Glossary

  • Abreaction: An unexpected reaction to a suggestion (usually negative, but not necessarily)

    Absorption: To be completely focused [on the hypnotist] (aka Hyperfocus). A key defining component of hypnosis.

    Aftercare: Time spent after a scene to take care of each other and return to baseline normal.

    Anchor: Like a trigger but rather than being a specific X happens when Y, is more of an abstract feeling. "Touching you here reminds you of this certain feeling or state of mind"

    Aphantasia: The inability to visualize things in your imagination. A lot of people with aphantasia have trouble with certain hypnotic techniques and need adaptation. More common than you think.

  • Binaural beats: an auditory illusion created by the brain when you listen to two slightly different sound frequencies—one in each ear—using stereo headphones

  • Catalepsy: Semi-involuntary immobility, a common sign of hypnotic trance.

    Confusion Induction: an induction style where the hypnotist overwhelms the subject’s brain

    Consent: Affirming explicitly and in a sound state of mind that yes I want this. Ethical hypnosis requires you to obtain consent to hypnotize the subject and for each suggestion you intend to give. Consent to one thing does not imply consent to anything else, nor does it automatically imply standing consent to doing the thing in perpetuity.

    Consensual Non-Consent (CNC): When two people negotiate a method by which one consents to things being done to them without obtaining consent, or even in express violation of apparent consent, such as being “forced” to do something. As heard in the sentence “we have a CNC dynamic.” People do entire classes on just this topic.

  • Deepener: Any method of strengthening the hypnotic trance state

    Dissociation: To distance yourself from a part of yourself or the world mentally. A key defining component of hypnosis.

    Dronification: putting someone into a robot/hivemind like state

    Dual Induction: two person induction

  • Elman Induction: a rapid, structured hypnotic induction method designed to guide a subject into a deep trance state

    Eriksonian Style Hypnosis: uses conversational language, metaphors, and storytelling to engage the unconscious mind

    Eye-Fixation Induction: The classic “watch my pocket watch/pendulum/finger/etc.” induction

  • Flopping: falling or slumping due to being in trance, aka a condition that can be cured by using subject agency

    Fractionation: To rapidly shift someone back and forth between two states, typically trance and wakefulness

    Fractionated: The semi-altered state some experience when they’ve been doing a lot of hypnosis in a short amount of time. One who is fractionated is absurdly easy to trance

  • Glossary: Lol you looked at every letter, huh?

  • HFO: Hands Free Orgasm- a suggestion that can be given using hypnosis

    Hypnosis:
    “An altered state defined by absorption, dissociation, and suggestibility” - TheSecretSubject “Using any kind of communication to play with someone’s focus, thoughts, and feelings as tools to make people experience amazing things.” - Sleepingirl & GleefulAbandon

  • Induction: Any method of putting someone in a state of hypnosis

  • Suggest a J word!

  • Kinesthetic Hypnosis: a style of hypnotic induction and trance-work that relies on physical touch, movement, and bodily sensations (the kinesthetic sense) rather than purely visual or auditory commands

  • Long Term Suggestion: a suggestion that persists beyond the time bounds of the scene

  • Modality: The utilization of different senses such as visual, auditory, touch/kinesthetic, smell, taste, etc. The idea that people have "a primary modality" has been scientifically debunked but you'll still encounter this a lot in the community. Using a lot of different modalities together can be quite effective though.

  • Negotiation: The process of collaboratively planning your scene so that you can both consent to it. With hypnosis, you should not "negotiate up" mid-scene.

  • Suggest a word for O!

  • Petplay: a kink often coupled with hypnosis to put someone into the headspace of a pet

    Phenomenon/Phenomena/Phenomenal/Phenomenology/Phenomenological: Wooooo we love jargon. This is like, things that you Experience. Experiences. Your conscious experience of the world. Hypnosis lets us fuck with it :)

    Play: Doing kinky things together.

    Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR): Sometimes considered the most basic method of induction, where the subject in instructed to slowly relax each muscle in their body

  • Suggest a word for Q… I dare you.

  • Recreational Hypnosis: The school of hypnosis we do, AKA Kinky Hypnosis, HypnoKink, Erotic Hypnosis. Hypnosis that is just for fun. Recently there has emerged people who do vanilla, recreational, non-kinky hypnosis, but this school of hypnosis has its origins from the HypnoKink community.

  • Scene: The session or period of time during which play happens

    Splash Damage: nonconsensually trancing to someone else’s scene and essentially claiming you caught the hypnosis

    Standing Consent: When someone says to another “You always have my consent to do this, without asking first.”

    Subject Agency: the ability of the subject to exert influence over their own experiences of trance and hypnotic phenomena. I probably should fine a way to squeeze this into the paper glossary cuz it's very important but like, idk what to cut. I'll figure it out.

    Suggestions: The effects we’re trying to accomplish through hypnosis

  • Trance: a temporary mental state of altered consciousness where a person has reduced general awareness, diminished voluntary control, and increased suggestibility or deep absorption

    Trigger: A suggestion that activates when a key phrase is said or thing happens.

  • Suggest a word for U!

  • Suggest a word for V!

  • Wakener: The process of bringing someone out of hypnosis. Also called “emerging.”

    Wiseguy: Wrote “Mindplay: A Guide to Erotic Hypnosis”

  • Suggest a word for X!

  • Y don’t you suggest a word for Y!

  • Zonk: To drop someone into trance, usually quickly.