What is Hypnosis - Version 1.0 What is Hypnosis?According to one of the most prominent individuals in the field of clinical hypnosis, Dr. Milton Erickson describes hypnosis as a period during which the limitations of one's usual frames of reference and beliefs are temporarily altered so one can be receptive to other patterns of association and modes of mental functioning that are conducive to problem-solving.Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and hypnosis trainers John Overdurf and Julie Silverthorn, refer to hypnosis or hypnotic trance as an altered state of awareness in their book Training Trances. According to Overdurf and Silverthorn, an altered state is any state that is different from what is considered to be a normal, waking state.They further state that: Hypnosis is biologically similar to the hypnogogic state (the transition from