Hypnosis is used for a variety of reasons, whether it is to help a person to quit smoking or to unlock repressed memories. Hypnosis can best be described as a trancelike state, although depending on the stage of hypnosis a person is in, that person can still hear everything that is going on around her. Most people can be hypnotized as long as they have a reasonable amount of intelligence (some theories suggest that people with higher IQs are easier to hypnotize), are able to follow the instructions of the person conducting the hypnosis and are ready to be hypnotized. A person who is resistant to hypnosis is a much more difficult subject.
Induction into a hypnotic state can take time, depending on the subject. Typically the hypnotist begins with the tensing and relaxing of parts of the body in succession. The hypnotist will talk in a very soothing, calm voice and make suggestions, perhaps describing a very soothing environment to put the subject in a state of relaxation. It can often take 20 minutes or more to bring someone into a state of hypnosis if he has never been hypnotized before. You can tell that a person has reached the state of hypnosis by his rapid eye movements, an appearance of relaxation and, if the subject is being questioned, his speaking more slowly and less concisely. As a subject, a person in a state of hypnosis will usually feel lethargic and be aware of his surroundings, but be too tired to move his body.
Once the subject has reached a hypnotic state, the hypnotist will begin to implant suggestions. They may be very direct suggestions--for instance, the hypnotist may tell an insomniac that when she goes to sleep that night, she will fall quickly into a deep slumber and when she awakes, she will feel bright and alert and ready for the day. Or the hypnotist could make indirect suggestions told through visualization, guiding the subject by having her imagine, using all of her senses, the process of climbing into bed, getting comfortable and relaxed, feeling drowsy, falling into a deep slumber, and then waking up 8 hours later with the feeling of the sun filtering through the window.
When the hypnotist is ready to bring the subject out of hypnosis, he will undo any suggestions he made to get the candidate into the state of hypnosis. For instance, if he told the subject that her head was feeling heavy and drowsy, he would now tell her that she feels sharper and more alert. The hypnotist may have the subject imagine that there is a door, and when she goes through that door, she will be awake, or the hypnotist may count backward to 1 and tell the subject that when the hypnotist gets to 1, she will wake up. Either way, the subject will awaken feeling a little bleary-eyed but typically refreshed.
