What is Hypnosis?

What is Hypnosis?

by | Oct 4, 2015 | About Hypnosis, Blog

Understanding Hypnosis: A Natural State of Transformation

 

What Is Hypnosis?

When you hear the word “hypnosis,” you may envision a mysterious, shadowy figure from television or movies—a stage hypnotist performing feats of influence on “willing” subjects, using a swinging watch or hand motions to induce a zombie-like trance, seemingly controlling their every action. From quacking like a duck to robbing a bank, myths and misconceptions abound. Perhaps you recall black-and-white Dracula films with Bela Lugosi, where his hypnotic gaze paralyzes victims into submission. These Hollywood and pop culture depictions are far from reality, fostering misconceptions that obscure the true nature of hypnosis.

Defining Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a natural state of awareness with numerous therapeutic benefits, such as supporting weight loss, quitting smoking, or overcoming negative behaviors. It is an altered state of consciousness where communication with the subconscious mind is enhanced, and the critical factor of the conscious mind—a filter that analyzes information—is relaxed, allowing selective thinking, or focused concentration, to predominate. This state facilitates a stronger connection between the conscious and subconscious minds, enabling transformative change.

Nature and Mechanisms of Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a universal human capacity, accessible under the right circumstances. It connects you with your subconscious mind’s problem-solving intelligence. The critical factor, part of the conscious mind, operates during waking hours, analyzing information passing between the conscious and subconscious. In hypnosis, this filter softens, enhancing responsiveness to suggestions. Selective thinking involves concentrating on a focal point, such as a hypnotist’s voice, a pendulum, or a phrase like “Look into my left eye,” initiating the shift from external reality to your inner world.

Definitions from Key Figures

Several pioneers have shaped modern hypnotherapy’s understanding of hypnosis:

  • Gil Boyne: Defined hypnosis as a natural state with distinct characteristics:
    • An extraordinary quality of relaxation.
    • An emotionalized desire to act on suggestions, provided they align with the individual’s belief system(subconscious conditioning).
    • Self-regulation, normalizing the central nervous system (subconsciously controlled).
    • Heightened sensitivity to sensory stimuli (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell) and perceptions (hyper-acuity, time, space, body relation).
    • Softening of the critical factor, reducing psychic defenses. From Transforming Therapy: A New Approach to Hypnotherapy (Boyne, 1989) [1]. (Bold terms reflect expanded explanations.)
  • Milton H. Erickson: Described hypnosis as “a state of intensified attention and receptiveness and an increased responsiveness to an idea or to a set of ideas” [2].
  • Dave Elman: Defined it as “a state of mind in which the critical faculty of the human is bypassed, and selective thinking established” [3].
  • Encyclopedia Britannica: Calls hypnosis “a unique, complex form of unusual but normal behavior… primarily a special psychological state with certain physiological attributes, resembling sleep only superficially and marked by a functioning of the individual at a level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state” [4].
  • Dictionary Definition: “Hypnosis: the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person apparently loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction… typically to recover suppressed memories or modify behavior” [5]. Derived from the Greek Hypnos (sleep), though hypnosis is not sleep but an active, focused state.

Hypnosis Occurs in Everyday Life

Hypnosis is so natural that we experience it frequently, often without awareness. Many of us slip in and out of hypnosis multiple times daily. For instance, have you ever driven on the freeway, absorbed in a favorite song? The music evokes positive memories of a person or event, causing you to “zone out” and miss your exit, possibly driving over the speed limit. Initially, you managed multiple mental inputs: monitoring speed, navigating, and staying in your lane. Then, the song captured your attention, acting as a mental anchor linked to a person or place, with the person or situation as the psychological trigger, capable of eliciting positive emotions or negative ones like anger, sadness, or fear [6]. Your conscious awareness narrowed to a single point—the song—while your subconscious mind, drawing on skills from driver’s education or repeated driving, took over. This sustained focus induced a hypnotic state.

Similarly, you enter hypnosis when engrossed in a TV show or movie, as physical reality fades and you focus on the characters or events. Daydreaming illustrates this: concentrating on a pleasant thought to escape tedious work tasks, you lose awareness of your surroundings, entering an altered state of consciousness. This can occur while reading a book, listening to music, or in the liminal moments before waking or falling asleep. These natural trance states demonstrate how focused attention induces hypnosis, a phenomenon leveraged in therapy.

Your conscious awareness is active when awake—while eating, working, or enjoying a shot of Captain Morgan, unless excessive alcohol renders you medically “unconscious” (anesthetized or unresponsive). In contrast, the subconscious mind is always active, like the Energizer bunny, tirelessly storing every experience and lesson, accessible 24/7, even during sleep.

All Hypnosis Is Self-Hypnosis

You enter hypnosis through your conscious intention. Even in a hypnotherapy session, by following the hypnotherapist’s guidance, you actively induce your own hypnotic state. The hypnotherapist facilitates the experience, guiding you. To enter hypnosis, you must be willing. You remain fully aware, hearing the therapist’s voice and ambient sounds, and can move any part of your body, though minor sensations, like an itch, may go unnoticed due to your focus on the therapist’s words. You can exit hypnosis at any time and leave the session if you choose.

Anyone can experience hypnosis, though experiences vary. Colleagues describe it diversely, from deep relaxation to an out-of-body experience, yet all fall under hypnosis. Hypnotherapists and stage hypnotists use tools like pendulums, hand waves, or phrases such as “Look into my left eye” to help you concentrate on a single point, initiating the shift from external reality to your inner world.

When I refer to actions or processes as “unconscious,” I am not using the medical term (anesthetized state) nor solely the psychological term (repressed memories, accessible via hypnosis) [2]. Instead, I encompass automatic reactions—like catching a glass, dodging a ball, or swerving to avoid a car, guided by subconscious defense mechanisms shaped by life experiences—and the broader subconscious mind, often synonymous with the “subconscious mind,” a reservoir of learned responses and experiences. In hypnotherapy, anchors and triggers, derived from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), are used to physically anchor positive emotions for therapeutic change [3].

Hypnosis enhances the subconscious mind’s responsiveness to positive suggestions, enabling you to achieve goals, quit smoking, lose weight, or transform negative beliefs and behaviors. The benefits are numerous, offering a powerful tool for personal transformation. Change your mind, change your life—this is the power of hypnosis, a power you hold, activated by your willingness to engage. It is the power of the subconscious mind. Gil Boyne, whose Transforming Therapy is taught at schools founded by his students, recognized these natural trance states, repressed memories, and the always-active subconscious as opportunities to reprogram patterns, using techniques like age regression, parts therapy, and emotional anchoring to resolve challenges such as phobias, habits, or suppressed traumas [1].

References

  1. Boyne, G. (1989). Transforming Therapy: A New Approach to Hypnotherapy. Westwood Publishing. Describes Boyne’s methods, including subconscious reprogramming.
  2. Kihlstrom, J. F. (1987). The cognitive unconscious. Science, 237(4821), 1445–1452. Discusses repressed memories and hypnosis.
  3. Bandler, R., & Grinder, J. (1975). The Structure of Magic. Science and Behavior Books. Introduces NLP anchoring (note: efficacy debated).
  4. Encyclopedia Britannica (2023). Hypnosis entry. Defines hypnosis as a psychological state.
  5. Oxford English Dictionary (2023). Hypnosis definition. Describes hypnosis as a state of heightened suggestibility.
  6. Dilts, R. (1990). Changing Belief Systems with NLP. Meta Publications. Discusses anchors and triggers in NLP, adapted in hypnotherapy.

Does Hypnosis Work?

Does Hypnosis Work?

by | Sep 6, 2015 | Blog

HypnosisEffective

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2007

Does Hypnosis Work? A Comparison Study
American Health Magazine reported the following findings from a recent study.

• Psychoanalysis: 38% recovery after 600 sessions

• Behavior Therapy: 72% recovery after 22 sessions

• Hypnotherapy: 93% recovery after 6 sessions

The majority of people believe hypnosis is a last resort tool for smoke cessation, weight loss or changing habits. Few people know hypnosis is a dynamic and vital healing process embracing all aspects of mental health care. Hypnosis is client-centered with its focus on the discovery of the origin of a person’s issues. Through the process of hypnosis/regression the unconscious mind goes to the original cause, which then gives the person and practitioner the opportunity to process the original feelings surrounding the original experience/cause. These surrounding feelings can be healed, thus empowering the person to live the life they want to live.

This study clearly points out—Hypnosis is more effective and works more quickly than traditional talk-therapy or psychoanalysis. In a hypnotic state, you are more receptive to new ideas and you can more effectively process the emotions linked to the experiences, which created pain, fear, sadness, anger, guilt, shame, humiliation and low self-esteem.

Hypnosis is a special form of communication to the subconscious mind where habits are established and memory is stored. Because the language of the subconscious mind is visual, the more detailed your image is of your goal, the faster your subconscious mind will create the changes you desire. Once your subconscious accepts a new idea, you automatically accept it at a conscious level.

Hypnosis is a natural state of the mind that is between the aware state and sleep. Driving a route you are familiar with and not being conscious of every turn you make is similar to the hypnotic state. Hypnosis allows you to access your subconscious mind, which makes up 90% of your brain which stores all memory. With hypnosis, you reprogram and release thought patterns and habits to make desirable, lasting changes in your life.

You are in control: Hypnosis is completely relaxing and you are completely aware during the experience. It’s a myth that someone is making you do something. The hypnotherapist helps you connect with your subconscious mind, which puts YOU in control of your subconscious mind—the most powerful and empowering aspect of your brain. Hypnosis restores your freedom of choice, which you haven’t had in many years!

Source:

Hypnosis Real or Wack?

by | Aug 20, 2015 | Blog

Not a big fan of Stage Hypnosis, thou a lot of the mechanics and principles are the same, but this guy does a good job explaining some of the “Keys” for a person to be responsive to Hypnosis. Yes you can have fun with it, but I prefer the life transforming aspect of it, hence Hypno “Therapist”.

Ricky Kalmon, stage hypnotist and motivational speaker, demonstrates hypnosis on an HLN producer and a floor director.

 

Not just for TV: Hypnosis legit part of comprehensive treatment plan

Not just for TV: Hypnosis legit part of comprehensive treatment plan

by | Aug 19, 2015 | Blog

Not just for TV: Hypnosis legit part of comprehensive treatment plan

By Stephanie Gallman, CNN
Updated 9:30 PM ET, Tue August 18, 2015

(CNN)When “Comedy Hypnotist” Chris Jones invited celebrity judge Howie Mandel on stage and hypnotized him on the competition show “America’s Got Talent,” the performance brought the audience to its feet and even inspired a social media hashtag, #HowieShakesHands.

Mandel, who struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, followed Jones’ cues and for the first time in more than eight years, the germaphobe shook hands with his fellow judges. The seemingly instant transformation was so surprising, some viewers thought it was an act (Mandel said it was not).

But according to David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, not only is hypnotherapy legitimate, it’s “literally the oldest Western conception of a psychotherapy.”

Moreover, Wesley Anderson, a practicing hypnotherapist for more than 20 years, said, “Most people experience some form of a hypnotic state every day.”

“If you’ve ever been lost in a daydream or zoned out and missed your turn while driving your usual route, you’ve experienced a form of hypnosis,” he said.

Does it really work?

Spiegel has been conducting studies about the benefits of hypnosis for more than 40 years and he said there is no doubt that hypnosis works as an effective therapeutic technique to manage pain and kick bad habits.

In 2000, Spiegel and his colleagues determined that patients using hypnosis as a part of a comprehensive treatment plan could significantly reduce drug use and procedure time.

“Lowering those two meant an average cost savings of approximately $338,” Spiegel said. A 2007 article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute doubled that figure, finding that a hospital saved $772 per patient in the hypnosis group, mainly due to reduced surgical time. “Patients who received hypnosis reported less post-surgical pain, nausea, fatigue and discomfort,” according to a release from the American Psychological Association.

Hypnosis has its skeptics, partly because while studies seem to show it has tangible benefits, it’s most often used in tandem with other treatments; scientifically quantifying its success alone is difficult.

From comedy performers such as Jones to Harvard educated psychiatrists such as Spiegel, anyone can learn to hypnotize and call themselves a “hypnotist,” which also gives doubters pause. Three states — Colorado, Connecticut and Washington — require mandatory licensing requirements from individuals wanting to practice hypnotherapy.

According to the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, or ASCH, most insurance companies will cover 50% to 80% of the cost of individual therapy, but only if treated by licensed professionals. ASCH requires its members to be licensed health care workers and, at minimum, have a master’s degree. The National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists, on the other hand, requires applicants have a graduate-level degree as well as 50 hours of classroom instruction and 30 hours of clinical training.

How does it work?
The first thing Anderson does when meeting a new client is what anyone would do upon meeting a stranger: He gets to know them. “I try to establish a rapport and establish the client’s intentions for hypnosis,” Anderson said.

Using verbal and nonverbal cues, a hypnotherapist will help the client quiet their peripheral, conscious mind, the part that’s constantly stimulated by outside sources.

Clients will relax, their posture will adjust and they will usually become very still, Anderson said. “They’re halfway between being completely asleep and completely awake,” he explained.

In this trance-like state, the part of the brain responsible for the subconscious, nonlogical thoughts can become wide open to suggestions. “The normal adult filters and belief systems of what is and what isn’t will start to fade,” he said. “Clients become almost childlike. “Hypnotherapists can then begin to use imagery and suggestion to help them start thinking about their bad habits or their pain differently.

For radio host Jenn Hobby, who underwent hypnosis to help her kick her smoking habit, that meant tapping into her relationship with her goddaughter, who at the time of her session, was just a toddler. Her hypnotherapist told her to imagine her goddaughter playing outside and running around the playground.

“Then he said, ‘now imagine giving her a lit cigarette,'” Hobby remembers. “That really hit home, more than anything else.” When she left the office that day, she felt differently about cigarettes and smoking.

Helping clients manage pain, Anderson said, he often counsels them to turn down receptors that might cause them discomfort the same way a plumber might turn off water before working to repair a leak.

“The pain signals might be there, but they wouldn’t make it into awareness,” Anderson said.

Feeling ‘somewhat betrayed’
What’s vital to the process, Anderson and Spiegel said, is that both parties — hypnotherapist and client — agree to the intentions of the session beforehand. Mandel said he agreed to participate in the segment and said he knew what he was doing the entire time, but he never established a rapport with his hypnotist.

So while his “handshaking breakthrough” seemed like a positive thing, for Mandel, the former “Deal or No Deal” host said he felt “somewhat betrayed” after he watched the episode.

“I was upset about it and it’s hard for me to watch,” Mandel told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.

Spiegel said Mandel’s reaction to his experience is understandable. “When entertainers with no knowledge or concern for clinical care take advantage of a real phenomenon, real people can feel exposed, tricked or humiliated,” he said.

Only one part of the puzzle
Despite the success of Hobby’s hypnosis experience — she’s only had a few cigarettes since — she said being hypnotized wasn’t the only thing that led to her quitting. “There’s no magic pill. You have to be really committed to change your behavior,” she said.

Spiegel agreed. Hypnosis, while valuable, is only one part of the comprehensive treatment puzzle. “Anything that can help a patient that much is worth looking into,” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9dFLXV9hs0