Yes, even though I have been working with hypnosis and teaching people how to become a hypnotherapist for just about decades, there are still people who wonder: is hypnosis real?
In this blog article, we take a closer look at how real hypnosis is, how it works and what kinds of problems hypnosis can play a role for.
I recently recorded a podcast about this as well.
Is hypnosis real?
Hypnosis is a particular mental state, which can be measured with an EEG measurement and even an MRI of the brain. It is a state in which the person focuses on the internal and not on his environment. Thus, the focus then goes precisely to thoughts and feelings[1]. This goes even to the point where you can imagine something, where you have a certain fantasy, and it feels like `real'.
The hypnotic state can be used for therapeutic purposes. In fact, a hypnotherapist can offer suggestions to process certain experiences or help people solve problems.
Suggestions can be given directly or by using the client's imagination. The suggestions serve a specific purpose, such as arriving at a solution to the problem and helping the client bring that solution out of themselves.
Depending on the suggestions, hypnosis is generally a relaxed state. Sometimes there may be a suggestion to retrieve a particular memory, but this is often to check whether the therapeutic suggestions have worked. The feeling at a bad memory should then no longer be so unpleasant.
Information processing is important for hypnosis
Hypnosis helps with physical and mental problems. This is because the hypnotic state strengthens the connection between the brain it and body and because it helps with unconscious processing.
Indeed, there are a number of factors to consider when it comes to the brain's processing of information.
The left brain, for example, deals with reason, the conscious mind. It is logical, rational, abstract and critical. Memories are neutral and communication is simply what is said, and does not otherwise pay attention to how it is said.
However, the left brain communicates with the right brain. All communication somehow creates some kind of imagery. This is why metaphors, stories and comparison are good ways to learn something new. After all, both hemispheres of the brain need to be taught.
The right hemisphere of the brain goes to work with this, and that half deals with emotions, feelings, instinct and intuition. Then to the abstraction information emotions, and the like are added. That's why you often "feel" something and you can suffer from unpleasant memories, for example, if someone even completely out of context and out of the situation uses a word that brings up that memory with you.
Suddenly, then, for example, something feels awful. Your right brain actually does that then (source 1).
This knowledge is about processing information is what hypnotherapy utilizes. The therapist is actually trying to change the reaction of the right hemisphere of the brain, so that you don't get PTSD symptoms, for example, when you encounter an innocuous situation that nevertheless reminds you of a trauma.
When you are not under hypnosis, the left brain is often more dominant, and so your "critical mind" is on. However, when we relax, or even get into the flow state (like when we are completely absorbed in a movie or book), the right hemisphere becomes dominant again. So this one is more about feelings and emotions and is often seen as the subconscious mind.
Hypnosis and the feeling that something is "real"
Neurological research shows that a suggestion can change a client's brain when that person is under hypnosis. If you imagine something while in hypnosis, it affects your brain as much as if you were experiencing the event in reality (source 1).
This has been studied, among other things, by giving someone a pain stimulus in reality and suggesting that someone in hypnosis receive such a pain stimulus. The same brain area then shows activity. The same results can be seen with visual stimuli (in real life and in hypnosis) and suggestions involving sound.
Bringing someone into hypnosis
To bring someone into hypnosis, it is important to focus that person's attention. There are several techniques for inducing hypnosis. Some inductions are quick, and others take a little longer.
Depending on the client and how the preliminary interview went, the therapist chooses an induction that best suits the client.
In Hypnosis Institute Netherlands training, people learnvarious inductions to use for hypnotherapy.
You'll also learn how to teach people to apply self-hypnosis so they can always use it in situations when they need the extra relaxation.
Does hypnosis work for everyone?
Yes, but not equally strong with everyone. Some people are less "hypnotizable." In practice, for hypnotherapists, this mainly means that inducing hypnosis takes longer than people who are more hypnotizable.
People's hypnotizability is normally distributed, as is people's IQ (source 1).
The best part about the group of people who are less hypnotizable is that they often think the treatment has had no effect. Until someone around them notices that they have changed. So that's how unconscious change can be.
In addition, the depth of hypnosis is important to its effectiveness[2]. Brain waves are used to measure this. Interestingly, people who are more hypnotizable in the delta and theta states of the brain have less effective hypnotherapy. While people who are more difficult to hypnotize only have less effective hypnotherapy if they only reach the delta state.
So the effectiveness of hypnotherapy generally improves in the beta and gamma states. For people who are low hypnotizable, the theta state is also good for still getting results. Unlike people who are normally hypnotizable (source 2).
Hypnosis and pain management
Many studies have focused on hypnosis and pain management because hypnosis against pain can reduce the amount of anesthesia people need during surgeries or childbirth. This is even necessary in some situations to increase the chances of success.
Some medics even use hypno-sedation. This means the client is given local anesthesia and uses hypnosis during surgery, rather than fully under anesthesia. This can reduce the number of complications during and after surgery[3].
Parts of the brain that are then used with hypnosis are the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, and the thalamus (source 2). If hypnosis were not real, then hypno-sedation would not even exist. So hypnosis is definitely real.
As early as the 19th century, hypnosis was used for anesthesia. James Esdale reported that 80% of the people he sedated underwent major surgeries, such as amputations, using hypnosis as an anesthetic[4]. In fact, hypnosis can also help you be less aware of things, such as pain, as well as mental symptoms such as hopelessness, and other thoughts that can make pain worse (source 3).
Hypnosis and your psyche
As mentioned, hypnosis can also make you less aware of negative feelings such as hopelessness. This includes depression and other mental symptoms.
A case study of someone who was afraid of the wind shows that hypnosis helped eliminate that fear. This was done in part by helping the client reframe thoughts about how scary the wind is.
In the process, images of wind were changed to something that evoked less emotion. This required only 3 sessions and the changes were still there after 1.5 years after treatment[5].
Hypnosis is real
So hypnosis is definitely a real state and can do a lot for physical complaints and mental symptoms. There are numerous blog articles on this website about hypnosis and what it can do for all kinds of complaints and even to improve your professional life or that of others with it.
It's a great tool for coming to more insights about yourself and tapping into the internal resources you have so you can become the best version of yourself.
Learn Hypnosis
Want to learn how to use the hypnotic state to help yourself and others? Then enroll in the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands training program.
Come to a free master class for an introduction.
Or sign up for one of our events to see hypnotherapy demonstrations and get right to work with techniques to make yourself feel better and make other people feel good.
Learning how to help people solve problems can be learned in our training. The training is available both in class and live online. You then join the classroom class online.
There is also plenty of assistance during classes for personal attention, even if you take the training online.
Click here for our training courses.
Have a question about the training? Schedule a 1-on-1 consultation here.
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