Will I Lose Control During Hypnosis? What You Keep and What You Let Go

By Oliver Glozik · 29 October 2026

Will I lose control during hypnosis? No. You stay aware of what is happening, you can open your eyes or stop at any time, and nobody can make you do something you don’t want to do. What you let go of is the busy, critical part of your mind, not your will. I call the state a concentrated relaxation: your body is relaxed, your attention is focused, and you hear every word I say. Some things can feel like they happen by themselves, like an emotion coming up or your hands moving in a suggestion test, and I explain below why that is. Research backs this up too. In a well-known experiment from 1965, people who were only pretending to be hypnotised did exactly the same “dangerous” things as people who were really hypnotised.

Key points: will I lose control during hypnosis?

• No. You stay aware, you remember the session, and you can stop whenever you want.
• Hypnosis is a two-way street. It works with your participation, not against it.
• Things can feel automatic, because you stop trying so hard. That is different from losing your choice.
• Nobody can make you act against your will. Research found that the setting and trust explain the “hypnotised people do anything” stories, not hypnosis.
• You can’t get stuck. If the session stopped, you would simply come out of it.
• The real aim is the opposite: taking back control from old patterns that already run your life.

Where the fear of losing control comes from

Most fear of losing control comes from stage hypnosis and from not knowing what to expect.

When people think of hypnosis, a lot of them think of the entertainment side. Somebody on stage forgets their own name, or clucks like a chicken, and the audience laughs. And people think: oh no, I don’t want that. I understand it completely.

The other part is simply that people like what they know. Something unknown can feel scary. That is why, before every session, I explain what is going to happen. Knowing what to expect takes away a big part of the fear. If you want to know what a session looks like step by step, I go through it in what is hypnosis.

Why stage hypnosis looks like loss of control

Stage shows look like loss of control because of who goes on stage and the pressure of the audience, not because hypnosis takes over people.

The volunteers chose to go up, often because they want to be part of the show. The hypnotist then uses quick tests to pick the most responsive people from the group. And once you stand in front of a laughing audience, there is a lot of social pressure to play along. Researchers describe stage effects as a mix of suggestion, social pressure and ordinary compliance. A therapy session is a completely different setting: it is private, it is about you, and there is nobody to perform for.

What being in control feels like in a session

During hypnosis you are relaxed and focused, you hear everything, and you can speak, move or open your eyes whenever you want.

The official definition from the American Psychological Association’s hypnosis division describes hypnosis as focused attention, less awareness of your surroundings and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion (Elkins et al., 2015). A capacity, not a duty to obey. You respond to a suggestion because you go along with it.

What you let go of	What you keep
Background noise and the to-do list	Awareness of where you are and what I say
The critical voice that judges every idea	Your values and your own judgement
The effort of trying	The ability to stop, talk or open your eyes
	Your memory of the session

For hypnosis to work, I need you as an active partner. For example, when I say, “Now you’re walking down a spiral staircase”, the more you actually picture that staircase, the more powerful the hypnosis becomes. It’s a back and forth. It’s not “Now you go to sleep”, pop, and then the hypnotist is in total control and does whatever they want. Maybe there are master hypnotists who work with very little participation from the person. I’m not that type of hypnotist.

What I say to help you relax into it

Two suggestions I use often say a lot about how the session works:

• “Your subconscious mind is only receiving positive, helpful suggestions.” This sentence alone helps many people relax into the session much more easily.
• “The calmer you are, the deeper you go. The deeper you go, the better you feel. The better you feel, the calmer you are.” It creates a positive loop, so being in hypnosis feels comfortable.

Why hypnosis can feel like losing control

In hypnosis, some responses can feel like they happen on their own, because you stop consciously pushing them. But you still take part, and you can still say no.

A common suggestibility test goes like this. You hold your hands up in front of you, shoulder width apart. I say, “When I snap my fingers, your hands start moving closer together, as if there’s a magnet between them.” And as they move, I keep going: “The closer they get, the stronger the magnet becomes.” For many people the hands really do move, and it feels a bit like it’s happening by itself.

Researchers call this the classic suggestion effect: highly responsive people often say a suggested movement felt involuntary. But studies show that these responses are still goal-directed, need your attention and depend on your cooperation. They are not set off automatically like a reflex (Lynn, Rhue & Weekes, 1990). What changes is the feeling of doing it, your sense of authorship, not your choice (Polito, Barnier & Woody, 2013). Stanford brain scans point the same way: in hypnosis the connection gets weaker between the part of the brain that plans and the network that reflects on yourself, which the researchers linked to a gap between doing something and thinking about doing it (Jiang et al., 2016).

So I always tell people: this is not a challenge. You can keep your hands apart and “prove” the suggestion doesn’t work, and that’s fine. But we are doing the session for your benefit. The more open you are to it, the more powerful it is, a bit like how a placebo shows how much the mind can do. The best sessions happen with your approval and your positive participation.

When emotions come up by themselves

The part of hypnosis that can feel most out of control is when strong emotions or memories come up, and that is normal and safe.

People often cry in my sessions. When a memory comes up that is connected to their pain, it’s usually an emotion that was never processed. Those moments can be intense, sometimes overwhelming, and that is exactly when I keep on talking and guiding you. I let you feel the emotion and go through it. Then I ask you to go back to that memory and give yourself what you needed in that moment, so the memory starts to change.

Can a hypnotist make you do something against your will?

No. Research shows that hypnosis doesn’t give anyone power over you that ordinary trust in a situation doesn’t already have.

In the 1930s to 1950s, some experiments reported that hypnotised people would pick up a dangerous snake, put a hand into acid and even throw acid at an assistant. That sounds like proof of total control. So in 1965 the psychiatrist Martin Orne and his colleague Frederick Evans repeated the experiment exactly (Orne & Evans, 1965).

They got the same results. But then they added two groups: people who couldn’t be hypnotised and were told to only pretend, and ordinary people who weren’t hypnotised at all. Both groups did the same “dangerous” things. The pretenders even did them more often. The reason was trust: everybody assumed a university experiment would never let anyone get hurt. It was the setting that made people go along, not hypnosis.

“It's important that you do hypnosis with somebody you trust and who has your best interest in mind. It's a back and forth. The more open you are, the more powerful it becomes.”

That’s also the lesson I take from it. Hypnosis doesn’t override who you are, but who you work with still matters. Choose a hypnotist you trust.

Will I say things I don’t want to say?

No. Hypnosis is not a truth serum. You decide what you share.

In my sessions I say, “On the count of three, a memory is going to come up.” If you don’t want to tell me what the memory is, that is totally fine. We can still work with it. I don’t push, and I’m very non-intrusive.

Will I remember the session?

Yes. Almost everybody remembers their session. Forgetting parts of hypnosis mostly happens only when a hypnotist suggests it, in a small group of very responsive people, and even then the memory comes back with a cue (Kihlstrom). In my sessions you also get a recording to listen to afterwards.

One honest note from the research: hypnosis does not make memories more accurate. It can make people more confident in a memory without making it more exact (Kihlstrom). That’s why hypnosis is not a way to find out what happened in a legal sense.

Can you get stuck in hypnosis?

No. If the session stopped, you would simply come out of it by yourself, or drift into normal sleep and wake up as usual.

I see this in online sessions. Sometimes the Wi-Fi breaks in the middle of a hypnosis, and the person doesn’t stay stuck. They come out of it as normal.

When I’m in hypnosis myself, I also feel that I can stop. It’s like going down a road: you can stop walking whenever you want. If there’s a reason I’m going down that road, I keep going, because I don’t want to stop halfway. But the choice is always there.

Hypnosis is about taking control back

For me, hypnosis is not about losing control. It’s about getting more of it back.

I don’t even like the word control very much. But think about it: so many of us are already controlled by something. An unprocessed situation, a trauma or an emotion from childhood or another moment in our life, which now creates our patterns around sleep, relationships, money and much more. Hypnosis lets you get back into the driver’s seat and understand where your car, your subconscious, has been driving you.

People have told me after a session, “Since that session something has shifted in me. I can’t tell you what it is or how it happened, but it shifted.” That’s the kind of control I’m talking about.

Is hypnosis safe?

Hypnosis is safe for most people. Some people feel a little drowsy afterwards, or have a mild headache, and that passes. Researchers who reviewed the risks of hypnosis studies found them no greater than ordinary psychology research (Kihlstrom, 2013).

If you have a history of psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or epilepsy, please talk to me before you book. Hypnosis is not a replacement for medical or psychological care. If you are in therapy, it can be a good complement, so tell your therapist. If you are in crisis, contact your local emergency services.

If you want to feel for yourself what it’s like to be fully aware and deeply relaxed at the same time, have a look at how a hypnosis session with me works.

Questions about losing control in hypnosis

Can I be hypnotized against my will?

No. Hypnosis needs your attention and your cooperation. If you decide not to go along with it, it simply doesn’t happen.

What if I want to stop in the middle of a session?

Just open your eyes or say so. You are aware the whole time, and you can stop whenever you want.

Can I move and talk during hypnosis?

Yes. You can speak, move, scratch your nose or change position. Many people simply don’t feel the need to.

Is hypnosis like being drunk or on drugs?

No. You keep your own judgement and you remember what happened. It’s more like a deep, focused daydream.

What if something emotional comes up?

That is normal and often an important part of the work. I keep guiding you through it, and you can always tell me if you want to slow down or stop.

Will the hypnotist know my secrets?

Only what you choose to tell. If a memory comes up that you want to keep to yourself, we can still work with it without you sharing it.

References

1. Elkins, G. R., Barabasz, A. F., Council, J. R. & Spiegel, D. (2015). Advancing research and practice: the revised APA Division 30 definition of hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 63(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2014.961870
2. Orne, M. T. & Evans, F. J. (1965). Social control in the psychological experiment: antisocial behavior and hypnosis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1(3), 189 to 200. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0021933
3. Lynn, S. J., Rhue, J. W. & Weekes, J. R. (1990). Hypnotic involuntariness: a social cognitive analysis. Psychological Review, 97(2), 169 to 184. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.97.2.169
4. Polito, V., Barnier, A. J. & Woody, E. Z. (2013). Developing the Sense of Agency Rating Scale (SOARS): an empirical measure of agency disruption in hypnosis. Consciousness and Cognition, 22(3), 684 to 696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.003
5. Jiang, H., White, M. P., Greicius, M. D., Waelde, L. C. & Spiegel, D. (2016). Brain activity and functional connectivity associated with hypnosis. Cerebral Cortex. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhw220
6. Kihlstrom, J. F. Hypnosis and memory. University of California, Berkeley. https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~jfkihlstrom/hypnosis_memory.htm
7. Kihlstrom, J. F. (2013). Human subjects issues in hypnosis research. Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis research workshop. Slides (PDF), ocf.berkeley.edu