Hypnosis is a natural state of focused attention; a trance-like state. Your mind becomes more engaged with your experience and less distracted by everything else going on around you.
‘The American Psychological Association (APA) …..defines hypnosis as ‘a state of consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness, characterised by an enhanced capacity for response to suggestion.’
You are not asleep, and you are not out of control. Furthermore, most people are aware of what is happening, able to think, and able to choose what they go along with.
In simple terms, it’s a bit like those moments when you become absorbed in a good book, a film, or even your own thoughts, where time seems to pass differently and your attention is fully engaged. It will often feel like we are in a ‘trance’ or day-dreaming.
In hypnotherapy, we use this natural ability in a structured and collaborative way, to help you move towards the changes you want to make.
Common myths and misunderstandings with hypnosis
Is hypnosis mind control?
No. Hypnosis is a collaborative process. You remain aware and able to make choices. Nothing happens ‘to’ you, it’s something you take part in. We call it a collaborative approach.
Are you asleep or ‘out of it’?
No. Although the word hypnosis comes from the Greek word for sleep, it’s actually an awake state of focused attention.
Can someone force you to do something against your will?
No. The evidence does not support this, people respond to suggestions because they fit with what they want, not because control has been taken away.
Does it only work on certain people?
Most people can experience hypnosis to some degree. Some people find it easier than others, particularly those who are good at becoming absorbed in their thoughts or imagination.
How the trance state of hypnosis works
Hypnosis isn’t a separate or unusual state. Instead, it is a shift in how your mind is using its normal abilities.
Things like attention, expectation, and imagination are always part of how we experience the world. However, in hypnosis, these processes become a bit more focused and coordinated.
When your attention is more focused, background distractions tend to fade. Similarly, when your imagination is more engaged, ideas and images feel more vivid. Because something fits with what you want, your mind is more likely to respond to it.
Psychologists often use the word ‘absorption’ to describe this, the ability to become deeply engaged in an experience. It’s something we all do naturally, just to different degrees.
What does the science say?
Research suggests that hypnosis can change how different parts of the brain communicate. This particularly affects areas involved in attention, self-monitoring, and noticing what feels important.
David Spiegel and his colleagues has shown that during hypnosis there can be changes in connectivity between brain regions involved in focus and those linked to self-reflection. This may help explain why people often report feeling less caught up in overthinking and more engaged in what they are focusing on.
There are different ways of explaining hypnosis. Some approaches focus on expectation, motivation, and the relationship between therapist and client. Others focus more on attention and brain processes. Most modern views bring these together, recognising that hypnosis involves both what is happening in the brain and what is happening between people.
In clinical settings, practitioners often use hypnosis alongside other approaches. Research, including systematic reviews, suggests it can be helpful for things like managing pain, reducing distress during medical procedures, and some anxiety-related difficulties, although like any approach, it does not work in the same way for everyone.
A brief note on history
People have described trance-like or deeply focused states across many cultures for centuries, in meditation, healing practices, and religious rituals.
In the 19th century, James Braid began to describe hypnosis as a natural process involving focused attention, moving away from earlier ideas about magnetism or external forces. Milton Erickson is often thought of as being the Father of modern hypnosis, using a gentle, indirect style of language; I mainly use this Ericksonian style.
Since then, hypnosis has been explored in both psychology and medicine.
What this means for you?
In practice, hypnosis is not something mysterious or something that is done to you. It’s a way of using your mind’s natural abilities, attention, imagination, and expectation, in a more focused and purposeful way.
In a session, we use these processes together, in a structured and collaborative way, and always in line with what you want to achieve.
For many people, that simply creates the right conditions for change to feel more manageable, more natural, and more achievable.
If you’re curious to see how these changes can work in an area of your life, then please follow the link to book in a FREE Hypnotherapy Consultation