Hypnosis in Second Life

Someone asked me today "Do these trance things really work?".  I thought that was a question that would have wider interest, hence this post.

To start with, the majority of hypnosis in Second Life is role-play.  This post isn't concerned with RP hypnosis, although I will probably make another post that does discuss RP, as well as the blurring that can sometimes happen between RP and genuine hypnosis, which when it does occur can be either very exciting for the sub, or alarming.  This post considers the sub who genuinely wants to experience hypnosis, and the various options available within Second Life to help achieve that goal.  I'm using the word "sub" here in the same way as I use it in the Mesmerizer documentation - as an intentionally ambiguous abbreviation of both "submissive" and "subject". 

A hypnosis session can be undertaken for a number of reasons, from simple relaxation, to creating a vivid experience of some imagined event or activity during the trance, to establishing triggers for post-hypnotic suggestions, to changing behaviors.   A discussion of dangers and ethics of anything more than simple relaxation is the topic of another post.

Hypnosis devices in second life fall into basically two categories - ones that play back pre-recorded trances, and ones designed to aid a live session between a hypnotist and a sub.  So the first part of my attempt to answer the "does this work" question will be about the differences between a live and a pre-recorded trance.

We'll start with what a "pre-recorded trance" in second-life actually is.  It's a hypnosis script - a series of sentences to be presented to the sub - that generally begins with an induction (the process of leading the sub into trance), possibly followed by a deepener (intended, as the name suggests, to deepen the trance), followed by the main content of the trance (which may include the description of a scene to be experienced by the sub during the trance and/or post-hypnotic suggestions), ending with an awakener, which ends the trance in an appropriate manner, usually but not always gently.  Hypnosis scripts can be used in RL hypnosis sessions, although simply reading from a script has most of the drawbacks of pre-recorded trances in SL that I'm going to discuss below.  In RL, scripts are more often used as ways of demonstrating ideas for inductions or suggestions, and are meant as a way of sharing information and ideas among hypnotists rather than to be used verbatim during a session.

In the SL instantiation of a hypnosis script, the playback device will display one sentence at a time to the sub, usually over a background of one or more patterns (typically spirals) intended to help eye-fixation, and often with (possibly changing) pictures superimposed over them.  Trances can be purchased off-the-shelf (or from-the-vendor) or can be created by a hypnotist for a specific subject.  Some brands of playback devices try, with varying degrees of success, to prohibit their owners from creating their own trances; others encourage the practice.  Using a typical playback device consists of selecting a particular trance, and having the sub either sit on or wear the device, although the activation mechanism varies.  Depending on the playback device, as well as how it is set up, the sub may perform the selection and activation themselves, or a separate operator might do that.


So running a pre-recorded trance is a matter of "select and watch".   Compare that to a typical live trance with a new subject that would start with a pre-talk where the hypnotist explains what hypnosis is, and gives the sub the opportunity to ask questions.  The pre-talk helps the sub establish expectations for the upcoming trance, and allows the hypnotist to address any concerns the sub might express, as well as agree on bounds and limits.  It also serves to establish a degree of rapport between a sub and hypnotist if they didn't already know one another.

During the actual trance session, the hypnotist will continually monitor the sub's responses, and adjust pacing and approach based on what seems to be the most effective.  Individuals respond differently to different approaches - some people are very visually-oriented, and respond well to a detailed description of a scene, perhaps augmented with images, whereas others prefer to rely more on their own imagination, requiring the hypnotist to be more vague and open in his or her descriptions, to avoid contradicting something the sub is picturing, which can be jarring.


Pre-recorded trances lack at least four things compared to a live hypnosis session:  Pacing, Personalization, Participation and Rapport.   Pacing is the ability of the hypnotist to monitor the sub and adjust the speed of the trance, perhaps repeating things or trying a different approach if resistance is encountered, or going faster for a receptive sub.  Personalization is to do with tailoring the trance content based on the combined goals (desires and kinks) of the sub and the hypnotist.  Participation is the inclusion of the sub in the trance - asking questions, providing a way for the sub to have input both before and during the trance.  Rapport is to do with trust between the hypnotist and sub, and being comfortable with one another. 

All of these are missing in an off-the-shelf trance.  It would be possible to allow the sub to control the speed at which sentences of a script are delivered, but I don't know of any playback devices that offer that ability once a session  has started.  Unless the sub happens to know the creator of an off-the-shelf trance, there is no live hypnotist with whom to establish rapport.  Obviously an off-the-shelf trance will not be personalized, beyond the possible substitution of the sub's name into the text.  None of the devices I'm aware of allow any sort of participation by the sub, who is simply expected to sit back and watch.

In an ongoing relationship between a hypnotist and a sub, each session would build on the previous ones, refining and reinforcing triggers, exploring and enhancing the sub's ability to experience various hypnotic effects, and generally improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the trances as the relationship progresses.  This could be automated in a fairly primitive way, if trance machines kept track of what trances they had played for whom, and adjusted their scripts according to each sub's trancing history, but I know of no playback devices in Second Life that attempt to do that.

This isn't to say that pre-recorded trances can't work.  The ability to enter trance is something that you learn how to do, and some people are naturally good at it, and for these subs, the limitations of pre-recorded trances may not be show-stoppers.  Off-the-shelf trances still have the problem that in general their goals and content are not disclosed in advance in anything more than a very general sense, and it's usually hard or impossible to preview a pre-recorded trance for content as often the only way to see what's in it is to run it.  Many of the pre-recorded trances that I've looked at are intended for RP use, making suggestions that only make sense when interpreted within the Second Life virtual world. This is a pity, as it encourages the idea that hypnosis in Second Life is just role-play.  It's also difficult to predict how someone who actually lets themselves be drawn into a trance would react to these suggestions.


A step up from the off-the-shelf pre-recorded trance is the custom trance.  If a trance is recorded by a hypnotist for a specific sub, and there is already a degree of rapport between them, that can make the trance much more effective.  Participation by the sub is still not possible (at least, not actually during the trance with any of the playback devices I'm aware of today), and pacing is still fixed, but at least that fixed pace can be chosen based on knowledge of the sub, and the content would be set in a similar way as in a live trance: based on shared desires.

The fact that custom trances have the potential to be far superior to off-the-shelf trances is why my own playback products, the MesmerX and the HoloTrainer, are both intended to be loaded with trances keyed to specific avatars, rather than offering a number of off-the-shelf trances to be chosen from a menu.


Best of all is a live session.  Staying within Second Life, this can be either with text, using local chat, instant message, or on-screen text that some hypnosis devices support (e.g. the Mesmerizer's text command), or with SL Voice.  Voice has several advantages both to the sub hearing their hypnotist's voice and to the hypnotist hearing the verbal and non-verbal reactions of the sub.  Also, some people have a natural tendency to close their eyes in trance, and this can obviously make the use of text problematic for these subs.  This tendency can be overcome with practice though, so text can still be used with such subs, after training.  And the requirement to keep the sub's hands available to type responses can make some in-trance activities challenging.   But text has advantages too.  The sub will often imagine "hearing" text created by a favorite hypnotist in a voice that's actually superior to that hypnotist's real voice.  Also, text allows the hypnotist a little time to play with wording before pressing 'send', which can make for more literate trances.  Of course, this advantage can be offset by the opportunity for typos.

With both text and voice, some hypnosis devices (such as the Mesmerizer) can aid the process by providing visuals - for example patterns such as spirals that start off as aids for eye fixation but that with repeated use quickly become anchors for the trance state, or background pictures to help illustrate the hypnotist's words; on the other hand, devices that can only replay pre-recorded trances are generally not useful with live trances.



So yes - these "trance things" can work, but how well they work depends very much on the sub.  Almost universally however, live trances are much more effective than recorded trances, and personalized recorded trances are much more effective than off-the-shelf recorded trances.  It does require practice and confidence to take on the role of hypnotist, and the sub may have difficulty connecting with someone they trust who has both the inclination and the ability to take on that role.  Many subs may quite reasonably be wary about trusting their subconscious minds to an unknown hypnotist.  In a situation like this, pre-recorded trances may be the best option available.