeting so Susan stayed in the room at my request. Trust is ESSENTIAL for success. You can not fully relax in a new, strange place with someone you do not know. You must do whatever it takes for You to feel safe, therefore relaxed. I was explained to beforehand that I would not forget what happen, they did not want me to forget. That you can not learn from it if you forget. But the purpose of Hypnotherapy is to relax your body & mind so completely that your subconscience becomes open to suggestion. The memory is there but the emotion is erased therefore erasing the pain along with it. This helped me beyond words. I did not realize until seeking a hynotherapist, on my own, how critical Susan, her presence, my trust in her & Susan's [pre-therapy] comunication of my situation to the Hypnotherapist was. I believe many people fail because of a lack of knowledge of these necessary steps. Find a psychologist that will gladly work with & even better yet recommend a trusted hypnotherapist. Spend the necessary time for you to explain a specific problem or situation & to gain trust. From there the psychologist & hypnotherapist work together to equally understand your needs. You do not have to explain yourself all over again to yet another person. You'll go right in have a seat & have the most amazing life changing moment. Where it be Self-esteem issues, tramatic events, anger management, etc. Each one is focused on seperately & tackled one at a time. Amazing change in feelings, beliefs, ideas...

Instructions Step 1: Discover that you need to change. Sometimes people are in a state of depression, anxiety, or fear and for one reason or another, find that these emotions suit their needs at the moment. The first requirement to using hypnotherapy is knowing that you need and want a change. Step 2: Consult with a licensed therapist or medical practitioner that uses hypnotherapy. Check that they are a member of ASCH. Not all hypnotists are therapists, nor are all therapists hypnotists. This is a specialty. If you can't find one that is both, get the recommendation of a therapist, so you can work in conjunction with the hypnotherapy. Step 3: Discuss your feelings with the therapist. Make certain that there isn't a physical cause first. Therapists will direct you to a physician if that is necessary, otherwise, the therapist will aid you in a program both conscious and subconscious to help you make the changes you want to. Step 4: Realize that frequently reactions are not objective and necessary, but learned. Feelings are a type of reaction that may be learned, while physical depression is indeed physical and must be addressed as such. Reactive emotions are created and hypnotism can speed up the change of preconditioning. Step 5: Learn relaxation techniques. Your therapist can provide a series of self hypnosis and visualization techniques to practice. Step 6: Understand that you can't be forced to do anything that you normally wouldn't do when you're under hypnosis. Make certain that you trust your therapist but also know that you are ultimately still in control of your response. Too many movies inaccurately show the effects of hypnosis. Step 7: Expect to revisit situations that make you upset. Changing the emotions by inducing a relaxed state and revisiting them without panic or sadness is what hypnotherapy is all about. Look for improvement in about 4 to 10 sessions. How to Change Emotions With Hypnotherapy Provided by eHow

i see some very long answer which are just not need. hypnotism is making someone higly responsive to your suggestion. stage hypnotism works because people are on stage in front of alot of poeple so straight away they dont want to ruin it for everyone so alreadly there going to be very responsive. its all about making someone comfortable with the idea of doing something because you told them.

when you are hypnotized.. your thought process is usually control by the person who is hypnotizing you thus influencing your impulses and desires..

Hypnotism can work but there's technique to it, it only works on certain types of people. Take stage hypnitism for example, the stage hypnitist will ask the crowd to cheer or something, and then the most enthusiastic people will be picked as candidates, this is because these people are more prone to phantasy, and people like this can be hypnotised easily. May i add that Sigmund Freud originally chose hypnotism as a method but later rejected.