Wichita State students may soon be feeling very, very, sleepy with the start of the new Hypnosis Club.

 The club is a joint effort between sophomore Spencer Littlejohn and Cowley County Community College sophomore Edward Darbro. Littlejohn and Darbro have known each other for many years and they share a passion for hypnosis.

The organization’s many goals are educating others about what hypnosis actually is and to clear up any misconceptions, the biggest of which is that it is not mind control.

“People, when they think of hypnosis, think ‘Oh, I’m able to go hypnotize this girl and she’ll have sex with me,’ or ‘I’ll be able to hypnotize my boss into giving me a raise, or my friend into giving me his last soda,’ or something like that,” Darbro said.

Genuine hypnosis is more of a state of extreme focus and relaxation.

 “The subject is focused so much on one particular thing that we’re allowed to fiddle with their subconscious mind,” Darbro said.

Littlejohn is certified through the Hypnosis Motivation Institute and the Hypnosis Practitioner Institute and specializes in applying that focus to stage performances and personalized hypnotherapy.

“When you’re doing stage and fun stuff…that means doing a lot of activity during the session,” Littlejohn said. “Doing hallucination, or sensation change, regression stuff is pretty popular…but it’s not the same as having a personalized session with someone. The approaches with hypnotherapy are more serious…most of it is metaphors, imagery and a little bit of regression.”

Although it’s hard to tell when the group will start operating, Littlejohn said the ideal group will consist of beginning and advanced hypnotists.

“And when I say beginner, I mean just the most basic understanding of hypnosis,” Littlejohn said. He’ll have training sessions for beginners. “I’m not opposed to people who are just interested … because, I want the group to be about sharing experience and knowledge.”

To schedule a personal session, or to find out more about becoming involved with the hypnosis club, email [email protected].