Hypnosis is state of mind where an individual is subjected to controlled thoughts and behavior. Hypnosis involves two persons - the persons being treated to experiment is called subject while the one conducting the experiment is called hypnotist. Hypnotist takes the subject into the mental state, often termed hypnotized, and tries to get response from her. Hypnosis is possibly one of the most debated disciplines in the world. There are so many theories associated with this stream of studies. The basic debate hovers around the state aspect - one school of thoughts suggests that hypnosis is a state of mind while the other school asserts it to be a non-state.

Practitioners of state theory suggest that the mind can be transformed into an altered setting. In other words, mind of the subject can be taken to another plane, and controlled by the practitioner. Those from non-state theory claim that hypnosis as a phenomenon can be observed as a culmination of focus or attention, and doesn't necessarily lead to transformation of mind to another state. However, it is sufficient for us to know that hypnosis is a process of induction and observing effects of the same.
There are many myths and misconceptions associated with hypnosis. Some people opine that hypnosis cannot be affected on persons with strong will power. Champions of hypnosis feel otherwise - they claim that people with strong will power actually make up good subjects. This can be attributed to their higher level of intelligence.

Lot of research has been done on hypnosis. This research on a scientific basis stems from Psychological research. Hypnosis is often treated as a part of peripherals of psychology. Scientists have been trying to find the most ideal way of hypnotizing a person. Some have been successfully doing it with words, some others with the help of triggers like clock or a pendulum.
Hypnosis is finding its way in many applications to treat patients. Hypnotherapy is one such discipline. Some practitioners use this technique to solve psychological disorders of the patients. Clinical hypnosis is another application area of hypnosis.

According to practitioners of clinical hypnosis, physical as well as mental illnesses can be treated and cured with the help of clinical hypnosis. Mass hypnosis is used for prayers or magic shows. Hypnosis applied to forensic science is called forensic hypnosis. It is not only employed in the procedures, but also accepted in the legal perspective.