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Hypnotherapy has been proven to improve patient outcomes for several mental disorders. Some people may be able to benefit from including hypnotherapy into their mental wellness routine. Learn about how it works, when it works, and how much hypnotherapy costs.
Introduction
If you have ever been extremely engaged in some kind of entertainment, to the point time seems to fly by without you recalling events in exact detail, you have experienced a low level hypnosis. While hypnosis is typically associated with stage performances that embarrass participants, it is really more about a state of mind that can be identified in your neural activity. It may be a powerful tool for helping people overcome trauma, phobias, and other mental disorders.
Contents
Hypnotherapy Basics
Hypnotherapy is a practice that attempts to use hypnosis in a clinical setting to help "treat" or "manage" a neurological disorder. It combines some practices from both traditional therapy and hypnosis to reshape your neural pathways.
One of the brain's strongest adaptive strategies is captured by the phrase, "neurons that fire together will wire together". That is to say, when we repeat a thought, action, or reaction, it uses the same neural pathway. If a neural pathway is used daily, it becomes stronger and more engrained into our physiology. This makes it nearly impossible to change at some points. Our brain does this so that we can improve, the idea of practice and repetition leading to improvement. However, this adaptation can also work against us when it cements bad habits or negative associations.
Hypnosis as a "State of Dissociation"
Hypnosis is a state of mind where three brain centers are altered. There is a decreased activity in the Salience Network, which is often associated with "assigning importance" to incoming stimuli and directing it to the correct processing center. Also, lower activity in the Executive Control Network, which deals with complex neural functions such as problem solving, reasoning, and working memory. Finally, the Default Mode Network is heightened. This brain center is associated with daydreaming and when you don't feel attentive to the present.
This combination creates a brain state that is 'dissociative'. One of the most important things here is that any historical associations, learned reactions, and previous perceptions to external stimuli are dampened. These associations are what make exposure therapy nearly impossible for some people as their logical mind gets blocked by the rush of adrenaline and emotion.
Hypnotherapy provides the opportunity to create a new neural association that will not be immediately hijacked by the older, stronger neural pathway. When performed properly, this can help to curb the involuntary reactions to stimuli characteristic of some neurological conditions.
Therapy vs Stage Hypnosis
In the brain state described above, the mind is very open to suggestions made by external sources. All of your critical reasoning sectors that would normally reject the external influence are now dampened. Stage hypnosis takes advantage of this state to create a spectacle of participants' lack of resistance. However, this is a potentially dangerous practice as there could be real consequences for the participant's mind as new neural pathways for around seemingly random stimuli.
Can anyone be hypnotized?
In theory, anyone can have a hypnotic experience. In practice, it is estimated only 65% of the population has the neural structure necessary to be lead into a hypnotic state. The only way to know for sure is by working directly with someone who knows how to use hypnosis and getting their opinion on your susceptibility.
However, there are some superficial tests that are correlated with hypnotizability, but they are by no means definitive. The most well-known is the 'Spiegel Eye Roll Test'. Developed in-part by David Spiegel, MD, and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.
Relax your head and neck looking straight forward.
Look upward towards your eyebrows, then further to the top of your head.
While looking up slowly close your eyes.
Open them and let your eyes come back into focus.
The amount of white visible as you are looking up and slowly closing your eyes is somewhat correlated with susceptibility. The more white, the more hypnotizable.
When reviewed by a professional, you will get a rank from 0 - 12 on the 'Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale'. It was found in a study conducted at Stanford that after the age of 25, an individual's susceptibility to hypnosis is largely locked in place. This is likely because the brain's plasticity drops dramatically around this age.
Hypnotherapy Treatments
Hypnotherapy is particularly good for treating conditions that have been reinforced by neural circuits and become habits (or compulsions) in addition to their chemical addictiveness. Specifically, according to a meta-analysis on PubMed, "hypnosis was more effective... when combined with other psychological interventions than when used as a stand-alone treatment".
Hypnotherapy for PTSD
PTSD and its related family of trauma disorders almost all originate from a singular, intense event. The intense emotions experienced force the body into a state of preservation where you may forget or imagine various things to help cope. This can block the ability to confront these emotions and resolve them. States of hypnosis can allow for a more controlled environment where these events can be explored and hopefully resolved.
Hypnotherapy for Anxiety
Hypnotherapy can potentially help with some forms of anxiety. By entering a dissociative state, you could potentially confront otherwise anxiety-inducing stimuli in a controlled environment. In a meta-analysis of research, experts found that "the average participant receiving hypnosis reduced anxiety more than about 79% of control participants". This provided statistically significant evidence of its efficacy in improving outcomes.
Hypnotherapy for Phobias
Intense phobias can be crippling as you have no control over your reaction to seeing the stimuli. This can be inherent or associated with a past event, but hypnotherapy creates a state of mind that allows you to interact with the triggering stimuli without intense fear. Hypnotherapy gives your brain's cognitive center the opportunity to retake control of your body and emotions when in the presence of your phobia trigger.
Hypnotherapy for Addiction
Various forms of addiction are good cases for the use of hypnotherapy as a way to augment a traditional treatment. Studies have shown that clinician-guided hypnotherapy had an improvement in the success of individuals quitting smoking, in addition to traditional methods of such as accountability groups.
Hypnotherapy for Pain Management
The mental state of dissociation has been shown to help dampen a patient's ability to feel pain. There are even claims from ancient times of gurus being able to perform surgery without anesthesia on hypnotized patients. While there is no evidence to support these claims, it lends to the practice's credit.
Hypnotherapy Cost
Hypnotherapy costs anywhere from free to several hundreds of dollars. Its success is highly dependent on your hypnotizability and brain structure. Therefore, its effectiveness will vary on a case-by-case basis, but it is proven to be a powerful tool that significantly improves patient outcomes when paired with other therapies. Consider testing how susceptible you are before investing in a practitioner or using a self-guided method.
Self-Guided
In theory, you could guide yourself into a hypnotic state, similar to several forms of meditation, and then use the dissociation to intentionally change you neural patterns. However, it can be difficult to make these changes with intention while in a true dissociative state of mind. This method is recommended primarily for cases where you are attempting to break a bad habit or create a good one as they are lower stakes and have a clear target.
Hypnotherapy Apps
Hypnotherapy apps are designed to help you to perform a self-guided hypnotherapy session. They contain a library of audio and video content that was created as part os a cohesive program.
Reveri is an app designed by Dr. David Spiegel, who has spent his entire career conducting research and practicing clinical hypnotherapy. He is based at the University of Stanford and has been conducting experiments and doing neural imaging to learn more about states of hypnosis.
Nerva is another app that has a library of meditations meant to induce a hypnotic state and guide you through a gut focused therapy program. The app was designed by a company called Mindset Health who are developing a whole suite of different apps that use hypnotherapy for various use cases including mental health, IBS, addiction, and more.
Clinician Guidance
The most expensive and reliable method is working with a trained and certified clinician. A professional will be the best at navigating any nuances in your cases and properly determining if you are a good candidate for this form of therapy. Especially if your case involves extremely intense reactions or conditions that make your day-to-day more complicated: trauma, OCD, phobias and more. Remember this article is meant to be educational and should not be taken as medical advice, please seek a certified professional if you feel unwell.
Hypnotherapy Certifications
As of now, there are two accredited certifications for practicing hypnotherapy. They are provided by "The Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis" and "The American Society for Clinical Hypnosis". Both have been reviewed by the American Psychological Association. It is recommended that you consider clinicians that are both certified and recommended by a trusted source.
Conclusion
Hypnotherapy is more nuanced than stage performances would lead you to believe. It involves more than simply forgetting about a trauma or phobia you have. Hypnosis is a specific state of mind that dulls your cognitive presence and can be shown using neural imaging. Hypnotherapy uses this "state of dissociation" to intentionally retrain your brain's inherent connections and associations. Its actual efficacy is unclear, but there is a breadth of research showing that when combined with a more traditional treatment, that hypnotherapy leads to better patient outcomes in the long run.
If you are highly hypnotizable, and not everyone is, this may be an option for reducing and mitigating symptoms of various mental disorders. It has been researched and confirmed as effective for cases such as: trauma, addiction, anxiety, and more. There are free options for mild cases, but working with a certified clinician is the best option for achieving measurable results.
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Sources
Huberman, Andrew, and David Spiegel. “Dr. David Spiegel: Using Hypnosis to Enhance Mental & Physical Health & Performance.” Huberman Lab, Scicomm Media LLC, 16 Oct. 2024, www.hubermanlab.com/episode/dr-david-spiegel-using-hypnosis-to-enhance-mental-and-physical-health-and-performance.
Valentine KE, Milling LS, Clark LJ, Moriarty CL. THE EFFICACY OF HYPNOSIS AS A TREATMENT FOR ANXIETY: A META-ANALYSIS. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2019 Jul-Sep;67(3):336-363. doi: 10.1080/00207144.2019.1613863. PMID: 31251710.
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