Speaker hypnotizes students during NE Campus presentation
by Shannon Harrison, NE News Editor

   Hypnosis is a tool that allows people to tap into their mental abilities, a hypnotist said when he relaxed NE students last week.

   John Dawson, hypnotist, author and public speaker, told members of A Positive Today how hypnosis works. He explained hypnosis could improve the quality of life personally and professionally.

   Dawson was brought to campus to speak to mental health students. "When a person is hypnotized, they are never unconscious or asleep," he said.

   "Your senses are hypersensitive and being in a relaxed state when suggestions are given could change someone's life."

   Dawson is the owner of Daily Doses of Hypnosis in Hurst, where he treats patients by conditioning their minds for success to lose weight, quit smoking, reduce stress, build confidence or improve their work.

   "When a person is hypnotized, he does not feel much different from how he feels when he is awake," he said. "A person may feel drowsier, heavier and relaxed, but a person is never unconscious. He is alert. The hypnosis allows the subconscious to overrun the conscience," he said.

   Dawson is a certified member of the National Guild of Hypnotists, the American Association of Professional Hypnotherapists and American Hypnosis Association.

   Also, he can be heard Saturday morning on KTRA 1190 AM radio.

   Dawson has been featured in Sharing Ideas and The International News Magazine for speakers.

   "The person who is hypnotized is in control," he said. "An individual cannot be hypnotized if he does not want to be. A person has to want to change for it to work."

   Dawson also teaches his patients self-hypnosis.

   "Someone can learn self-hypnosis, which they do everyday for 30 days," he said.

   Dawson offers a free consultation and gives people the opportunity to visit his office and meet him.

   He will explain about hypnosis and its benefits.

   Then a candidate will be evaluated for hypnosis and shown the program that is most suitable and economical for his needs.

   "It is rewarding for me when my clients are successful, knowing that I had a hand in helping them," he said. "However, my clients deserve all the glory.They wanted to make a change. By letting my suggestions in, they achieved their goal. Hypnosis is used more today than in any other time in history, and if the person is open to it, he will become successful."

   As part of Dawson's program, clients are hypnotized and given the suggestions they need to get the results they want to achieve.

   They also receive relaxation tapes to take home to use for reinforcement.

   "He is an excellent presenter, speaker and motivator," Dolores Sutter, associate professor of mental health and retardation, said. "He brought an interesting topic to participants regarding benefits of hypnosis."