Excessive alcohol use can impair working memory, potentially hindering treatment outcomes. Suggestion-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation (SBCR), a hypnotic technique of potential benefit for restoring working memory in brain injury patients, may hold promise for alcohol use disorder (AUD). This randomized controlled trial compared SBCR-hypnosis to mindfulness-based hypnosis among individuals in AUD...
This randomized controlled trial examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a mindful hypnotherapy intervention (MHI) integrating positive psychology suggestions to enhance well-being in older adults. Sixty-two community-dwelling adults aged 60–95 years were randomized to MHI, non-hypnotic relaxation, or wait-list control. The four-session intervention combined hypnotic induction,...
Unregulated negative emotion increases the risk of burnout by 67%, which can impair performance and cause physical symptoms. Hypnotic guided imagery (HGI) is a deep relaxation-based intervention designed to shift negative to positive emotion. However, the physiological basis of emotional changes remains unclear. This feasibility study examined the acceptability and effects of HGI on emotional...
Cluster B personality disorders are characterized by pervasive emotional dysregulation and rigid interpersonal patterns, and they remain challenging to treat. Mindful hypnotherapy (MH), which integrates mindfulness and clinical hypnosis, may offer a transdiagnostic approach to cognitive and emotional inflexibility. This randomized controlled trial compared the efficacy of MH with an active...
Hypnosis has been described as a tool that facilitates immersion into roles by modulating cognitive and attentional processes. This study aimed to evaluate how hypnosis can help actors create and interpret characters. Previous research has occasionally reported gender differences in hypnotic susceptibility and responses to hypnotic interventions. Although not a primary aim of this study,...
Hypnosis is increasingly used in clinical contexts to improve pain management and is supported by experimental research, showing reduced pain perception to controlled nociceptive stimuli. This study investigated spatial selectivity of focused hypnotic analgesia (FHA), a technique used to reduce pain in one restricted body part. Series of brief contact heat stimuli were applied randomly to the...
High hypnotizability predicts greater similarity between the cortical correlates of actual and imagined action (functional equivalence, FE). The study investigated whether motor imagery (MI) training (MIT) improves subjective experience, chronometric indices, and the EEG correlates of MI (like physical training), and whether absorption, imagery abilities, and interoceptive sensibility influence...
The micro-phenomenological interview is a technique for investigating phenomenology in detail during an activity lasting seconds to minutes. Here, we applied it to understanding the moment-to-moment experiences of subjects responding to imaginative suggestions that were aimed at temporarily altering perceived reality through deployment of phenomenological control. Our intention was to generate...
Chronic pain is a health issue for millions of people and costs billions of dollars in health care and work productivity. Medical interventions, while sometimes beneficial, often fail, and issues surrounding opioid analgesics constitute a significant concern. Hypnosis has shown great promise in reducing suffering from chronic pain, but it is often applied incorrectly or insufficiently to...
Mystical experiences (MEs) are often profound and transformative encounters with a transcendent reality. Reported across many cultures and religions, these experiences are commonly characterized by a sense of unity, transcendence of time and space, positive mood, ineffability, and a noetic quality. Theoretical models have emphasized psychological, neurological, and sociocultural explanations to...
The field of hypnosis has intrigued clinicians and researchers alike for more than 200 years. Below, a review of hypnosis is presented from historical, theoretical, experimental, and clinical perspectives in order to provide those readers less aware of the field with a broad foundation. The literature reveals that while theoretically driven experimental research has led to groundbreaking...
The purpose of the present study is to determine feasibility and acceptability of a standardized hypnosis intervention for a mystical experience based on a conceptual framework including cognitive expectancy, demand characteristics, the induced hypnotic state, and the role of hypnotizability. Ten college student participants provided informed consent and received a hypnotic induction and...
Mystical-type experiences can be induced through techniques like hypnosis and meditation. These experiences are common in near-death experiences (NDEs) and have been linked to paranormal beliefs. This study explored auto-induced cognitive trance (AICT) as a method to induce mystical-type experiences and NDE outside of life threatening situations (NDE-like), as well as examining the influence of...
The potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic, mystical experiences, and peak spiritual experiences are of increasing interest among clinicians, researchers, and the public. Several studies have proposed potential parallels between the altered states of consciousness associated with psychedelics and hypnosis. Although there has been increased interest in psychedelics, mystical experiences,...
For over a decade, the growing use of smartphone apps provided a way to make hypnotherapy more widely accessible. However, available apps vary widely in the quality of hypnosis provided to users. This study systematically reviewed apps delivering some form of hypnotherapy intervention and summarized their characteristics. Using hypnosis-related search terms, a list of apps was generated,...
In the 1970s, researchers and theoreticians of states of consciousness jointly discussed hypnosis and psychedelic alterations of consciousness, but recent research has mostly kept these topics apart. This paper discusses the similarities and differences of hypnosis and psychedelic alterations of consciousness, stressing that states of consciousness should not be defined by their preceding...
This article presents a case of a patient whose treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) involved a modification of gut-directed hypnotherapy (GDH). It was delivered in a nonstandard schedule and integrated concepts from other therapeutic modalities, primarily mindfulness meditation and narrative therapy. A review of the literature on GDH and prior modifications, as well as other iterations...
Alterations in consciousness have long been used to enhance creativity. Here, we focus on the ways in which hypnosis and psychedelics alter consciousness to enhance creativity, drawing on both research and first-hand accounts. The research utilizes standard measures of creativity as well as assessments of artistic, musical, and work-related problem-solving ability. First-hand accounts of...
When used separately, virtual reality (VR) and mind-body therapies (MBTs) have the potential to reduce pain across various acute and chronic conditions. While their combination is increasingly used, no study offers a consolidated presentation of VR and MBTs. This study aims to propose an overview of the effectiveness of VR combined with MBTs (i.e., meditation, mindfulness, relaxation, and...
Hypnosis has sometimes been described as an "altered state of consciousness," but what is "unaltered" consciousness? We approach the issue by first exploring the sense of free will, because it can be lost during hypnosis. However, the argument is developed that free will is an illusion, so should not be present in the waking state. Thus, in a sense, hypnosis is a more accurate state of...
Rumination is a clinical phenomenon that causes significant distress in clients who suffer from various psychological and physical disorders. It also has a deleterious impact on both therapeutic process and outcome. One approach that holds promise to manage rumination is mindfulness meditation in combination with clinical hypnosis. This article: (1) reviews the concept of and techniques to...
This retrospective study was a nonrandomized comparison of exercisers' (runners and participants of a spinning class) states of consciousness with subjects of active-alert hypnosis (AAH) and students in a class (control). Three hundred and seventy-five participants completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI). Runners, spinners, and participants of AAH scored higher on the...
A novel, audio-based brief mindful hypnosis (BMH) intervention for reducing stress-reactivity during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was investigated. Fifty-five college-aged participants with elevated stress were randomized to BMH or a cognitive training (CT) active-control condition. Participants received a BMH or CT session and downloaded the audio-recorded intervention for daily home...
A distinctive feature common to many contemplative practices is a focus of attention and procedure of induction toward achieving an altered state of consciousness. In recent years, practices like mindfulness have become increasingly popular, and there has been increased interest in the relationship between hypnosis and mindfulness-based practices as well as other contemplative practices...
A novel, heuristic model based upon chaotic complex systems theory and quantum mechanics is proposed to overcome the dichotomy between mind and body. The mind-body interface represents a chaotic system, ruled by the probability principle, as shown in quantum mechanics. Neuronal activity shows many patterns of chaotic behavior, and applications of chaotic patterns seem to be relevant for...