The Quad

Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: Features

When walking down the hallway of the sixth floor of Sanderson Hall, one may hear many different laughs coming from a dorm room. Upon opening the door to the certain dorm room, one may see freshman Justin Arthur putting a few of his floor mates under hypnosis.

Arthur, a cellular and molecular biology major with a focus in pre-med at West Chester University, took an active interest in hypnosis during his junior year of high school. From that point on, he did a lot of self-research through different Web sites and books, practiced what he learned and also acquired help from psychologists in the field. He kept building from there and now performs.

"There were two reasons why I decided to get into hypnosis," Arthur stated. "My father's background in psychology influenced me, as well as having personal interests in the mind and subconscious," Arthur said. "My parents think that it is a wonderful talent and they enjoy watching the different acts."

Arthur can perform four different types of hypnosis: stage hypnosis, smoking regression, study skills enhancement and stress management. He has been performing professional stage hypnosis shows the past few months at WCU, bars, birthday parties and private gatherings, and he tunes his performance to the audience. He is now practicing more "post-hypnotic suggestion routines," such as smoking regression.

"This currently is just a hobby and sometimes a job for me," Arthur said. "I love doing this just for the fun of it. If I am paid, it depends on the organization that is running it, their budget and the length of time they want me to perform."

"He [Arthur] said he was going to do a little hypnotism on me," Steve Mahon, sophomore early childhood and special education student said. "I came to an hour later in the hallway surrounded by people and realized he may have stretched the truth."

But, they all agreed they felt well rested and more relaxed after being hypnotized.

Arthur said that the most shocking thing someone had done while being hypnotized happened recently in one of WCU's residence halls. The participants, while under hypnosis, were made to think they were at a wild party with all of their inhibitions gone. A female participant approached Arthur and tried to pull down his pants. Arthur immediately had to put her back to sleep.

Some wonder if everyone can become hypnotized or not. Arthur cleared up a few misconceptions about hypnosis.

Continued...

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