What does neuroscience say about hypnotherapy?

Hypnosis is not a state of unconsciousness. It is a state of focused attention, in which attention, imagination, perception, and responsiveness to suggestion can be modulated in distinctive ways.

Rather than shutting down inner experience, hypnosis appears to reorganize how we attend to what we feel and perceive.

Neuroimaging studies have identified changes in brain activity and connectivity involving networks associated with executive control, salience, self-referential processing, and attention.

And this is where hypnotherapy becomes particularly interesting: when attention becomes more focused and inner experience more accessible, therapeutic suggestions may help a person reframe the way they experience thoughts, sensations, and emotions.

It does not mean erasing emotions. It does not mean losing control. And it does not mean programming a person.

It means creating conditions in which certain internal experiences can be observed and experienced differently, with more room for choice and regulation.

Recent research has begun to explore the relationship between hypnosis and emotion regulation, including the possible involvement of brain networks linked to executive control, salience, and self-related processing.

There is also relevant clinical evidence in other areas: meta-analyses have found effects of hypnosis on pain reduction, while a recent systematic review and meta-analysis reported benefits for anxiety and pain associated with invasive medical procedures.

So perhaps the more interesting question is not whether hypnosis makes us lose control, but what might happen when we learn to direct attention and relate differently to our inner experience.

At InfiniTerra, we see hypnotherapy as a space for conscious exploration, not a loss of control. Because changing our relationship with what we feel often begins by learning to look at it differently.

And you: if you could change the way your mind responds to one difficult emotion, which one would you choose?