"You Can't Hypnotise Me..." Common Misunderstandings About Hypnotherapy
Mention that you're a hypnotherapist and you'll often get one of two reactions.
Someone will either say, "Can you make me cluck like a chicken?" or they'll smile politely and admit, "I don't really believe in hypnosis."
I've heard both.
In fact, when I recently met with my coaching training cohort, several people jokingly started swinging imaginary pocket watches in front of me. It was all good fun, but it reminded me just how many misconceptions still exist about hypnotherapy.
The reality is that therapeutic hypnosis looks nothing like the version we've been shown in films or on television.
Myth 1: "Hypnosis is mind control."
Probably the biggest misconception is that, under hypnosis, someone else takes control of your mind. In reality, the opposite is true.
Throughout hypnosis, you remain aware of what's happening around you. You can hear the therapist speaking, you can choose whether or not to follow their suggestions, and you can end the session whenever you wish.
No ethical hypnotherapist can make you do something against your values or morals.
Hypnosis isn't about losing control. It's about learning to use your own mind more effectively.
Myth 2: "Only weak-minded people can be hypnotised."
This is another persistent myth. Research actually suggests that hypnotic responsiveness has very little to do with intelligence or mental strength.
People who are able to concentrate well, use their imagination, become absorbed in books, films or music, or focus their attention deeply often respond extremely well.
Rather than being a sign of weakness, hypnosis relies on the ability to focus attention.
Myth 3: "I'll be unconscious."
Therapeutic hypnosis isn't sleep. Although many people describe feeling deeply relaxed, most are fully aware throughout the session.
Some people even wonder afterwards whether they were hypnotised at all because they remember everything that happened. That's perfectly normal.
Hypnosis is generally better thought of as a state of focused attention than a state of unconsciousness.
Myth 4: "Hypnosis is just a stage trick for gullible people."
One of my closest friends recently told me exactly this. My response wasn't to argue. After all, you don't need to believe in hypnosis in the same way you don't need to believe in physiotherapy for it to have an effect.
Hypnosis isn't based on belief. It's a psychological process involving focused attention, imagination and responsiveness to suggestion.
Researchers have been studying hypnosis for well over a century, and modern brain imaging techniques have demonstrated measurable changes in brain activity during hypnosis. While scientists continue to investigate exactly how hypnosis works, there is broad agreement that hypnosis is a genuine psychological phenomenon rather than "people pretending."
Whether someone chooses to use hypnotherapy is, of course, a personal decision. But not believing that hypnosis exists is rather like not believing that memory, attention or emotion exist simply because we can't physically see them.
So... what is hypnotherapy?
For me, hypnotherapy is simply another way of helping people make positive changes.
Sometimes our conscious mind knows exactly what we want to do.
"I want to stop overthinking."
"I want to feel more confident."
"I want to stop reacting with anxiety."
Yet despite our best intentions, we continue to repeat familiar patterns.
Hypnotherapy helps people access the automatic thoughts, beliefs and habits that influence those patterns, making it easier to create lasting change.
It isn't magic. It isn't mind control. It certainly isn't swinging a pocket watch.
It's simply another evidence-informed therapeutic approach that, for many people, can be remarkably effective when used appropriately.
And perhaps that's why I enjoy combining it with coaching.
Coaching helps people discover where they want to go.
Hypnotherapy can help remove some of the internal barriers that make getting there more difficult.
For me, they don't compete with one another. They complement one another beautifully.
