We’ve all seen it, usually on TV or on stage: A hypnotist selects a few members of the audience, and with what appears to be little more than a steely gaze or a few choice words, they’re suddenly “under the spell.” Depending on what the hypnotist suggests, the participants laugh, dance and play without inhibition.
Or maybe you’ve experienced hypnosis in another way – with a trip to a hypnotherapist for a series of sessions to help you quit smoking, lose weight, manage pain or deal with depression. This is no longer uncommon. thousands of Americans have done the same thing. And many were helped.
Hypnosis has been found to be effective for treatment irritable bowel syndromeand can be beneficial for weight reduction, sleep disorders and worry. For mild to moderate depression in adults, hypnotherapy is as effective as cognitive behavioral therapyand can help with depression in children. Hypnosis is also used for therapy phobias, PTSD and yes pain control during surgery and dental procedures in both adults and children.
However, despite the evidence, its widespread use, and its growing popularity, hypnosis is still viewed with skepticism by some scientists and curiosity by much of the public. As a researcher who studies altered states from a cognitive and neuroscientific perspective, I’m happy to help pull back the curtain to show you how hypnosis works.
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A hypnotherapy session
Simply put, hypnosis is a process that helps people imagine different experiences that feel very real. When this happens, the person can be said to be in a state of hypnosis.
Little is known about what characterizes a hypnotic state in terms of brain activity, but neuroimaging studies indicate a decrease in activity in the parts of the brain responsible for self-referential thinking and daydreamingand increased connections between the parts responsible for attention and action.
These results are consistent with the idea that hypnotized subjects are in a state that inhibits internal thoughts and other distractions, such as bodily sensations or noises, that might interfere with hypnosis.
A therapist’s first set of suggestions usually includes “hypnotic induction”, which helps the subject to increase his response to other suggestions. An induction might be: “Now I’m going to count from 5 to 1. On each count, you’ll feel even more relaxed and that you’re going deeper and deeper into hypnosis.”
When responding to sentences, the subject’s experience feels involuntary. That is, it happens to them, rather than being created by them. This is known as the classic sentence effect. After a suggestion to move his arm, the subject may feel that his arm is being raised on its own, rather than being raised of his own volition.
For perceptual cues, experience can be quite real and different from voluntary imagination. If I ask you to imagine hearing a dog barking outside, it takes effort and the experience doesn’t feel like a dog actually barking outside. But through hypnotic suggestion, responders will feel as if they are hearing a dog barking and will be unaware of any effort to do so.
What makes people hypnotize?
You can’t force anyone to be hypnotized. Willingness to participate, positive attitude, motivation and expectation are extremely important. So is the ability to put aside the fact that the situation is imaginary. It’s like being completely absorbed in the story and characters of a movie – so engrossed you forget you’re in a theater.
A good relationship with the therapist is also critical. If you refuse to cooperate or decide that hypnosis will not work, it won’t happen. A good comparison might be meditation: You can listen to a meditation recording, but if you don’t want to follow the instructions, or if you’re unmotivated or distracted, it won’t have any effect.
Few traits predict whether someone is easily hypnotizable, but people are not created equal ability to respond to hypnotic suggestions. Some people experience a wide range of propositions intensely. others, not so much. There are indications that women respond slightly better to hypnotic suggestions by men, and that maximum hypnotizability occurs during late childhood and early adolescence.
From a neuroscientific perspective, it appears that hypnotic suggestions do not act directly on our executive functions, but rather about our self-monitoring features. That is, hypnosis does not directly determine our behaviors for us. Instead, it modifies the way the brain keeps track of what it’s doing. So when the hypnotist suggests that you raise your hand, you are still making that decision – even though your experience may seem like the hand is moving on its own.
Exposure therapy, self-hypnosis
The goal of hypnotherapy is to induce changes in negative feelings, perceptions and actions. Let’s say you have a fear of public speaking. Through cues, the therapist can get you to experience speaking in front of an audience. Again, it’s true – your anxiety level will increase, but eventually you’ll get used to it and learn to deal with the anxiety, even as the therapist suggests increasingly difficult scenarios.
Hypnosis can also be used as a preparation or replacement exposure therapywhich is a method of treating phobias or anxiety related to specific situations by gradually exposing the patient to increasingly difficult situations. If you are afraid of birds, the therapist may suggest that you hold a feather. then imagine approaching a bird in a cage. then imagine going to the park and feeding pigeons. This is more effective and looks more real than just visualizing.
The hypnotherapist can also teach self-hypnosis techniques. Subjects can learn to induce a state of relaxation associated with a gesture, such as closing the left hand.
Hypnotic suggestions like this reduce anxiety by promoting its activation parasympathetic nervous systemwhich stimulates bodily functions during periods of rest, such as digestion and sexual arousal, and deactivates sympathetic nervous systemwhich stimulates the fight or flight response.
Progress can occur after less than 10 sessions with some disorders, such as insomnia in children. But it may take more time others, such as depression. And just as hypnosis isn’t right for everyone, it isn’t right for everything.
Additionally, not all hypnotherapy products on the market are backed by scientific evidence. It is safer to go to a hypnotherapist who is licensed in your state. You should ask if they are affiliated with or certified by a professional hypnotherapist association. You can then confirm their membership on the club website. For example, the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis allows you to search for members by name.
Although Medicare does not cover hypnotherapy, some private insurances partially cover the cost for certain conditions, provided the treatment is performed by a licensed clinical mental health professional. A session usually costs between US$100 and US$250.
