If you’re on this website you’re probably wondering about alternative medicine, specifically about hypnosis. Well Harvard Health Publishing says that:
“Hypnosis is one of the oldest forms of psychotherapy in the Western world, and it may also be the most misunderstood. Although long associated with charlatans or performers, all true hypnosis is, by definition, self-hypnosis. In spite of the prevailing myth, nobody can be hypnotized against his or her will. Instead, hypnosis is generally induced by focusing attention on positive mental imagery.”
When you stop and think about it, hypnosis is a lot like meditation. And meditation has massive health benefits. Studies show meditation can lengthen Telomeres, the caps at the end of DNA, which protects the DNA from damage.
While meditation and hypnosis are not the same, having clear differences in methodology, and application. When in a hypnotic state, the mind is aware of everything, but is focused suggestions given by the hypnotherapist. These suggestions help a patents focus say sharp and address the matters like better sleep or quitting smoking.
Some people have had success using hypnosis to stop smoking. Chronicled in a 2015 article in The Atlantic, Mark Hall, a professional hypnotherapist and licensed social worker, helped many people undergo hypnosis for just that purpose.
Both meditation and hypnosis can help improve focus, and even change the brain in positive ways long term. Research from Stanford University shows found that hypnosis changes the way blood flows to areas in the brain, and Short-term meditation increased brain blood flow!
While science does support hypnotherapy, just as much as Hormone Replacement Therapy or Botox hypnosis is surrounded by myth. Botox is physical visible, and hormone levels can be readily measured, but hypnosis seems like voodoo. As Clifford N. Lazarus Ph.D. wrote for Psychology Today,
“Hypnosis is, perhaps, one of the most misunderstood and controversial methods of psychological treatment. The myths and misconceptions that surround hypnotherapy mostly stem from people’s ideas about stage hypnotism. The truth is that stage hypnotism is essentially a theatrical performance and has about as much in common with bona fide clinical hypnosis as many Hollywood movies have with real life.”