Self-hypnosis is a learnt skill which enables someone to access a state of hypnosis for themselves. This is usually achieved through a focusing, relaxation or visualisation exercise, or combination of these.
It can be learnt from a book or recording but is most commonly taught by a hypnotist to someone who is in trance.
- Hypnotherapists will often teach self-hypnosis to a patient in trance to enhance the learning. They may even install a trigger to access hypnosis.
Why would a patient need self-hypnosis?
The main reason to learn self-hypnosis is to increase the amount of time that your brain is receiving the beneficial suggestion you came to therapy for. However, a voice recording on your phone could easily do that, so why go to the effort of learning self-hypnosis.
- Once learned self-hypnosis remains with you – it doesn’t get lost, wiped, dropped in the bath or become inaccessible with a software up grade.
- Once learned you can use it for other things – A recording never changes but you can adapt your self-hypnosis either to be a better fit for you or for another other topic.
Hypnotic recordings are a valid part of any intervention, but they are used when the repetition of a core suggestion is import, Self-hypnosis by contrast gives you control and speeds up your therapy.
How does it differ from meditation (Penazzi, De Pisapia 2022)
This is something of a controversial question as there are many similarities between the two:
- Both sometimes use relaxation approaches.
- Both enhance absorption on the inner experience.
- Functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) scans of the two states show substantial overlaps in the areas of the brain active when in these states. Although, it should be noted that they are not a perfect match.
There are however several differences:
- Although it is widely considered that most people can access hypnosis the depth to which they then go is generally perceived to be a matter in innate talent, this is different to meditation in which skill growth through practice is assumed.
- Hypnosis commonly involves dissociation from the environment and self, whereas mediation frequently employs enhanced association with the self.
Want to do self-hypnosis for yourself?
See my blog – How do I do self-hypnosis?
References