Myths and Misconceptions: The truth about Clinical Hypnosis

Just watches and witch-craft. A stage-show trick? Or at best a placebo.. These are popular narratives on hypnosis. Actually, there’s a lot of evidence for clinical hypnosis: clinical trials show its not just placebo, while neuroimaging confirms why this is the case – we can show hypnosis changing the brain in real-time.

Myth 1: It’s just placebo

There's a notion that hypnosis is pure placebo, not worth the money. It’s an understandable position – there’s no tangible quality to it compared with a medication or exercise program. But it’s untrue. Clinical trials compare the results for patients under hypnosis with ‘controls’ and find a positive benefit. That’s encouraging, though studies can vary and the design is not always great. The real kicker is the brain scan studies. Neuroimagery actually shows the brain change under hypnosis.

Myth 2: Hypnosis is Mind Control

One of the most pervasive myths surrounding hypnosis is that it involves mind control, where the hypnotist can manipulate the subject to act against their will. The myth stems from sensationalized portrayals in movies and stage shows. It’s not ture. In reality, hypnosis is a collaborative process. It’s super gentle. The patient can stop at any time and is conscious throughout the experience.

Myth 3: Only Gullible People Can be Hypnotized

Another misconception is that only highly suggestible or gullible individuals can be hypnotized. In truth, hypnosis is a natural state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility that almost anyone can experience. While some people may be more responsive to hypnosis than others, the ability to enter a hypnotic trance is a normal human capacity.

Summing up

There are many myths about hypnosis – here we tackled a few. Hypnosis is safe, effective, works for almost everyone, and is backed by scientific research. Probably the most pervasive myth about hypnosis is that it is just placebo. Yet clinical trials and brain scan data show the very real changes it can make

Bibliography

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Nash, M. R., & Barnier, A. J. (2008). The Oxford handbook of hypnosis: Theory, research, and practice. Oxford University Press.

Oakley, D. A., & Halligan, P. W. (2013). Hypnotic suggestion: Opportunities for cognitive neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14(8), 565-576.

Wolf, T.G.; Faerber, K.A.; Rummel, C.; Halsband, U.; Campus, G. Functional Changes in Brain Activity Using Hypnosis: A Systematic Review. Brain Sci. 2022, 12, 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010108

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