TOP U.K 

"Ray Ronson is a First-Class Professional Stage Hypnotist,
whose act is both entertaining and intriguing" 
(Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, Presenter of Channel 4 and the Sci-Fi Channel's 'Fortean TV')

There are many different scales commonly used to determine the depth of hypnosis a client may enter. What follows is a personal amalgam of several of these, simplifying and reducing the overall number of levels to five. In practice, the different stages are not always so rigidly or clearly defined, there is much overlap, not everyone achieves all the signs, and, indeed, some of the phenomena can be encountered in the so-called waking state. The hypnotist will use both experience and various 'tests' to take the client down into and ensure that he/she is at the appropriate depth.

Only 1 in 20 people are believed capable of entering the deeper states easily but all can achieve the lighter states where most clinical therapy is done. Note that for successful therapy, it is not necessarily the depth that matters, but the repetition or number of sessions either in the consulting room or at home with an individual tape that counts. And, of course, the quality of suggestion!

There are a number of factors that might determine the depth that can be achieved by an individual:
1. The skill of the hypnotist, or the induction methods used.
2. The natural ability of the client, which may be improved with practice.
3. The emotional content being dealt with.
4. The motivation of the client.
5. The degree of co-operation, rapport or trust between client and hypnotist.

Level, Stage or Depth of Hypnosis - Symptoms and Phenomena:

0. (5%) Unsusceptible:

   Subject fails to react in any way to a particular induction method or hypnotist, i.e. there is resistance or the subject does not consent to hypnosis. Gain consent; change the method; or the hypnotist; in order to achieve a 100% successful induction into hypnosis. Practice on the part of client and the hypnotist increases hypnotisability. It becomes easier, quicker and you go deeper. After five or six sessions, many people seem to reach a plateau, which was once believed to be the maximum depth they were capable of achieving. There now seems to be some doubt. There may, in fact, be a number of plateaux for the individual, always deeper, always better!