Hypnosis Goes Mainstream

Hypnosis is no longer just a stage-show act.

During the past 10 years, it has slipped quietly into mainstream medicine -- helping people quit smoking, even cut back or stop using pain and anxiety medications.

There's good research backing it up. But many people don't really understand what hypnosis is all about.

Marc Oster, PsyD, a Chicago psychologist, relies on self-hypnosis when he gets dental work done. "I get novacaine, just like other patients, but I don't need as much of it because I'm under hypnosis. Afterward, I can go back to work for a full day. When the novacaine wears off, I don't have the pain, the jaw ache, or the headache that other people have," he tells WebMD.

Hypnosis is merely a tool -- a technique to tap into the subconscious, says Oster, who heads the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

No pocket watches are involved and no one clucks like a chicken afterward.

In fact hypnosis is a state of concentration and focused attention. With it the mind can be more powerful. You simply have slipped into your subconscious.

In a hypnotherapist's office, you can learn self-hypnosis. Don't worry, you won't lose control. You won't do anything against your will. "No one takes away our choice under any conditions -- no one can make you do anything you wouldn't normally do," says Jane Ann Covington, a hypnotist in Atlanta and founder of the Hypnosis Institute International Center for Developing Mastery.

In hypnosis, you don't even lose consciousness, Covington tells WebMD.

"If I said something inappropriate to you, you would either disregard it or get up and leave," she says. "You would react as you normally would."

Mind Over Body

The process of hypnosis involves focusing deeply on a thought or image -- letting imagery become totally absorbing. The hypnotist will talk to you, gently guiding you into a very relaxed state.

While you are in this deeply relaxed, focused state, the therapist presents a suggestion, to help you solve your problem. When the mind is intensely focused, these suggestions have a powerful impact, which is the magic of hypnosis.

Afterward, you will be very much aware of what happened.

Covington uses hypnosis to help people enhance their lives by creating needed changes, building confidence, controlling habits and addictions, and even developing creativity and intuition. She's been doing this for more than 25 years, she tells WebMD. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis, she says.

Oster has also incorporated hypnosis into his psychotherapy practice for upwards of 25 years. Teaching his patients self-hypnosis is his goal, too. "When you learn to hypnotize yourself -- so the suggestion is there whenever you need it -- that's power."

The American Psychology Association has endorsed hypnosis for a number of years. In 1995, the National Institutes of Health announced its support for hypnosis for cancer pain and other pain conditions. Research from Harvard Medical School and other institutions is showing evidence that hypnosis is indeed a process of mind over body.