FAQs

1. What exactly is hypnosis?

2. Can anyone be hypnotized?
3. What is the deal with the watch?
4. Can hypnosis make you act against your will
(ie, do something you don’t want to do)?
5. Can hypnosis enhance your memory?
6. Can hypnosis be used to help me lose weight or
quit smoking?
7. Can hypnosis be used to regress to an earlier
stage in life (ie, for age-regression)?
8. Can hypnosis be used in place of anesthesia
during surgery?
 Hypnosis
A relaxed state of heightened suggestibility.

15% of people resistant,

15% easily hypnotized
(“highs”), 70%
somewhere in between.

What is the deal with

the watch?
 Hypnosis as Dissociated
Consciousness
– Hypnosis is the dissociation (“splitting”) of the
mind.
– Hilgard’s “hidden observer” hypothesis.
Stage Hypnotists
 Hypnosis as Social Construct
- Hypnosis is the skillful manipulation of
cognitive dissonance and our desire for
approval to get us to be compliant.

Hypnosis =

+ +
Can hypnosis make you act against your will (ie,
do something you don’t want to do)?
Can hypnosis enhance your
memory?
 Is hypnosis more effective than positive
suggestion for therapy (for something like,
quitting smoking)?
Results are mixed.

- Opponents cite the

difficulty of making these
studies “blind”. What would
you use for the “placebo”?
 Can hypnosis be used to regress to an
earlier stage in life (ie, for age-regression)?
 “What day of the week is it?”
Hypnotically age-regressed to fourth
birthday: 82% correct!
Actual four-year-olds: 0/10 correct!
Can hypnosis be used in place
of anesthesia during surgery?
 Hypnosis vs Placebo Effect?
Kirjanen (2012) conducted a review
of studies published after 1997.

“Based on these results, it can be

concluded that the analgesic effect
which treatment with hypnosis may
have on acute produced pain is
probably more than just placebo
effect in terms of brain
functionality.”

Kirjanen, S. (2012, May 06). The brain activity of pain relief during hypnosis and placebo treatment. Retrieved from

https://jeps.efpsa.org/articles/10.5334/jeps.at/
Modern Research on Hypnosis
• fMRI study
• Stroop
effect test
Modern Research on Hypnosis
• fMRI study
• Stroop
effect test
 Summary
1. Can hypnosis make you act against your will (ie, do
something you don’t want to do)? Probably not, but it is hard to
know since people obey even when not hypnotized.
2. Can hypnosis enhance your memory? Probably not, but the
expectation that it does may make you prone to making things
up (ie, memory construction).
3. Is hypnosis more effective than positive suggestion (for
something like weight loss or smoking cessation)? Probably
not, but believing it works may create dissonance that is
motivating.
4. Can hypnosis be used to regress to an earlier stage in life
(ie, for age-regression)? Highly unlikely
5. Can hypnosis be used in place of anesthesia during
surgery? Yes, for some, but it isn’t clear if the results are from
hypnosis or distraction and relaxation.
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