While this description may oversimplify the neural processing of the left and right hemispheres, it is a useful way to explain hypnosis to patients. The right brain could be seen to be the more emotional, creative part of ourselves that communicates with symbols and images, and could be seen as our ‘unconscious mind’. The brain has two cerebral hemispheres, and while in our normal waking state, the left brain tends to be more dominant and could be likened to our ‘conscious mind’. The hypnotic state Although there is increasing evidence for the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of using hypnosis in a wide variety of conditions, it is difficult to get funding for hypnosis because of a shortage of randomised control trial support (the gold standard so beloved of Trusts, CCGs, research funders and all clinical trialists).In addition, many courts of law refuse to accept testimony from people who have been hypnotized for purposes of “recovering” memories, because such techniques can lead to confusion between imaginations and memories.The British Society of Clinical & Academic Hypnosis () runs training courses in hypnosis for health professionals that range from 1-day introductory workshops for different specialties, through a 6-day foundation training, which equips one to utilise hypnotic techniques within one’s field of expertise, to a fully accredited University Diploma with City of Birmingham University.The central phenomenon of hypnosis is suggestibility, a state of greatly enhanced receptiveness and responsiveness to suggestions and stimuli presented by the hypnotist.This “posthypnotic amnesia” can result either spontaneously from deep hypnosis or from a suggestion by the hypnotist while the subject is in a trance state.Depending on the suggestions given, hypnosis is usually a relaxing experience, which can be very useful with a patient who is tense or anxious.It is valuable in reducing the common fear of dental procedures; in fact, the very people whom dentists find most difficult to treat frequently respond best to hypnotic suggestion.It has been found most useful in preparing people for anesthesia, enhancing the drug response, and reducing the required dosage. Ordinarily, however, all trance behaviour is characterized by a simplicity, a directness, and a literalness of understanding, action, and emotional response that are suggestive of childhood. Therefore, induction is generally preceded by the establishment of suitable rapport between subject and hypnotist. Soon the subject’s eyes do show signs of fatigue, and the hypnotist suggests that they will close. The hypnotist continues to suggest, usually in a low, quiet voice, that the subject’s relaxation will increase and that his or her eyes will grow tired. The most important consideration is that the person to be hypnotized (the subject) be willing and cooperative and that he or she trust in the hypnotist. The effects of hypnosis are not limited to sensory change; even the subject’s memory and awareness of self may be altered by suggestion, and the effects of the suggestions may be extended (posthypnotically) into the subject’s subsequent waking activity.Its scientific history began in the latter part of the 18th century with Franz Mesmer, a German physician who used hypnosis in the treatment of patients in Vienna and Paris.Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault, an obscure French country physician who used mesmeric techniques, drew the support of Hippolyte Bernheim, a professor of medicine at Strasbourg.Ordinary inductions of hypnosis begin with simple, noncontroversial suggestions made by the hypnotist that will almost inevitably be accepted by all subjects.It has been shown that hypnotisability is a genetic trait and follows a Gaussian or bell-shaped distribution, so most research into hypnotic responding focuses on 10% of the population.Posthypnotic suggestion, however, is not a particularly powerful means for controlling behaviour when compared with a person’s conscious willingness to perform actions.This might be to allay anxiety by accessing calmness and relaxation, help manage side effects of medications, or help ease pain or other symptoms.Hypnosis has often been used in attempts to stop smoking, and it is highly regarded in the management of otherwise intractable pain, including that of terminal cancer.However, the main usefulness of the hypnotic state is the increased effectiveness of suggestion and access to mind/body links or unconscious processing. In the clinical context, hypnosis is tailored to the individual patient and their responses, and the motivation is very different from the laboratory situation. To enter hypnosis, one needs to focus attention (this is done during a hypnotic induction), and there are many ways to achieve this. A simple ‘model’ that can be used to help patients understand that this is quite a usual response is that of right/left brain, which can also correlate with conscious/unconscious and intellectual/emotional processing. The hypnotic state One way of doing this is to compare results obtained by those using hypnosis with those of people who do not use hypnosis.Hypnosis can not only be used to reduce emotional distress but also may have a direct effect on the patient’s experience of pain.2There is a strong case for more research in the field of hypnosis in palliative care, where mind-body interventions are increasingly accepted as part of comprehensive excellent cancer care (even in large cancer centres that once focused only on drug trials).If, as clinicians, we want to prove the effectiveness of hypnosis, then we need to show that the degree of improvement and speed of achieving this is enhanced by hypnosis.Despite Freud’s influential adoption and then rejection of hypnosis, some use was made of the technique in the psychoanalytic treatment of soldiers who had experienced combat neuroses during World Wars I and II. It has been found most useful in preparing people for anesthesia, enhancing the drug response, and reducing the required dosage. Hypnosis has been officially endorsed as a therapeutic method by medical, psychiatric, dental, and psychological associations throughout the world. The amnesia may include all the events of the trance state or only selected items, or it may be manifested in connection with matters unrelated to the trance. Hypnosis is a phenomenon of degrees, ranging from light to profound trance states but with no fixed constancy. The subject allows his eyes to close and then begins to show signs of profound relaxation, such as limpness and deep breathing. The subject allows his eyes to close and then begins to show signs of profound relaxation, such as limpness and deep breathing.To enter hypnosis, one needs to focus attention (this is done during a hypnotic induction), and there are many ways to achieve this.This communicates verbally and is the more intellectual, conscious and rational part of ourselves.A number of clinicians made use of it without fully understanding its nature until the middle of the 19th century, when the English physician James Braid studied the phenomenon and coined the terms hypnotism and hypnosis, after the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos.Patients may feel that they are being overwhelmed by their emotions, but if the health professionals can engage their attention, direct their imagination to feeling calm or to re-experience some positive past experience or activity and give positive suggestions, then the patients will start to feel calmer and more able to cope.Then, gradually, suggestions are given that demand increasing distortion of the individual’s perception or memory—e.g., that it is difficult or impossible for the subject to open his or her eyes.When we relax or become deeply involved in some activity, our right brain becomes more dominant.Many subjects seem unable to recall events that occurred while they were in deep hypnosis. The hypnotic state When patients are highly anxious, they are operating at an emotional, rather than cognitive level, and one can engage and direct their creative imagination towards what is useful for them. There is always a difficulty in telling ourselves not to be upset or anxious because words are not the language of the right brain. When we relax or become deeply involved in some activity, our right brain becomes more dominant. This communicates verbally and is the more intellectual, conscious and rational part of ourselves. Landry and colleagues9 and Jensen and Patterson10 give good and comprehensive information on recent research into the neural correlates of hypnosis. Various researchers have put forth differing theories of what hypnosis is and how it might be understood, but there is still no generally accepted explanatory theory for the phenomenon. (Generally psychoanalysts have come to view hypnosis as merely an adjunct to the free-associative techniques used in psychoanalytic practice.) On his return to Vienna, he used hypnosis to help neurotics recall disturbing events that they had apparently forgotten. During a visit to France at about the same time, Austrian physician Sigmund Freud was impressed by the therapeutic potential of hypnosis for neurotic disorders. The International Society for Hypnosis (ISH; ) is the world headquarters for researchers and clinicians interested in hypnosis.Independently they had written that hypnosis involved no physical forces and no physiological processes but was a combination of psychologically mediated responses to suggestions.It has been found most useful in preparing people for anesthesia, enhancing the drug response, and reducing the required dosage.In addition, many courts of law refuse to accept testimony from people who have been hypnotized for purposes of “recovering” memories, because such techniques can lead to confusion between imaginations and memories.The hypnotized individual appears to heed only the communications of the hypnotist and typically responds in an uncritical, automatic fashion while ignoring all aspects of the environment other than those pointed out by the hypnotist.Therefore, induction is generally preceded by the establishment of suitable rapport between subject and hypnotist.With adequate amnesia induced during the trance state, the individual will not be aware of the source of his impulse to perform the instructed act. The hypnotic state In a Catch-22 situation, one of the major difficulties in undertaking any hypnosis research in the United Kingdom is lack of funding. It has been shown that hypnotisability is a genetic trait and follows a Gaussian or bell-shaped distribution, so most research into hypnotic responding focuses on 10% of the population. There is a strong case for more research in the field of hypnosis in palliative care, where mind-body interventions are increasingly accepted as part of comprehensive excellent cancer care (even in large cancer centres that once focused only on drug trials). One of the simplest methods is to engage the patient’s imagination using revivification (or re-experiencing) of an experience, a daydream or fantasy. Anxious patients are using their imagination to create possible catastrophic scenarios, which generates even more anxiety and hence more adrenaline, which can then spiral into panic. The hypnotic state Depending on the suggestions given, hypnosis is usually a relaxing experience, which can be very useful with a patient who is tense or anxious. Though the induction of hypnosis requires little training and no particular skill, when used in the context of medical treatment, it can be damaging when employed by individuals who lack the competence and skill to treat such problems without the use of hypnosis. Appropriate suggestions by the hypnotist can induce a remarkably wide range of psychological, sensory, and motor responses from persons who are deeply hypnotized. Then, gradually, suggestions are given that demand increasing distortion of the individual’s perception or memory—e.g., that it is difficult or impossible for the subject to open his or her eyes. At this stage neither subject nor hypnotist can readily tell whether the subject’s behaviour constitutes a hypnotic response or mere cooperation. However, the main usefulness of the hypnotic state is the increased effectiveness of suggestion and access to mind/body links or unconscious processing. Everyday ‘trance’ states are part of our common human experience, such as getting lost in a good book, driving down a familiar stretch of road with no conscious recollection, when in prayer or meditation, or when undertaking a monotonous or a creative activity. By the use and acceptance of suggestions, the clinician and patient construct a hypnotic reality. On the other hand, hypnosis has been repeatedly condemned by various medical associations when it is used purely for purposes of public entertainment, owing to the danger of adverse posthypnotic reactions to the procedure. Posthypnotic suggestion, however, is not a particularly powerful means for controlling behaviour when compared with a person’s conscious willingness to perform actions. Hypnosis has been officially endorsed as a therapeutic method by medical, psychiatric, dental, and psychological associations throughout the world.Everyday ‘trance’ states are part of our common human experience, such as getting lost in a good book, driving down a familiar stretch of road with no conscious recollection, when in prayer or meditation, or when undertaking a monotonous or a creative activity.The International Society for Hypnosis (ISH; ) is the world headquarters for researchers and clinicians interested in hypnosis.Independently they had written that hypnosis involved no physical forces and no physiological processes but was a combination of psychologically mediated responses to suggestions.On the other hand, hypnosis has been repeatedly condemned by various medical associations when it is used purely for purposes of public entertainment, owing to the danger of adverse posthypnotic reactions to the procedure.Though the induction of hypnosis requires little training and no particular skill, when used in the context of medical treatment, it can be damaging when employed by individuals who lack the competence and skill to treat such problems without the use of hypnosis.When patients are highly anxious, they are operating at an emotional, rather than cognitive level, and one can engage and direct their creative imagination towards what is useful for them. Despite Freud’s influential adoption and then rejection of hypnosis, some use was made of the technique in the psychoanalytic treatment of soldiers who had experienced combat neuroses during World Wars I and II. As he began to develop his system of psychoanalysis, however, theoretical considerations—as well as the difficulty he encountered in hypnotizing some patients—led Freud to discard hypnosis in favour of free association. Its scientific history began in the latter part of the 18th century with Franz Mesmer, a German physician who used hypnosis in the treatment of patients in Vienna and Paris. The history of hypnosis is as ancient as that of sorcery, magic, and medicine; indeed, hypnosis has been used as a method in all three. The hypnotized individual appears to heed only the communications of the hypnotist and typically responds in an uncritical, automatic fashion while ignoring all aspects of the environment other than those pointed out by the hypnotist. The hypnotic state It is valuable in reducing the common fear of dental procedures; in fact, the very people whom dentists find most difficult to treat frequently respond best to hypnotic suggestion. Many subjects seem unable to recall events that occurred while they were in deep hypnosis. With adequate amnesia induced during the trance state, the individual will not be aware of the source of his impulse to perform the instructed act. The central phenomenon of hypnosis is suggestibility, a state of greatly enhanced receptiveness and responsiveness to suggestions and stimuli presented by the hypnotist. The resulting hypnotic phenomena differ markedly from one subject to another and from one trance to another, depending upon the purposes to be served and the depth of the trance. Hypnosis, special psychological state with certain physiological attributes, resembling sleep only superficially and marked by a functioning of the individual at a level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state. The European Society of Hypnosis (-hypnosis.eu) consists of 41 Constituent Societies in 20 countries throughout Europe, with over 14,800 members from the fields of Medicine, Dentistry, Psychology and allied health care professions. The British Society of Clinical & Academic Hypnosis () runs training courses in hypnosis for health professionals that range from 1-day introductory workshops for different specialties, through a 6-day foundation training, which equips one to utilise hypnotic techniques within one’s field of expertise, to a fully accredited University Diploma with City of Birmingham University. The study of hypnosis is complex and many factors such as context, expectation and personality affect hypnotic response as well as the suggestions used. Hypnosis can be seen as ‘a waking state of awareness, (or consciousness), in which a person’s attention is detached from his or her immediate environment and is absorbed by inner experiences such as feelings, cognition and imagery’.1 Hypnotic induction involves focusing of attention and imaginative involvement to the point where what is being imagined feels real. This “posthypnotic amnesia” can result either spontaneously from deep hypnosis or from a suggestion by the hypnotist while the subject is in a trance state. Ordinary inductions of hypnosis begin with simple, noncontroversial suggestions made by the hypnotist that will almost inevitably be accepted by all subjects. Hypnosis does not make the impossible possible, but can help patients believe and experience what might be possible for them to achieve. Hypnosis can not only be used to reduce emotional distress but also may have a direct effect on the patient’s experience of pain.2 Our conscious awareness of our surroundings versus an inner awareness is on a continuum, so that, when in these states, one’s focus is predominantly internal, but one does not necessarily lose all outer awareness. The BSCAH is trying to facilitate and support this project; so, if you are interested please contact us at One way of doing this is to compare results obtained by those using hypnosis with those of people who do not use hypnosis. If, as clinicians, we want to prove the effectiveness of hypnosis, then we need to show that the degree of improvement and speed of achieving this is enhanced by hypnosis. In a Catch-22 situation, one of the major difficulties in undertaking any hypnosis research in the United Kingdom is lack of funding.In the clinical context, we have to work with everyone, and even if hypnosis is not used in a formal way, it can inform one’s approach to the patient and the language used.Hypnosis can be seen as ‘a waking state of awareness, (or consciousness), in which a person’s attention is detached from his or her immediate environment and is absorbed by inner experiences such as feelings, cognition and imagery’.1 Hypnotic induction involves focusing of attention and imaginative involvement to the point where what is being imagined feels real.The most important consideration is that the person to be hypnotized (the subject) be willing and cooperative and that he or she trust in the hypnotist.In a hypnotic state an individual tends to see, feel, smell, and otherwise perceive in accordance with the hypnotist’s suggestions, even though these suggestions may be in apparent contradiction to the actual stimuli present in the environment.(Generally psychoanalysts have come to view hypnosis as merely an adjunct to the free-associative techniques used in psychoanalytic practice.)Hypnosis is a phenomenon of degrees, ranging from light to profound trance states but with no fixed constancy.Appropriate suggestions by the hypnotist can induce a remarkably wide range of psychological, sensory, and motor responses from persons who are deeply hypnotized.At this stage neither subject nor hypnotist can readily tell whether the subject’s behaviour constitutes a hypnotic response or mere cooperation. A person will be more responsive to hypnosis when he believes that he can be hypnotized, that the hypnotist is competent and trustworthy, and that the undertaking is safe, appropriate, and congruent with the subject’s wishes. Independently they had written that hypnosis involved no physical forces and no physiological processes but was a combination of psychologically mediated responses to suggestions. In a hypnotic state an individual tends to see, feel, smell, and otherwise perceive in accordance with the hypnotist’s suggestions, even though these suggestions may be in apparent contradiction to the actual stimuli present in the environment. The hypnotic state Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault, an obscure French country physician who used mesmeric techniques, drew the support of Hippolyte Bernheim, a professor of medicine at Strasbourg. A number of clinicians made use of it without fully understanding its nature until the middle of the 19th century, when the English physician James Braid studied the phenomenon and coined the terms hypnotism and hypnosis, after the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos. Patients may feel that they are being overwhelmed by their emotions, but if the health professionals can engage their attention, direct their imagination to feeling calm or to re-experience some positive past experience or activity and give positive suggestions, then the patients will start to feel calmer and more able to cope. The effects of hypnosis are not limited to sensory change; even the subject’s memory and awareness of self may be altered by suggestion, and the effects of the suggestions may be extended (posthypnotically) into the subject’s subsequent waking activity. However, recent advances in neuroscience have enabled us to begin to understand what might be happening when someone enters a hypnotic state,3–8 and evidence is building for the use of hypnosis as a useful tool to help patients and health professionals manage a variety of conditions, especially anxiety and pain. Hypnotic states have been used for healing since humankind has existed, but because hypnosis can be misused for so-called entertainment and has been portrayed in the media as something mysterious and magical, supposedly out of the hypnotic subject’s control, it has been viewed with distrust and scepticism by many health professionals. The International Society for Hypnosis (ISH; ) is the world headquarters for researchers and clinicians interested in hypnosis. There is no statutory regulation of hypnosis training or practice in the United Kingdom, and many organisations offer training, which may be of varying quality. This puts hypnosis in the same category as various other approaches of dubious scientific credibility and effectively bars researchers into hypnosis obtaining funding. One major factor in this is the World Health Organization classification of hypnosis as a ‘Complementary Therapy’. There are three professional bodies in the United Kingdom, the Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, the British Society of Medical & Dental Hypnosis (Scotland) for doctors and dentists and the British Society of Clinical & Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH), which consist entirely of qualified health professionals mostly working within the National Health Service (NHS). Also, much hypnosis is done by individual clinicians in a private practice, a community setting or as an individual in a department. Although there is increasing evidence for the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of using hypnosis in a wide variety of conditions, it is difficult to get funding for hypnosis because of a shortage of randomised control trial support (the gold standard so beloved of Trusts, CCGs, research funders and all clinical trialists). In the clinical context, we have to work with everyone, and even if hypnosis is not used in a formal way, it can inform one’s approach to the patient and the language used. This might be to allay anxiety by accessing calmness and relaxation, help manage side effects of medications, or help ease pain or other symptoms. Hypnosis could be seen as a meditative state, which one can learn to access consciously and deliberately, for a therapeutic purpose. In addition, many courts of law refuse to accept testimony from people who have been hypnotized for purposes of “recovering” memories, because such techniques can lead to confusion between imaginations and memories. Indeed, in this regard several nations have banned or limited commercial or other public displays of hypnosis. Hypnosis has often been used in attempts to stop smoking, and it is highly regarded in the management of otherwise intractable pain, including that of terminal cancer.