Who is a good candidate?

I am often asked, "who is a good candidate for hypnosis?" One of my responses to that question is to tell a story that characterizes it:

I was walking through Coconut Grove one Sunday afternoon. I passed by a beggar who had his hand out asking for money. Our eyes met, I smiled at him and said "hello" to which he smiled back. Upon my return back on the same route I passed him again.

A moment after I passed him, I heard a yell. "Hey!.....hey!.....HEY!...ain’t you my pain doctor?" I turned around and he was looking directly at me. I then recognized him to be a patient I had seen in the hospital. I had taught him hypnosis in order to more comfortably scrub a very large open infection to the majority of the inside his right forearm.

He thrust out the inside of his forearm in my direction. "See this? No pain!" He then pointed to his head and stated, "self hypnosis!". He smiled proudly and I congratulated him. Onlookers observed with curiosity.

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