We’ve all seen those movies, right?

The lead character walks into a psychotherapist’s office, lies horizontally on the long couch and starts talking about their problems. 

Then hypnosis! And there are animated spirals. 

Well, it turns out hypnosis is not just spirals and yo-yos. 

While hypnosis has been portrayed in Hollywood as being a mystical idea, hypnosis has actual research that shows that it can improve people’s chronic pain, IBS, insomnia, and other issues in one’s life. 

Yishan spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Bonet, a licensed psychologist and a licensed hypnotherapist. She spoke of the many benefits of hypnosis and the ways it works in a scientific manner to break away from the mystical views many people have towards this form of therapy. 

Hypnosis works by leading people into a more relaxed brain-wave state with the guidance of the hypnotherapist. During this process, the neural pathways in the brain are changed - building new ones while blockings old ones. While it has similar concepts to other forms of therapy, like CBT or CBTI, Dr. Bonet insists that hypnosis takes the sessions one step further by adding a positive step. This encourages people to accept thoughts that come and let them go. 

It is important to note that hypnosis does not necessarily work for everyone, and Dr. Bonet discusses certain assessments she gives to determine whether someone qualifies for hypnotherapy. 

The main take away:

Hypnosis is one of many effective options for therapy! It instills the concept that we should all include in our toolboxes - Let things go, let things be. Accept thoughts that come and go.

Many components of hypnosis have something in common with other psychological intervention of insomnia. CBT-I is still the most evidence-based treatment for insomnia. Even though there are limited clinical evidence for whether hypnosis is effective for treating insomnia, hypnosis may work for some people very well.

This article is brought to you by Mind & Body Garden Psychology —- Psychological services available in multiple languages (English, Mandarin, Cantonese): 650-434-2563 (Voicemail only); admin@mindbodygarden.com. We are out-of-network providers, HSA/FSA accepted. Send us a text message on the phone, or call us and leave a voicemail.

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