Hypnotherapy for a problem

Can Hypnosis Improve Focus and Concentration?

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Hypnosis is defined by focused attention, but that does not make it a concentration trainer. The studies described below measure what happens to attention during hypnosis, mostly in people who are highly hypnotizable, not whether everyday focus improves afterward. Where hypnosis can plausibly help is with the stress that pulls attention away and with a routine for settling into a task.

Why are hypnosis and focus linked?

Because of how hypnosis is defined. The American Psychological Association’s Division 30 described it as a “state of consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness characterized by an enhanced capacity for response to suggestion,” a definition quoted in a 2022 systematic review in Brain Sciences. The Wikipedia article on hypnosis notes that the definition has drawn critical commentary from other researchers.

So during hypnosis, attention narrows. Whether that carries over to the next day’s report-writing is a separate question.

What happens to attention during hypnosis?

Laboratory studies have used the Stroop task, which the hypnosis article describes as a standard cognitive exercise. In a study by Gruzelier and his colleagues described in the hypnosis article, 12 highly and 12 weakly hypnotizable people completed the task in a brain scanner, before and during hypnosis. Both groups performed about the same throughout. Under hypnosis, though, the highly hypnotizable group showed more activity in the anterior cingulate and the left prefrontal cortex.

A 2024 review of the cognitive neuroscience of hypnosis describes related work by Egner and colleagues, who found that during the Stroop task under hypnosis, conflict monitoring and cognitive control came apart. The review also reports connectivity findings that researchers suggested may reflect a reduced tendency for mind-wandering during hypnosis.

These findings describe how attention works inside a hypnotic state. They do not show that a few sessions will make you concentrate better at your desk.

Why does attention drift in the first place?

The Wikipedia article on mind-wandering defines it as thought that is unrelated to the task and to what is in front of you. When it happens, the brain processes outside information in less detail, and it has a negative effect on understanding difficult texts.

Mood matters too. In Matthew Killingsworth’s doctoral research at Harvard, analyzed with Gilbert, which sampled people’s thoughts at random moments through a phone app, people were less happy when their minds were wandering. The article also notes that people report more mind-wandering when bored, stressed or unhappy. That makes stress one practical target.

Could it be ADHD?

If trouble concentrating has been with you for a long time and shows up at work, at home and in relationships, it is worth asking. The NHS page on ADHD in adults describes symptoms involving attention, energy levels and impulse control, and advises seeing a GP if they are affecting your studies, work or relationships. Management can include lifestyle changes, changes at work and medicine, and talking therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy or mindfulness may be recommended. Hypnosis is not a substitute for an assessment.

What can hypnosis add to a focused work block?

In two places. First, as a way of practicing relaxation when stress is part of the problem, since stress and unhappiness come with more mind-wandering. Second, as a short routine before a block of work: settle your breathing, picture the task and the first step, and rehearse noticing when your mind has drifted and calmly returning to the task. People differ in how hypnotizable they are, and the laboratory findings come mostly from the highly hypnotizable, so judge it by what happens in your own work.

Run a two-week comparison

For two weeks, work in blocks of the same length. On alternate days, start each block with a five-minute self-hypnosis routine; on the other days, start straight away. At the end of each block, write down how many times you noticed your mind had wandered and how much you got done. Compare the two sets of days before deciding whether the routine earns its place.

This article is general information, not medical or psychological advice; talk with a licensed clinician about your own situation.

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