Glossary

Term	Definition
Abreaction	A negative reaction or association within a hypnotic state, usually a fear or panic response to stimuli (e.g. a hypnotist touching a subject in a way that they didn’t consent to be touched). Can be avoided with an assertive pre-session setting of limits and boundaries. Remember, communication is sexy, and helps everyone get what they want out of a trance.
Active Listening	Taking the time to not only take in what is being said, but also respond appropriately in a way that demonstrates understanding and provides an opportunity for clarification. This may involve repeating back the message as it was received, in the listener’s own words. In the context of hypnokink, active listening can be a part of consent practice and scene planning, as well as provide the tist with useful information about how the subject thinks, and phrases in the subject’s own words to utilise later.
Aftercare	Care provided after a sexy or kinky session. It can take many forms, depending on the needs of the participants, nature of their relationship, and what sort of work or play took place. Often, it’s a simple chat to help the subject return to normal consciousness, but it can involve cuddling, comforting blankets, hot drinks, an enjoyable shared activity, or even just time alone to process. Should always include hydration for all involved parties.
Agency	The ability to take action or to choose what action to take. The ability to be able to take care of yourself and/or adjust suggestions when needed. See also “subject agency”.
Amnesia	Directed forgetting under hypnotic influence. Subjects may experience amnesia for a suggestion in several different ways including becoming completely unaware of it, being aware they’ve forgotten something but not what it was, having only a vague sense of the details of a forgotten suggestion, remembering part but not all of a suggestion (i.e.knowing a “forgotten” name but not being able to actually say it), finding they can only remember the suggestion when they really concentrate on it, etc. Some people also experience spontaneous, unintentional amnesia when hypnotized. Some subjects are naturally gifted at amnesia while many others find it a learnable skill they can improve with time and practice.
Amnesia Suggestion	The negotiated act of making a subject have a temporary loss of memory within a scene or session.
Anchor	A type of post-hypnotic suggestion to elicit a certain emotional response when specific preconditions are met. Can be an object or movement.
Anchoring	A conditioned emotional response or feeling to specific gestures or objects. For example, conditioning someone to feel submissive when they’re wearing a collar.
Association	When a hypnotist works to create or strengthen a mental link between two different ideas. A classic example is “obedience is pleasure” (obedience=pleasure) or “look into my eyes…you are getting sleepy” (looking at my eyes=sleepy). This can be a basic first step in conditioning/training responses. See also: anchoring.
Awakener	The portion of a hypnotic trance when the hypnotist “wakes up” the subject from the trance. Some files (such as those designed to be listened to before sleep) may not include an awakener at the end. These files are usually labelled by their creator.
Binaural	This can refer to stereo recording, often with two microphones, for immersive effect, or the introduction of different sounds/tones in each ear, which is said to encourage the brain to enter a meditative mental state.
Bottom	Typically the recipient or subject of interaction in BDSM or Hypnosis. This person/persons role is usually to follow the lead of the Top/Dominant/Hypnotist in the scene.
Bystander consent	Why it’s not always okay to play in public. Being triggered in public might sound exciting, but the people around you should consent to witnessing this.
Catalepsy	Perceived temporary loss of motor function, usually in response to direct or indirect suggestion. Can affect small or large motor. Eyelid and arm catalepsy, for example, are often part of the Elman induction.
Conscious	Available to one’s awareness, intended, chosen, noticeable.
Conscious mind	In some understandings of the mind, the part one is aware of, the part that acts, thinks, and chooses. The part that perceives what is noticed. The part that wills.
Confusion Induction	The technique of providing vague, conflicting, or incorrect information, in a manner that does not appear abnormal. This can influence the subject to accept the information and bypass logic, which can be an effective method of pushing past the conscious mind in order to enter a trance-like state.
Consent	Agreement between or among participants to engage in an activity, before any use of hypnotic or other influencing language begins, and in an ongoing way during the trance. Just as with any other sexual or kinky activity, erotic hypnosis and hypnokink require this agreement of all involved parties.
Convincers	Suggestions with perceivable effects, used to demonstrate to the subject that the hypnosis is working.
Covert hypnosis	The idea that a hypnotist can hypnotize someone and even “install” suggestions without that person’s conscious awareness. Usually this involves conversational hypnosis, subtle anchoring, using the subject’s unconscious feedback/body language, etc. Some people report being able to successfully covertly hypnotize and control strangers, but in normal hypnokinky practice responding to “covert hypnosis” may feel like acting/responding without realizing why to a hypnotist’s commands, realizing that you’re being hypnotized but not all the methods someone is using, feeling more hypnotized by someone’s covert attempts more quickly than you planned, etc. Rapport with the hypnotist and experience with the hypnotist/being hypnotized can make it easier for a subject to be hypnotized covertly.

Term	Definition
Deep sleep	This is hypnotist shorthand for “hey, you’re hypnotized now!” It’s a commonly used phrase during rapid hypnosis inductions (especially from people coming from stage/recreational backgrounds) and as a re-induction trigger to help a hypnotist quickly re-hypnotize someone they’ve worked with before. The “deep sleep” part is a bit of a misnomer- most people don’t feel like they’re sleeping deeply when they’re hypnotized but rather that they’re relaxed and have a different-feeling awareness or focus. (If you actually fell asleep in response to this phrase, it would be a hilarious joke to play on the hypnotist because you would suddenly stop responding to most suggestions. Because you’d be asleep.) TLDR; when a hypnotist says “deep sleep”, they usually mean to relax your body, let your focus/attention change in a way that feels good, and let yourself FEEL hypnotized.
Deepener	A technique used after a hypnotic induction aimed at bringing the subject to a more intense or ‘deeper’ state of trance.
Depth	How intense a trance is. It’s generally believed that feeling a more intense/”deeper” trance helps people respond to suggestions more easily (although this isn’t necessarily always the case). A good shorthand to remember as a subject is that if a hypnotist says “go deeper” they mean “be more hypnotized”- so just let yourself sink into the feelings or sensations that mean “hypnotized” to you (relaxed, obedient, overcome, etc.) and you will be Doing It Right (Relatedly “Depth Play” is when your hypnosis play is centered around increasing these good “deeper” feelings)
Direct Suggestion	A clear and direct suggestion given by the hypnotist. For example, “When I snap my fingers you will fall into trance.”
Elman Induction	A systematic approach to inducing trance developed by Dave Elman, noted for its effectiveness on a majority of subjects and utility for even novice hypnotists.
Fractionation	The technique of bringing the subject out of, and back into trance repeatedly. Often used to deepen the effects of hypnosis. Can leave a subject feeling altered consciousness quickly.
Induction	The portion of a hypnosis session designed to bring a subject into trance – or to ‘induce’ the feeling of trance.
Frame	Your “frame” (or “framework”) is a kind of mental shorthand for how you see the world and how you know to feel/act in it. A skilled hypnotist will often try and figure out/ask about your own mental framework (ex. trance feels heavy and dizzy) and then use your pre-existing ways of viewing the world to help you go into trance/experience strong responses. A related idea is “reframing”- when I take someone’s pre-existing mental framework and suggest a different way of thinking about things. A classic reframe is “a challenge is an opportunity in disguise”. In hypnosis, I might say something like “this idea might feel a bit scary but if you look inside you might find that it feels a bit sexy as well. Don’t you notice your heart beating faster? Clearly you find this arousing.” (reframing scared body response as an aroused body response)
Frenzy	The tendency of people new to the community to get so excited about the possibilities that they’re tempted to make bad decisions/push their own limits too quickly.
Global Suggestion	A global suggestion is a broader, more general statement that can influence a wide range of behaviours, feelings, or thoughts. It’s meant to affect the overall state or mindset rather than a specific action. For example, “Each time you hear a snap, you’ll notice how your focus sharpens, and you become more in tune with everything around you.”

Term	Definition
Hallucination	When a hypnotist uses various techniques to create vivid imagery inside the subjects mind that they perceive to be real. For example, creating a reality in someone’s mind where they might feel things that aren’t there, like tentacles
HFO	Stands for “hands free orgasm” This is a style of play where a hypnotist suggests that their subject have a mental or physical orgasm without utilizing sexual touch- the orgasm happens through suggestion alone. This is a commonly requested suggestion for hypnosis files, and thus a common hypnokink file topic.
Hypersuggestibility	Humans are suggestible in general, hypnosis works to increase that suggestibility, and when hypnotists use the term “hypersuggestibility” they’re often referring to someone staying extremely suggestible even when they’re not in traditional hypnosis. For example, many people remain unusually suggestible even after a formal trance has ended for a few minutes. Also if you’ve worked with a hypnotist for some time, you may find yourself very responsive to their suggestions even when you don’t feel hypnotized. This feeling can also happen when you’ve been hypnotized frequently over a short period of time (ex.at a hypnosis convention or after lots if fractionation)
Hypnoamory	Love or attachment that is created primarily or largely through hypnosis play – see here: More information on Hypnoamory
Hypnodom/domme	Someone who hypnotizes to show dominance or as a dominant partner in a D/s dynamic
Hypnokink	Doing hypnosis inside a kink framework. This can mean a lot of different things to different people. Sometimes it means doing hypnosis with romantic or erotic suggestions (ex. hands free orgasms), sometimes it means doing hypnosis with more traditional kinks (ex. hypnotic bondage), and sometimes it means having a long or short term power exchange dynamic (hypnodomme/dom, hypnosub). It can also mean a combination of these ideas/incorporation of similar ideas. Related: erotic hypnosis (hypnosis for sex/romance or with an acknowledgment of those undertones), hypnofetish (the feeling that hypnosis is inherently sexy or romantic)
Hypnofetish	The idea or feeling that hypnosis is innately sexy, erotic, or romantic. A specific fetish where a person is aroused by the idea of being hypnotized and mind-controlled – usually as a form of submission or hypnotizing/mind controlling others
Hypnosis	Hypnosis is the act of purposefully manipulating someone’s attention and focus for the purpose of increased concentration, relaxation, and enhanced suggestibility. Hypnosis is hard to define because people can have such different experiences. For example- some people feel more fuzzy than focused. You may hypnotize someone by having them focus on feeling horny, for example, instead of relaxed. Subjects can learn to be incredibly suggestible (and self-suggestible) even when they’re not feeling hypnotized. I tend to think of hypnosis as an umbrella term for agreement between people- I lead, you follow, let me sell you that I’m in charge of your thinking for a bit and we can work together to explore what happens using that framework.
Hypnosis Files	Recordings (either audio or video) by a hypnotist that are made with the intent to hypnotize the listener or viewer.
Hypnosub	A person who enjoys being hypnotised more than hypnotising, often as a matter of sexual or kink orientation.
Hypnoswitch	A person who is both a hypnosub and a hypnotist in terms of sexual or kink orientation, or is some mix of the two, or is some third thing in between.
Hypnotherapist	Using hypnosis either as traditional therapy or combined with traditional therapy. There is research about hypnotherapy being effective for certain conditions like pain management and anxiety. Hypnotherapy licences are not regulated in the States and a hypnotherapist may or may not be trained in traditional therapy as well. Although some kinky hypnotists are also hypnotherapists, kinksters are usually cautioned against doing hypnotherapy with their partners as part of play.
Hypnotist	Someone who hypnotises! You do not have to have a certain level of training or certification to be a hypnotist and a lot of kinky hypnotists are self-taught. The good part of this is that hypnotists from different backgrounds will add their own creative twists and experiences to hypnosis play! Because there’s no standard, though, it does pay to check in to see if your hypnotist has enough experience/knowledge/empathy to help you both have a good experience and to handle the kind of experience you’re looking for. (E.g. if they’re new to conditioning, it might help to go slowly and build up good mutual trust before jumping into something with potentially life-altering consequences). In the context of sexual or kink orientation, it may mean someone who enjoys hypnotising more than being hypnotised (but it may also just mean someone who knows how to hypnotize)
Indirect suggestion	A suggestion that uses implication, ambiguity and subtly. For example, “Some people find that hearing a finger snap can quieten their mind, like the sound itself invites a sense of calm.”

Term	Definition
Limits	Things that a subject (or a hypnotist) does not want to do. This can range from specific suggestions to broad concepts or themes that might come up in trance. Some limits may be “soft,” which can describe limits that may be flexible in some way depending on the person or the scenario, while others are “hard,” and remain in place regardless of the situation. When a hypnotist or a subject violates those limits without consent, that can be a significant red flag about the ethics of the person violating the limits.
Mantra	A phrase that is repeated inside and outside of trance, which can aid with focus and strengthen the effects of hypnotic suggestion.
Misdirection	A form of deception where someone directs you to pay attention to one thing/idea to distract you from another. This is often used in magic tricks- for example, a magician might direct your attention to a red handkerchief they are waving so you ignore that they are hiding a “disappearing” coin in their pocket. In hypnosis, misdirection can be part of a confusion induction/confusion techniques, it can “hide” a suggested effect until “revealing” it later, it can be used to distract someone to help in amnesia play, etc.
Modalities	This can mean several different things, but when hypnotists use this term they’re often referring to sensory modalities- or which senses you naturally tend to pay more attention to as you experience the world. Classically, many hypnotists will put people into 3 main categories- people who experience the world more visually (visual), people who experience the world more through hearing (auditory) and those who experience it more through bodily sensation (kinesthetic). The lemon test is a good way to find out which of these modalities you tend to favor – see: https://youtu.be/I01330yY2qE?si=VzR3WjiePpxRChrd. Some hypnotists have theorized other modalities like “analytic” or “auditory-digital”, others don’t believe in using modalities at all. A hypnotist who pays attention to sensory modalities will often try and give suggestions in your preferred modality as a more effective way to help you experience a suggestion fully. For example- My voice is like the clouds floating above you in the sky (visual) vs notice all the different changes to the sound of my voice (auditory) vs feel my voice reverberate through your head (kinesthetic). Files will often include multiple modalities for wider effectiveness and hypnotists may start combining modalities to help deepen someone’s experience.

Term	Definition
Neural pathways	Humans have this trait called “neuroplasticity” which means that our physical brains are constantly reforming and responding to our environment. A neural pathway is the physical way that neurons connect to each other through their axons and dendrites including all the electricity/neurotransmitters that flow and exist between synapses. When you learn a new thing, your neural pathways will actually change a bit as a physical reflection of that learning. A hypnotist may use this fact as sexy hypnosis talk- not just “I’m teaching you a new thing” but “I’m changing your neural pathways”
Neuro linguistic programming (NLP)	A way of using language to communicate better/have more influence. NLP is a whole controversial therapeutic modality but kinky hypnotists will often learn parts of it to improve their ability to phrase suggestions
Patter	Speaking like a hypnotist/speaking hypnotically. When hypnotists talk about their “patter” they’re often referring to words or phrases they frequently use while doing hypnosis. Some hypnotists also think of “patter” as “filler”- stock phrases or expressions they’ll say as placeholders to keep the hypnotee occupied while the hypnotist strategizes about what they want to do next.
Persuasive Suggestion	Suggestions that appeal to the subject’s logical reasoning.

Term	Definition
Rapport	The feeling like you are “in synch” with someone else or communicating in a way that feels easy and almost effortless. Hypnotists will often try to establish rapport with their subjects by focusing on them, attempting to understand their point
Reactional hypnosis	See Fractionation.
Recreational hypnosis	Hypnosis for fun! Hypnosis done, not for therapeutic or performance reasons, but for the pure enjoyment of hypnosis. Note: Recreational hypnosis can certainly be erotic or kinky but there are also recreational hypnosis communities without these undertones (including communities that have minors as members).
Resistance	When a subject who is willing to be hypnotised and wants to end up in trance or feel controlled mentally struggles against an induction or suggestion in order to feel conquered.
Reversal
Safeties	Caveats or amendments given to a trance or a suggestion to prevent the subject from entering a trance state or carry out post-hypnotic suggestions when it would be inconvenient or unsafe. For instance, say that a hypnotist is telling a
Service Top	Someone agreeing to play the role of a Top in a scene at the request of a bottom. Ex: a bottom would like a long, slow hypnosis session so they ask known hypno tops for the scene. The person who agrees to it may not normally do that style, but agrees to do it, and let’s the bottom tell them how the play/interaction will go. The top still “directs” the scene but does so by following requests made by the bottom.
Scene	Time/location/duration of something in BDSM. A way to define limits on interactions. I.e. just because you had a scene in your bedroom one night does not mean you will always have the same roles the next night.
Self-Hypnosis	Inducing trance in oneself, acting as both hypnotist and subject simultaneously. Can involve simply bringing oneself into and out of trance, or giving oneself post-hypnotic suggestions.
Splash	A phenomenon that occurs when passive observers of a trance in action begin to experience trance and accept suggestions themselves. If a hypnotist teaching a class tells their demo bottom to sleep, and someone in the back of the room goes limp
Sub	The term “sub” can be short for “subject” or “submissive” in the erotic hypnosis community. This can sometimes be confusing, as the two aren’t always the same. You can be a dominant subject or a submissive hypnotist.
Subspace	A slightly nebulous term referring to the mental state of a bottom during and after many BDSM scenes. Sometimes similar to a trance state, this headspace can include one or more of several emotions and feelings such as : a calm and passive headspace, reduction of pain, a silencing of thoughts/voices in the head, a general pleasant body feeling, a desire to please, a desire for praise or comfort or positive attention, and many more.
Subliminal	Stimuli that remain below the threshold of consciousness. This term is typically used in audio content to refer to quiet background tracks to passively occupy the mind to reduce distraction and potentially increase conditioning. The
Shock Induction	No, not an electrical shock… But the technique of using a rapid combination of distraction and unexpected hypnotic command(s). In a state of surprise, this can throw the subject “off guard” and momentarily disable critical analysis,
Subconscious	Below the level of conscious awareness. Something available to the senses, but unnoticed. See also “subliminal”.
Subconscious mind	In some understandings of the mind, this is the part the person is not aware of. In some understandings of hypnosis, this is the part that holds memories during amnesia play, performs actions that feel automatic, responds to hypnotic
Subject	Hypnotee, hypno bottom, the person being hypnotised.
Subject agency	This refers to the capacity of an individual (the subject) to act independently, make their own choices, and exert control over their actions and experiences. In the context of erotic hypnosis, subject agency involves the ability to hear
Suggestion	Something the hypnotist tells the subject to believe, or to do. Something during, and sometimes after hypnosis. The latter being a ‘post-hypnotic’ suggestion.
Switch	See Hypnoswitch
Sympathetic Trance	Often the hypnotist will enter a light trance while hypnotizing their partner. This is completely normal as hypnosis is a state of focus. Because both the subject and the hypnotist are focusing intently on each other, it’s not surprising that the hypnotist starts to feel a bit drifty as their partner does.

Term	Definition
Tist	See “hypnotist”.
Top	The person/persons responsible for leading a scene or hypnosis session. Often bringing their own ideas or reading the responses of the bottom, they tend to dictate the flow of the scene or session.
“Topping from the bottom”	A bottom agrees to a scene as presented by a top but during negotiation or the scene, attempts to change how the scene will play out due to their own wants or desires without communicating these preferences first. Ex; agreeing to do a softer impact scene with a top but during the scene, repeatedly asking to be hit harder/taunting the top into trying to get them to play harder than they intended.
Topspace	Similar to subspace but for tops and a similarly nebulous term but often in the other directions: feeling more in control of self/situation, a calmness and direct nature to actions and thoughts, a desire to control/interact with a bottom in a particular way, a desire to receive certain reactions or energy from the bottom in this exchange, and a similar reduction of noise/voices in the head as they focus on the bottom and the scene.
Trance	A state of intense focus during which time the subject should find themselves more open to suggestion.
Trigger	A suggestion from the hypnotist that causes an effect to occur upon the subject encountering a specific stimulus such as hearing a phrase or sound, or seeing a specific item. For example, hearing the word ‘drop’ might bring the subject back to a trance state.
Theta waves	Brain waves that show up with a frequency around 3.5 to 7.5 Hz on EEG. They are associated with light sleep, dreaming, and (possibly) hypnosis.

Term	Definition
Wake	To return to normal consciousness, leave trance.
Wake trigger	See Awakener
Will	Choice in action, conscious desire.

Hypnosis terms ABC

Hypnosis terms DEF

Hypnosis terms HIJ

Hypnosis terms KLM

Hypnosis terms NOP

Hypnosis terms QRS

Hypnosis terms TUV

Hypnosis terms WXYZ

Are you over 18 years old?

Glossary

Hypnosis terms ABC

Hypnosis terms DEF

Hypnosis terms HIJ

Hypnosis terms KLM

Hypnosis terms NOP

Hypnosis terms QRS

Hypnosis terms TUV

Hypnosis terms WXYZ