Psychology2016

Consciousness 159

As the video Hypnosis in Therapy and Recovered Memories explains, hypnosis is also a
controversial tool when used in therapy to help people “recover” what are thought to be
repressed memories. to Learning Objective 6.9.

CC

Watch the V i d e o Hypnosis In Therapy and Recovered Memories

In general, hypnosis is a handy way to help people relax and/or to control pain.
These subjective experiences are very much under people’s mental influence, and hypno-
sis is not the only way to achieve them. The same kind of effects (such as hallucinations,
reduction of pain, and memory loss) can be achieved without any hypnotic suggestion
(Lynn et al., 2015). Actual physical behavior is harder to change, and that is why hypnosis
is not as effective at changing eating habits or helping people stop smoking ( Druckman &
Bjork, 1994). Hypnosis is sometimes used in psychological therapy to help people cope
with anxiety or deal with cravings for food or drugs. For a concise look at what hypnosis
can and cannot do, see Table 4.3.

Theories of Hypnosis

4.10 Compare and contrast two views of why hypnosis works.

There are two views of why hypnosis works. One emphasizes the role of dissociation, or a
splitting of conscious awareness, whereas the other involves a kind of social role-playing.

dissociation

divided state of conscious awareness.

Table 4.3 Facts About Hypnosis

Hypnosis Can: Hypnosis Cannot:

Create amnesia for whatever happens during the

hypnotic session, at least for a brief time (Bowers &

Woody, 1996).

Give people superhuman strength. (People may use

their full strength under hypnosis, but it is no more

than they had before hypnosis.)

Relieve pain by allowing a person to remove

conscious attention from the pain (Holroyd, 1996).

Reliably enhance memory. (There’s an increased

risk of false-memory retrieval because of the

suggestible state hypnosis creates.)

Alter sensory perceptions. (Smell, hearing, vision,

time sense, and the ability to see visual illusions can

all be affected by hypnosis.)

Regress people back to childhood. (Although

people may act like children, they do and say

things children would not.)

Help people relax in situations that normally would

cause them stress, such as flying on an airplane

(Muhlberger et al., 2001).

Regress people to some “past life.” There is no

scientific evidence for past-life regression (Lilienfeld

et al., 2004).