Hypnotism

Does hypnotism really work? Can a Hypnotist really get you to quit smoking or looking at smut? Is a licensed Hypnotist better or more qualified that an unlicensed one? I don’t know but there are lots of people who swear by the practice and recommend their personal Hypnotist to others. That makes me wonder why they need to keep returning for more sessions. Maybe they are being programmed to keep returning so they can spend more money. But I’m really more interested in whether or not a Hypnotist could influence a person to do something that would ordinarily be morally and ethically wrong in the mind of the subject. For example:

Hypnotist: “When you awaken from your trance you will wait exactly five days and then rob the local bank and return here with all the money. You will then leave the money in the garage and return home to your family where you will take a long bubble bath. When you are done you won’t remember anything about the heist or the money drop and continue on with your boring life. Oh, and you won’t have the urge to smoke anymore”.

I mean how else could a Hypnotist pay his mortgage and other bills? I would never go to a Hypnotist for fear of something like the situation above happening or even worse, perhaps opening a psychic portal deep in my unconscious that would allow me to see dead people or something along that line. That would be too creepy for me.