The short answer is: Yes. You can. Over 97% of the population can be. In fact, most of us are hypnotized multiple times during the day. For example, if you ever parked your car after a routine trip and have no real memory of the roads you drove or the trip… you have just emerged from a hypnotic state caused by the road.
But you do need to cooperate with your hypnotist. It doesn’t work like the movies where an evil person “takes control” of your mind. Instead, you are encouraged to relax, and to permit suggestions to reach your subconscious. If you choose to fight, or reject those suggestions, then you will not be hypnotized. The accepted tenet is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis…. you are doing the work yourself. The hypnotist is just a guide, who will offer you suggestions that will help solve your problem.
Contrary to popular fiction… it’s not the “weak-minded” who are easy to hypnotize… In fact the smarter you are, the easier you are to hypnotize. You just need to be able to accept a different experience, much like you do when you watch a movie or read a book. Your mind travels to the world of the movie or book, and that is very similar to hypnosis. You just need to cooperate and follow instructions.
Because my clients come to me willing to cooperate, I have never failed in hypnotizing someone. Most people understand that they are paying for help, so they need to cooperate to get the benefit of what they paid for.
The IATC (International Association of Therapists and Counselors) offers a quick quiz to see if you can be hypnotized. You can take it here.