Hypnosis has often been misrepresented in movies and on stage performances as being a mind controlling process that should be regarded with fear. Instead many psychologists uses hypnosis as a therapeutic tool, to help with debilitating conditions like anxiety or depression, as well as chronic pain, grief, and trauma reactions.
As well as treating specific psychological problems, hypnosis is particularly useful in teaching people specific psychological skills. Its application in this way is far and wide. Anything that you can think of, that can be learned, can be reinforced using hypnosis and is likely to enhance your ability. One example, that we may all be able to relate to is a performance related anxiety, like giving a speech. Hypnosis can both reinforce your ability to speak (what to say, how to pace your words, engage the audience) as well as calm your fears (will people like me, will people judge me, what if I forget what to say)
What is hypnosis?
Essentially hypnosis involves the use of your imagination to become absorbed and focused on a particular idea, allowing yourself to go as deeply as you would like to go into the experience of a trance, and be open to positive suggestions on what you are wanting to change or benefit.
Many of the people that I see in private practice routinely ask me any number of questions based on myths about hypnosis.
Myth No 1. I will do embarrassing things while I’m hypnotised. Fact: If you do embarrassing things under hypnosis, you’re doing so willingly.
This one is based on what people have seen on the stage shows and movies. Firstly, we should consider that a stage hypnotist is highly skilled in choosing people who are most likely to be willing to do some silly things to entertain everyone else. In fact, for some people it would be more embarrassing to not do what the stage hypnotist says, than to actually do it. It’s all about the context of the situation, which is in front of an audience.
When you see a psychologist, it is quite different. We are all about building trust and helping the person with what they want to change, so definitely no suggestions to cluck like a chicken at my clinic!
No 2. The hypnotist will “control” my mind. Fact: The hypnotist is merely making suggestions which you might find more agreeable in a state of trance.
No one can really make anyone do anything, but we can make suggestions. Even as you are reading this, I may make a suggestion to you, that you may feel quite thirsty. And the likelihood that you would really consider this suggestion, I might invite your mind to remember the time that you were at your thirstiest, and you enjoyed the quenching your thirst, with lovely clean water. If you are really absorbed and interested in what you are reading, you might even notice yourself imagining the thirst and drinking the water. Whether you do anything different would be of your choosing, of course.
As you might notice, the way that the hypnosis language is used, is one of giving choice and making your own decision, rather than making you do something.
Myth No 3. Hypnosis is weird & unusual. Fact: We actually use elements of hypnosis all the time in everyday life.
We use parts of hypnosis all of the time. For example, we might use our imagination to consider something in the future, like a conversation with someone you care about. Often you might play out the conversation in your mind as you see it might happen in the future (though we also prone to playing over all the anticipated problems, rather than seeing how well we can do). The use of hypnosis invites our mind to focus on a positive future, where we see ourselves having the skills to say and do what we want to, and responding to the other person in ways that we would like to.
We also often experience the hypnosis or “trance” state in our everyday lives. There are so many examples of where we become absorbed in something, while we do something else. I’m sure that if you drive a car, you can remember many instances of where you drove your car from home to somewhere you go quite often, and you become preoccupied with thoughts or daydreams. If you reflect back on the drive, you will know that you didn’t go through a red traffic light, but you may not remember it clearly. Similarly, we can become absorbed when we become immersed in a good book or movie, and literally transport ourselves to another world.
Lots of people can relate to these types of experience, where someone else in the house might be calling your name repeatedly, and you hadn’t even noticed. Though when they point it out to you, you realise that part of you had noticed, just not in a conscious way.
Myth No 4: I have a strong mind, so I’m not suggestible Fact: Being open to suggestions is not weakness, people with imagination have been shown to be better at hypnosis.
Nobody likes to think of themselves as being weak or less than somebody else, and this certainly is not what hypnosis is about. If anything, we often use hypnosis to build your belief in yourself, helping you to think about yourself in a way that builds your self confidence and self esteem.
In my experience, people with a great imagination, who are open to engaging with the process and willing to practice it, develop the best hypnotic skill.
Myth No 5. Hypnosis is a state of sleep. Fact: Hypnosis involves focussing the mind in a state of trance – the mind is active, rather than asleep.
This myth comes from the early thinking that hypnosis was a state of sleep. However, we now know that your mind is actually quite active during hypnosis. In fact it is a rich and rewarding experience, involves the focus of your mind, the use of your imagination, and some involvement of your physical senses.
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