Hypnosis for Change

Hypnosis is a mental state of highly focused concentration, diminished peripheral awareness, and heightened suggestibility. There are numerous techniques that experts employ for inducing such a state. Capitalizing on the power of suggestion, hypnosis is often used to help people relax, to diminish the sensation of pain, or to facilitate some desired behavioral change.

Therapists bring about hypnosis (also referred to as hypnotherapy or hypnotic suggestion) with the help of mental imagery and soothing verbal repetition that ease the patient into a trance-like state. Once relaxed, patients’ minds are more open to transformative messages.

Hypnotherapy (sometimes called hypnotic suggestion) is a therapeutic practice that uses guided hypnosis to help a client reach a trance-like state of focus, concentration, diminished peripheral awareness, and heightened suggestibility. This state is similar to being completely absorbed in a book, movie, music, or even one's own thoughts or meditations. In it, a person is unusually responsive to an idea or image, but they are not under anyone’s “control.” Instead, a trained clinical hypnotherapist can help clients in this state relax and turn their attention inward to discover and utilize resources within themselves that can help them achieve desired behavioral changes or better manage pain or other physical concerns. Eventually, a client learns how to address their states of awareness on their own and in doing so, gain greater control of their physical and psychological responses.

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The American Psychological Association and American Medical Association have recognized hypnotherapy as a valid procedure since 1958, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recommended it as a treatment for chronic pain since 1995.

Contrary to popular belief, humans stay completely awake during hypnosis and generally recall their experiences. Under the guidance of a trained health care professional, hypnosis can be used to ease pain, treat autoimmune disease, combat phobias, and break bad habits, such as smoking and overeating. Hypnosis can also help people cope with negative emotional states, like stress and anxiety, as well as pain, fatigue, insomnia, mood disorders, and more.

Hypnosis has been used instead of anesthetics to decrease pain and anxiety before and after surgery. It also seems to boost healing from many conditions, including epilepsy, neuralgia, rheumatism, and skin conditions.

The physiological and neurological changes that occur under hypnosis are similar to the self-healing placebo effect—a case of mind over matter.

Contrary to stereotypes, hypnosis works best when a person is a willing participant. Some people are more open to hypnotic suggestion than others. Experts call this trait “hypnotizability” and recognize that it can vary greatly among individuals. Even people with high levels of hypnotizability may require multiple hypnosis sessions to see progress.