Hypnotherapy / Guided Imagery

Hypnotherapy is not stage hypnosis that you see on TV or in the movies.  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.

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.

Hypnotherapy is an adjunct form of therapy, meaning it is typically used alongside other forms of psychological or medical treatment, such as traditional modes of talk therapy. But hypnotherapy can have many applications as a part of treatment for anxiety, stress, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, substance abuse including tobacco, sexual dysfunction, undesirable compulsive behaviors, mood disorders, and bad habits. It can be used to help improve sleep or to address learning disorders, communication issues, and relationship challenges.

Hypnotherapy can aid in pain management and help to resolve medical concerns such as digestive disorders, skin conditions, symptoms of autoimmune disorders, and the gastrointestinal side effects of pregnancy or chemotherapy. Research has found that surgical patients and burn victims can achieve reduced recovery time, anxiety, and pain through hypnotherapy. It can also be used by dentists to help patients control their fears before procedures or to treat teeth grinding and other oral conditions.

What to Expect

Although there are different techniques, clinical hypnotherapy is typically performed in a calm, therapeutic environment. The therapist will guide you into a relaxed, focused state, typically through the use of mental imagery and soothing verbal repetition. In this state, highly responsive to constructive, transformative messages, the therapist may guide you through recognizing a problem, releasing problematic thoughts or responses, and considering and ideally accepting suggested alternate responses before returning to normal awareness and reflecting on the suggestions together.

Is someone undergoing hypnotherapy unconscious?

No. Unlike dramatic portrayals of hypnosis in movies, on TV, or on stage, you will not be unconscious, asleep, or in any way lose control of yourself or your thoughts. You will hear the therapist’s suggestions, but it is up to you to decide whether or not to act on them.

Can hypnotherapy be dangerous?

In the real world, the practice of hypnotherapy is not as scary, simple, or powerful as its pop culture depictions. Hypnosis by a trained therapist is a safe alternative or supplement to medication. It is not a form of mind control—which is impossible to achieve. Clients remain completely awake throughout hypnotherapy sessions and should be able to fully recall their experiences. They also fully retain free will. If a therapist’s “post-hypnotic suggestion” is effective, it’s because they are suggesting something the client wants to achieve and, in their relaxed state, that individual is better able to envision and commit to a suggested positive path to change.

How It Works

Hypnosis itself is not a form of psychotherapy, but a tool that helps clinicians facilitate various types of therapies and medical or psychological treatments. Trained health care providers certified in clinical hypnosis can decide, with their patient, if hypnosis should be used along with other treatments. As with psychotherapy, the length of hypnosis treatment varies, depending on the complexity of the problem.

Is being hypnotizable a sign of mental weakness?

No; in fact, in the context of hypnotherapy, greater “hypnotizability” is a distinct advantage. While this trait varies widely among individuals, it is not the only factor that contributes to the success of the practice. As with any other therapeutic tool or approach, hypnotism always works best when the client is a willing participant. Such openness is important, because even people with high levels of hypnotizability may require multiple sessions to begin to see progress. Children, however, are generally more readily hypnotizable than adults and may respond to hypnotherapy within just a few visits.

Are changes achieved through hypnotism real and sustainable?

Yes, they are as real as any other change achieved through talk therapy techniques in that they are fundamentally cases of mind over matter. Comparable to someone experiencing the benefits of the placebo effect, the successful hypnotherapy client is self-healing: The physiological and neurological changes achieved may not have come from a medication but they are just as real.

Can you hypnotize yourself?

Yes, and it can be a safe way to relax and re-establish a sense of control in stressful moments, or address unwanted or harmful behaviors. Once someone has learned the techniques of healthy hypnotic suggestion, typically from their own hypnotherapist, all that is required is a quiet space, openness, and practice. A hypnotherapist may provide clients with audio recordings to use at home reinforce messages learned during sessions.

Here are some of my guided imagery/hypnosis practices on my Spotify Podcast.