Experts have different opinions about what hypnosis is.
It is easier to say what it isn't - hypnosis is not sleep, losing consciousness, magic or brainwashing. There is also disagreement about whether some other methods of self-development are similar to hypnosis. However, experienced hypnotherapists will realise that these other methods share many, if not all, of the features of the hypnotic state. This is especially true if we are taken on a suggested imaginary journey or regressed into our past. Any good hypnotherapist will have skills that include working with images, symbols, dreams, memories and feelings.