One thing I’ve learned, and like to think I’ve gotten better at, is making sure that everything I do with someone is controlled by them in some fashion. When I was starting out making audio files about a year ago, I made the rather common mistake of both misphrasing things and making triggers far too simple.
For example, there is a world of difference between “whenever I say x” and “whenever you hear x.” One of them is linked to a very specific thing, one of them is very general. Now, this is not something a lot of hypnotists think about ( both because of my own experience and because I have listened to a lot of youtube audio files over the years ), but it’s important to remember that a subject doesn’t stop being a subject when they leave. This is especially true when you start giving them triggers. If you’ve linked it to something specific, like a phrase they say that they would never say in normal conversation or you as the hypnotist doing or saying something, then it’s unlikely to be an issue. If you linked it to something simple, like say the person touching their forehead, or hearing a bell chime, then you really may have caused a problem and not realized it if, like many starting out hypnotists, you forgot to wipe everything away when you were done.
When talking with newer hypnotists on youtube, I’ve often found them reluctant to simple undo everything; they seem to be afraid that it would require a ton of work to get back to where they were. I find this idea and this fear unfounded; when a subject trusts you and is used to going into trance, they do so easily and without many issues. If anything, it is quicker. I’ve found it possible to simply start talking to them and get hypnotic suggestions going even when they’re not in trance, because they became used to it and they trust that I, as the hypnotist, am not going to do anything wrong.
Secondly, while I made this issue myself when I started out, having easily triggered things can be a problem, especially if the subject is new to hypnosis and wasn’t expecting it to work as well as it did. If you link a trigger, such as a hallucination or some sort of sensory reaction to something easy, then the subject might become afraid or mistrustful of hypnosis because now they are afraid of accidentally triggering themselves. That, obviously, is a problem, and since many new hypnotists don’t make audio files designed to remove triggers, the subjects do not know what to do.
This is especially important when dealing with any kind of erotic or kink based hypnosis. Humorous hypnosis is one thing, but I’ve dealt with many a subject who had bad experiences, usually because their partner was into something, tried it with them, and then when the relationship ended, left them with triggers or problems that they didn’t want. For example, I once began working with a woman whose former boyfriend had hypnotized her to need to go to the bathroom when she went into trance; when she asked if she could, she would then pee herself. This, quite obviously, created a great deal of distress for the woman, and while it was extremely easy to fix this problem once it was made aware to me, it clearly represented the dangers of what happens when you’re not careful about what you do with your partner.
While this can be said of any kink or fetish or any sort of romantic or sexual encounter, it is important to remember that the person you are with is still a person. Often, I encounter lots of people who are into erotic hypnosis for things like objectification, orgasm denial, master/slave relationships, and more. The most important thing is that you, as the hypnotist, remember that the person you are interacting with is still a human being. While you might have your dominant and submissive fantasies in the bedroom, that doesn’t mean you should be trying to take away their agency as a human being. Just because you both enjoy objectification, does not mean you should treat your partner like an object all the time.
I could quote spiderman and say ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ and while that is true, it often rings hollow with a lot of people because they don’t truly grasp the magnitude of the trust and responsibility required with this sort of thing. Always, always, always, always, talk with your subjects, and make sure that, even if the relationship goes south, that you remove the things you’ve done together.
Don’t be petty and vindictive.
Be responsible with your partners and subjects. Be responsible with your triggers. Plan things out in advance. Think about what you want and where you want to go. This is true even when your subject is into not knowing ( I once had a subject who asked me to give them commands that they wouldn’t know about, and would try to see if during their normal day, they could notice any changes in themselves for example ).
I prefer to think of it like this. Don’t do anything to anyone that you wouldn’t want done to you.
