Hypnosis or Hypnotherapy has been used for years to support mental health, personal growth, and positive behavioural change.
However, hypnosis is often misunderstood due to its portrayal in the media. TV shows and movies typically depict hypnosis as a way to control someone’s mind or force them to act against their will, creating fear and skepticism around its use. These portrayals are not only inaccurate but also misleading, as they reflect stage hypnosis—a form of entertainment—not the therapeutic practice used by mental health professionals.
In a clinical setting, hypnosis is a powerful tool that mental health professionals integrate with other therapies, like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), to help clients overcome fears, reduce anxiety, and challenge negative beliefs. Here are the real facts behind common myths about hypnosis:
Myth #1: Hypnosis is mind control and can make you do things against your will.
Fact: Hypnosis is not mind control. The role of the therapist or practitioner is to guide the person into focused attention, but the person remains an active participant.
In fact, a person under hypnosis can reject or ignore any suggestions that feel uncomfortable. Rather than being a tool of control, hypnotherapy empowers people to reduce stress, gain insights, and work through issues at their own pace, making it impossible to act against one’s values, ethics, or desires.
Myth #2: Hypnosis puts you in a trance or to sleep.
Fact: Hypnosis doesn’t involve a trance or even put clients to sleep; it’s more like a state of relaxed, focused attention with increased awareness of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
Clients remain fully in control and are free to explore or ignore any aspect they choose, much like being deeply absorbed in a book or movie. They may tune out minor distractions but can still respond to their surroundings if needed, and they can remember what happened during the session and can choose to disengage from hypnosis at any time.
Myth #3: Hypnosis allows access to deep hidden secrets or the subconscious.
Fact: Hypnosis doesn’t provide access to a hidden “subconscious.” Instead, it helps clients focus and become more receptive to suggestions and guided imagery, which can aid in visualising change.
The idea that hypnosis uncovers hidden memories or forces confessions is largely a media exaggeration. Hypnotherapy respects clients' boundaries, supporting them only in exploring areas they feel comfortable with.
Something that our centre often gets asked is “Can you use hypnosis to make my partner tell the truth?”
Unfortunately, that is not possible. Rather than revealing hidden truths, hypnotherapy is a conscious, collaborative process aimed at helping clients reach their personal goals, not uncover secrets.
Myth #4: Hypnosis is pseudoscience or uses black magic.
Fact: Clinical hypnosis is grounded in scientific research, unlike the exaggerated portrayals on TV that show hypnosis as mysterious or magical for entertainment purposes. In therapeutic settings, hypnosis is a valid, evidence-based tool used to support mental health, enhance therapy outcomes, and aid long-term behaviour change.
Moreover, hypnosis or hypnotherapy have been recognized by the British Medical Association (BMA), American Medical Association (AMA), American Psychological Association (APA), and British Psychological Society (BPS) (Davis, 2023).
However, hypnosis is not a therapy on its own. It is a tool that can be integrated with other types of psychotherapy. For instance, Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH) or Hypno-CBT (hypnosis integrated with CBT) has been shown to improve treatment outcomes. The American Psychological Association (2024) stated that it is a powerful tool for behaviour change and has clear benefits in psychotherapy, improving outcomes in areas such as pain management, anxiety, depression, sleep, and more.
Myth #5: Only the mentally weak can be hypnotised.
Fact: Hypnosis can actually work on anyone; given their consent and their motivation and willingness to do hypnotherapy.
Hypnosis works only if the participant is open to it because it’s a collaborative effort, where the client willingly engages and chooses what they wish to work on, with the therapist facilitating their goals.
Hypnotic responsiveness depends on a number of factors, including the participant's expectations, motivation, and ability to engage in imaginative activities and suggestions (Lynn & Green, 2023).
In fact, in a study by Hoeft and colleagues (2012) as cited by the APA (2024), it was found that people who are easily hypnotised have better connections in their brains. These connections help them focus their attention better when they're under hypnosis.
Myth #6: Hypnosis can help break habits quickly or show immediate results.
Fact: While hypnotherapy, particularly CBH, can be a valuable tool for addressing habits, it is not a quick solution. Habits are complex patterns of behaviour influenced by thoughts, feelings, and environmental cues, often deeply ingrained over time.
Effective habit change requires a multi-faceted approach (hence why it is integrated with other psychotherapy), commitment, effort, and ongoing practice, even with hypnosis. CBH typically involves multiple sessions for the treatment to be effective.
Some studies found that after 8 sessions of CBH, subjects showed significant effect on their mental health, self-resilience, improvement in sleep disorders and self-efficacy, and reduced anxiety (Heydarian et al., 2024; Norian et al., 2023).
Myth #7: Hypnosis is dangerous and risky.
Fact: Hypnosis is safe when done in a controlled and safe environment such as with a trained, qualified therapist or clinical psychologist who understands when to take precautions, and therapeutic application.
Not ALL mental disorders or issues can be treated with hypnosis. Hence why hypnosis should be practised with an understanding of individual differences and potential risks.
催眠的事实 | 没有魔法，只有科学
催眠疗法已被广泛应用于支持心理健康、促进个人成长和行为的积极改变。然而，由于媒体的误解，催眠常常被误解
电视节目和电影通常将催眠描绘成一种控制他人思想或强迫他们违背意愿行事的方式，造成了人们对催眠的恐惧和怀疑。这些描述不仅不准确，而且具有误导性，因为它们反映的是“舞台催眠”——一种用于娱乐的表演形式——而非心理健康专业人员所使用的治疗实践。
在临床环境中，催眠是心理健康专业人士与其他疗法（如CBT）结合使用的强大工具，帮助客户克服恐惧、减轻焦虑并挑战消极信念。以下是真正的催眠真相及对一些常见误区的澄清：
误区 #1：催眠是对心灵的控制，可以让人违背意愿行事。
事实：催眠并非心灵控制。治疗师的角色是引导人进入专注的状态，但人在催眠下仍然是主动参与的。
实际上，处于催眠状态下的人可以拒绝或忽略任何让他们感到不适的建议。催眠并不是一种控制工具，而是赋予人们减轻压力、获得洞察力、按自己节奏处理问题的能力，使他们不可能做出违反自身价值观、道德或意愿的行为。
误区 #2：催眠会让人进入一种昏迷或睡眠状态。
事实：催眠并不会让人进入昏迷或睡眠状态；它更像是一种放松、专注的状态，能增强对想法、情感和行为的觉察。
客户在催眠状态中仍完全控制自己，可以自由选择是否探索或忽略任何内容，就像被一本书或电影深深吸引一样。他们可能会屏蔽掉一些小干扰，但如果需要的话，仍然可以对周围环境作出反应，并能够记住催眠中的经历，随时可以退出催眠状态。
误区 #3：催眠可以揭示深层隐藏的秘密或潜意识
事实：催眠并不会提供对隐藏“潜意识”的访问。相反，它帮助来访者集中注意力，对建议和引导性意象更加开放，从而有助于构想改变的可能性。
催眠能揭露隐藏记忆或迫使人坦白的观念大多是媒体的夸大。催眠疗法尊重来访者的边界，仅支持他们探索感到舒适的领域。
我们中心经常被问到，“你能用催眠让我的伴侣说实话吗？”
不幸的是，这是不可能的。催眠治疗不是揭露真相的工具，而是一个有意识的、合作的过程，旨在帮助来访者实现个人目标，而非解开秘密。
误区 #4：催眠是伪科学或使用黑魔法。
事实：临床催眠有科学研究为基础，不同于电视上夸张的、神秘或带魔力的娱乐化描述。在治疗环境中，催眠是一种有效的、有科学依据的工具，用于支持心理健康、增强治疗效果和促进长期行为改变。
此外，催眠或催眠疗法已得到British Medical Association (BMA)、American Medical Association (AMA)、American Psychological Association (APA)和British Psychological Society (BPS)的认可 (Davis, 2023)。
然而，催眠本身并不是一种独立的治疗方法。它是一种可以与其他心理治疗类型相结合的工具。例如，Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH) 或 Hypno-CBT（催眠与CBT相结合的治疗）已被证明可以改善治疗效果。American Psychological Association (2024)指出，催眠是一种用于行为改变的强大工具，在心理治疗中的好处显而易见，特别是在缓解疼痛、焦虑、抑郁、改善睡眠等方面。
误区 #5：只有精神脆弱的人才容易被催眠。
事实：催眠实际上对任何人都可能有效；前提是他们同意并有动机和意愿进行催眠治疗。
催眠仅在参与者开放的情况下起作用，因为它是一个协作的过程，来访者主动参与并选择他们想要处理的内容，由治疗师协助实现他们的目标。
催眠反应性取决于许多因素，包括参与者的期望、动机以及在催眠状态下投入想象活动和接受建议的能力 (Lynn & Green, 2023)。
事实上，根据APA (2024)引用的Hoeft等 (2012)的研究，容易被催眠的人在大脑中有更好的连接，有助于他们在催眠状态下更好地集中注意力。
误区 #6：催眠可以快速帮助打破习惯或立即见效。
事实：虽然催眠疗法（尤其是CBH）可以成为解决习惯问题的有价值工具，但它并不是快速的解决方案。习惯是由想法、情感和环境线索影响的复杂行为模式，往往经过长期形成。
有效的习惯改变需要多方面的支持（因此通常与其他心理治疗结合），以及承诺、努力和不断的练习，即使在催眠的帮助下也是如此。通常，CBH需要多个疗程来有效治疗。
研究表明，经过8次CBH疗程后，参与者在心理健康、自我复原力、改善睡眠障碍、自我效能和减少焦虑方面有显著效果 (Heydarian et al., 2024; Norian et al., 2023)。
误区 #7：催眠是危险且有风险的。
事实：在受过专业培训的合格治疗师或临床心理学家的安全环境中进行时，催眠是安全的。
并非所有心理问题或障碍都适合通过催眠治疗，因此催眠治疗需要理解个体差异，并在必要时采取防范措施。
FAKTA TENTANG HIPNOSIS | BUKAN MAGIK, TAPI SAINS
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