No, I haven’t been called on for a real medical emergency yet. I’ve relieved a few headaches (after making the sufferers promise to see a doctor if it came back) and helped a friend with a broken toe during the recovery stage. My mentor, Marcia Proctor, tells a story of using hypnosis to help her daughter recover quickly from a nasty facial burn. You should do a 10 Questions with her soon.

In a casual situation, where someone simply wants to experience trance but has no particular goal in mind, I’d say the best mental conditions are openness and a willingness to just let things happen. A high level of existing tension or apprehension would have to be dealt with first unless the hypnotist is skilled enough to know how to use that.

In the case of a client looking for help with change work, an open mind is important but I think a sense of confidence in the hypnotist — belief — is a more important component here. An expectation that this person *can* hypnotize, knows what to do to help, is vital and “I’m going to try this” is generally considered permission to fail. Again, a certain degree of comfort is also helpful.

Now take an extreme case: say you’re with a friend when they fall off a ladder and possibly break a leg. You want to take his mind off it while you wait for medical help to arrive. Clearly this guy isn’t relaxed or comfortable … but he is still in a state that is conducive to being hypnotized. The key to emergency hypnosis is recognizing that someone focused on his pain is already hypnotizing himself; you can use that to direct that focus elsewhere and produce a trance state. It won’t cure the broken leg, of course, but a calm, coherent patient is much easier for an EMT to work with than one who is writhing around and focused on his pain.