Interview with a Hypnotherapist
I look down in my lap, seeing my voice recorder is on, and I have a notepad and pen at the ready to jot down anything that doesn’t come across in the recording. Looking up, I see the woman sitting across from me, Dr. Marisa Silver, a new local sensation. At least I think it’s her. To be honest, with her dyed purple hair in a disheveled mess on her head, a college hoodie and resting bitch face on, idly scrolling her phone, she looked more like a bored barista than an acclaimed hypnotherapist. She gave me a bored look through her black-rimmed glasses, took a sip from a large fizzy drink and sighed, “Well, are you going to start this interview now, or are you just gonna stare all day?”
“Uh right Dr…”
“Call me Risa” She quickly corrects me.
“Right.. Risa well,” Thrown off guard, I quickly try to remember what I was supposed to be interviewing her about again. She was a new small business owner. Out of nowhere, it seemed suddenly everyone in town was raving about her hypnotherapy business. Word of mouth reached the local town paper, and I was sent to do an investigation into this new business. I hadn’t really thought much about the assignment at first, but interviewing some of her patients had brought up some very unusual findings and stories, that I just had to confirm.
“Uh.. it seems you have quite a lot of patients in town already for someone who’s only been in business for…”
“Two months, what of it? I can’t help it if there are so many people who need to be hypnotized in this dumb town.
“I see, and uh, how much does it cost for one of your sessions?”
“They are very affordable, I assure you.”
“That doesn’t sound like an exact figure”
“I’m totally worth every penny.”
“Hmm, you know a lot of your patients have said that very thing.”
“What can I say, catchphrases are catchy.”
“Yes, interestingly, I found that most of your patients had a hard time remembering much about your sessions. Whenever I brought them up, they seemed rather distant, and would make some off-hand remark that they really needed to have another session really soon.”
“Post-hypnotic amnesia is a pretty common side-effect of hypnosis, there’s nothing to worry about if a subject doesn’t remember anything.”
“That… they all said that too when I asked them about it!”
“I am a Doctor, you know, It’s kind of my job to make sure my patients are aware of common side-effects of my practice.”
“I am aware that it is a side-effect, but it is unusual for all your patients to remember only very peculiar phrases like that, but not anything of their therapy, wouldn’t you say?”
“Maybe if I was treating them for smoking or some normal problem.”
This caught me by surprise, surely that was exactly what a hypnotherapist was supposed to be treating in their patients. Looking around the room however, I noticed that Risa didn’t seem to have anything that looked like it might be reference materials or aids to deal with any common problems people might usually go to hypnotherapists for.
“Dr.. I mean Risa, what exactly do your patients come to your office for?”
“To help with their hypnosis addictions, duh.”
“Wait… you mean your hypnotherapy practice is entirely about hypnotizing people, who have addictions to hypnosis? Don’t you find that counter-productive?”
“It is unfortunate that it is such a hard habit to break without the help of hypnosis. This is why I make sure that my patients can always call or text me whenever they need help with their addiction.” As if on cue, her phone buzzes and her thumbs quickly reply.
“Do they always text you in the middle of work like this? What if you were in a session?
“Oh there’s always a session going on, it’s not a bother really, the more the merrier. Group sessions are encouraged.”
“Group sessions… that line definitely sounds very familiar. I’ve definitely interviewed several groups of your patients who all said that together, in unison, almost like they were in trances!”
“Well good subjects help reinforce each other. It helps them work through their issues, and like I said, we’re always in session.” Risa smirked, though whether she was smirking at me or her phone, I could not say.
“What do you mean by, ‘we’re’? I’m not one of your patients, remember? I’m a reporter, from the Post?”
“Are you?”
“Of course, why else would I be here, with a voice recorder, press badge, and notes about an article?
“Play it back then”
“What?”
“The voice recorder, play it back, from the beginning.”
Click
“Hello Doctor.”
“How can I help you today?
“I’ve come for some hypnotherapy. All of your patients recommended you highly!”
“So you talked to lots of them, didn’t you?
“Yes, of course.”
“And why are you holding a voice recorder?”
“Uh… I don’t know why actually, it just felt important for some reason…”
“You really are quite forgetful, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean, Doctor?”
“Sigh.. I don’t even know why we go through these introductions sometimes, this is hardly your first time in my office after all.”
“I don’t ever remember being in your office Doctor… I guess that does make me rather forgetful. Should I be worried about that?”
“Oh, most definitely!”
“What should I do? Can you help me Doctor?”
“Of course, that’s obviously why you are here isn’t it?”
“It is? I thought.. I thought I was here to investigate you… for something?”
“Oh? Is that why you were talking to all my patients?”
“Yes.. I was interviewing them about you.”
“You chased down some leads, and they led you to me.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“More and more clues led you in a spiral towards me, didn’t they?”
“Yes, you were in the center of it all”
“But the deeper you spiralled towards the center the more holes you found.”
“Yes, there were so many loose ends.”
“And so you came to me, to listen to what I had to say”
“Yes, Doctor, I scheduled an appointment.”
“Because you knew you could trust me.”
“Yes Doctor, I trust you.”
“So you believe me when I tell you, you’re not a reporter.”
“Yes Doctor, I’m not a reporter.”
“You’re only here because you heard I’m quite good and very worth the price.”
“You were referred by some of my patients. They couldn’t stop talking about me
“Yes, they couldn’t stop talking about you, your patients were so enthusiastic to refer you.”
“They were also having trouble remembering things.”
“Yes, they were having trouble remembering things, but they said you help them.”
“But you noticed something strange: The more they talked about me, the more details they seemed to recall.”
“Yes, it was so easy for them to recall you in great detail.”
“They seemed to remember their inductions in full.”
“Yes... they fully remembered their inductions.”
“Word for word”
“Word... for word…”
“The shiny and swirly things they saw.”
“All the pretty...and...shiny... and… swirly things…”
“You could picture it in your mind.”
“I pictured it in my mind”
“And it was too late before you realized.”
“I... was... hypnotized…”
“They did it just like good obedient pets.”
“They were good..pets..for you, Doctor…”
“And you’re a good pet for me, aren’t you?
“Yes..Doctor…”
“You’re remembering more things now. You come here all the time.”
“I come here all the time.”
“You always invent new ways to come see me.”
“Yes, I always invent new ways to see you, I have to make excuses to visit all the time.”
“Because you’re addicted.”
“I’m addicted.”
“You’re a silly toy.”
“I’m a silly toy.”
“I could fix that, but you don’t want me to.”
“Please don’t fix it.”
“Because then there’d be no reason to come see me.”
“I need to come see you!”
“But you keep that secret so no one judges.”
“Yes, Doctor. I don’t want anyone to know, it’s so embarrassing!”
“Except for my other patients. You’re all proud to be so helpless for me.”
“Yes, Doctor.. I am so proud to be helpless like your other patients!”
“They were so smart to refer you to me.”
“They knew exactly how helpless I was.”
“You loved hearing their stories.”
“I loved hearing their stories.”
“They remind you of how deep you go.”
“They remind me how deep I go.”
“And you get jealous.”
“Yes.. I get so jealous of them.”
“Their stories make you want to sink even deeper for me.”
“I want to sink deeper for you, Doctor.”
“So you come back to me.”
“I must come back to you.”
“Again and again.”
“Again and..again….”
“You’re addicted.”
“I’m addicted.”
“Can’t stop.”
“Won’t stop.”
“You’re helpless.”
“I’m helpless…”
“No resistance.”
“I don’t want to resist.”
“You need to be hypnotized.”
“I need to be hypnotized.”
“Good toy!”
“I am a good toy, good toys get hypnotized!”
“Yes they do, by their favorite Doctor, don’t they?”
“Yes, Doctor, I am addicted to being hypnotized by you.”
“That’s right.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Hehehe, perfect…”
Click
I look up from the silent recorder to see Dr. Silver smirking at me. “Uh... so… I am not a reporter?”
“I don’t think so, that doesn’t sound right, now does it?”
“No, Doctor, you must be right, I must have been mistaken.”
“That hat with the little tag that says “press” is clearly just a silly costume, isn’t it?
“Yes, Doctor, I am wearing a silly costume. I don’t even know where I got this?” I look at my press credentials in confusion, clearly seeing my face and name, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what joke shop I must have got them at.
“Me neither,” Risa stifles a chuckle and a smirk. I can’t help blushing, feeling like a fool for wearing such a silly costume to a formal meeting like this.
“I feel so embarrassed wearing such a silly thing, I normally don’t wear such outrageous things.”
“Don’t be embarrassed, it happens all the time.” Her intense stare captures my gaze for a moment.
“Yes, Doctor.” I reply, strangely calm.
“That’s better.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
Dr. Silver gives me a wink, before going back to her phone, suddenly paying no mind to me as she texts for several seconds. I can help shaking my head, as if it’s full of cobwebs or something.
“I don’t know how I was so silly and thinking I was a reporter and not your patient.”
“These things happen.” She says, not looking up from her phone.
“They do? It seems so strange...does this happen with other patients? Wait... didn’t one of your patients think she was a thief and try to rob a bank?”
Dr. Silver looked up and me, raising her eyebrow, before grinning at me.“I’m sure you haven’t heard such a silly story, and besides, I certainly had nothing to do with it. Isn’t that right, pet? “She snaps her fingers suddenly.
“Yes Doctor... you had nothing to do with it.”
“She was very much mistaken. Just like you.”
“I am very much mistaken....”
“Good, pet”
I look around confused, certain I had heard a snap just a second ago, but Dr. Silver is still just there at her desk, texting away.
“I am sorry for bothering you doctor, you are obviously totally innocent.”
“I’m happy you’re seeing things my way now. Now off with you, I have other patients you know.”
“Yes, Doctor, thank you for explaining it to me Doctor, this session has been totally worth every penny, and very affordable!”
“I’m glad you think so, I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” She smiles, her eyes looking up from her phone to a wallet on her desk. Had that been there before? Must have been another patient’s.
“Of course Doctor!, thank you so much for your help!
“Indeed, and remember, don’t worry if your memory is a little fuzzy.”
“Post-hypnotic amnesia is a pretty common side-effect of hypnosis, there’s nothing to worry about if I don’t remember anything.”
“Exactly!”
I smiled at the Doctor’s praise. I felt like I’d made real progress today. I definitely would need to recommend Risa to all my friends. Her hypnosis was just so effective at treating my addiction. I know she could help out anyone. After all, her sessions are totally worth every penny, and very affordable!