It’s been shown that hypnosis can help with so many different problems, from assistance in treating cancer to teeth grinding and pretty much everything in between. This might give the impression that hypnosis is some kind of panacea, a cure-all approach to all ills. Given what we know of hypnosis, is this really the case?

Not at all. I might be coming across as undermining my own belief in the power of the unconscious mind in general, and of hypnosis in particular, and that just isn’t the case. I simply want to manage expectations, and to emphasise the vital ingredient of intention. T

Perhaps the reason that it may seem that hypnosis is a cure-all is the very strong connection – and correlation – between the mind and the body. Everything is energy, and that most importantly our thoughts and emotions are energy. It is after all a single system, and we have linguistically distinguished between body and mind as two separate things, when really we can consider mind as an emergent quality of the body. So if we expect to be positive and open-minded on any given day, chances are you will experience exactly that!

We might also consider this to be what’s known as the placebo effect, which is a well-accepted and clinically confirmed example of how the mind can positively influence the body. It might be worth considering its opposite, though not so well known; that of the nocebo effect [1]. When a person’s negative beliefs become so consistent and focused, this state has the potential of creating adverse effects on the body. Modern medicine is coming round to the reality of how strong the mind-body connection really is, and how much our daily mental habits impacts our health. As the unconscious mind governs this connection, we can appreciate what makes hypnosis so powerful with such a wide variety of issues.

Accessing the power of our unconscious mind through self-hypnosis can be one of the best tools you can use to positively change how you feel and what you think.

1.The Nocebo Effect: Negative Thoughts Can Harm Your Health, Psychology Today, Aug 6, 2013.

Hypnotherapy Training & Certification – Learn Hypnosis! [Updated 2020]