Hypnotherapy Notes
Notes on hypnosis, and on the practices beside it
Hypnotherapy, Reiki, biofeedback, meditation and intuition, one question at a time. Every note opens with its short answer and then goes down, step by step.
177 notes 7 practices Go down to the newest notes
The newest notes, going down
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How hypnosis works
What Is Hypnotic Suggestion, and How Does It Change Behavior?
A hypnotic suggestion is an idea offered during hypnosis that is meant to change what you feel, perceive or do: "your arm is becoming lighter," "the craving passes…
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Reiki
Reiki Alongside Medical Treatment: What to Know
Reiki can be used as a complementary therapy, meaning alongside medical treatment, never in place of it. Cancer Research UK describes it as sometimes used for relaxation and…
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How hypnosis works
What Is Hypnobirthing, and How Does It Work?
Hypnobirthing is childbirth preparation that teaches self-hypnosis, relaxation and breathing during pregnancy so they can be used in labor. The largest trials suggest it improves how women experience…
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How hypnosis works
Does Hypnosis Work on Everyone?
No. People differ in how strongly they respond to hypnosis, and on standard research scales about one person in ten scores low. But a low score is not…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Hypnotherapy for Children and Teens: Is It Safe?
Should you let a hypnotherapist work with your child? When the person is a qualified professional, the answer from a recent review of the field is yes: a…
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Biofeedback
Biofeedback for Chronic Pain
It depends on the kind of pain. For chronic back pain, a 2017 meta-analysis of 21 studies found that biofeedback reduced pain intensity, with the effect holding over…
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Biofeedback
How Breathing and Biofeedback Work Together
Breathing is a body signal you can change at will, and it pulls your heart rhythm along with it. Biofeedback uses that link in two ways: sensors can…
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How hypnosis works
Gastric Band Hypnotherapy: What It Is and How It Works
Gastric band hypnotherapy, sometimes called a "virtual gastric band," is weight-loss hypnosis built around one vivid image: being told, in hypnosis, that a band has been fitted around…
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Mind and body
Can Emotions Get "Trapped" in the Body?
Not literally, as far as current science can show. There are no known means by which tissues outside the brain could store memories. What the research does describe…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Does Hypnotherapy Work for Self-Confidence?
Can hypnotherapy make you more confident? It can help you prepare, calm your body and rehearse succeeding, but the research on confidence points to one ingredient above all…
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Mind and body
Complementary vs. Alternative: How These Fit With Regular Healthcare
The difference is about how a practice is used, not what it is. A non-mainstream approach used together with conventional medicine is complementary; the same approach used in…
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Biofeedback
Biofeedback for High Blood Pressure: What the Evidence Says
The evidence does not support biofeedback as a treatment for high blood pressure. A 2019 evidence map, covering 36 studies with 1,660 participants, found no benefit compared with…
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Biofeedback
Biofeedback vs. Neurofeedback: What's the Difference?
Neurofeedback is one kind of biofeedback. Biofeedback is the broad method of measuring a body signal and showing it to you so you can learn to change it…
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Meditation and breath
Box Breathing and Quick Techniques to Calm Down Fast
Box breathing means breathing in for four seconds, holding for four, breathing out for four and holding for four, then repeating. It is one of several short breathing…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Hypnosis for Pregnancy Anxiety and Fear of Childbirth
Fear of childbirth is common, and for some women it is severe. According to a 2024 systematic review of hypnosis in childbirth preparation, one study estimated that 14…
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How hypnosis works
How Does Hypnosis Work in the Brain?
Brain imaging shows that hypnosis changes how a few specific networks behave, in people who respond strongly to it, while they are hypnotized. It does not show the…
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Reiki
Does Reiki Actually Work? Making Sense of the Evidence
Not clearly, on the evidence so far. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health said in 2018 that Reiki has not been clearly shown to be effective…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Hypnosis for Fear of Flying
Nervousness about flying is widespread: a 2025 YouGov survey cited in the Wikipedia article on fear of flying found that 49 percent of American air travelers reported some…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Hypnosis for Health Anxiety and Worrying About Symptoms
Can hypnosis help if you constantly worry that something is wrong with your body? It can support the parts of treatment that involve relaxing and gradually facing what…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Hypnotherapy for Grief and Loss
Grief is a normal response to loss, not something to be cured. Research on bereavement suggests that most people show natural resilience, continuing to function despite significant losses…
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How hypnosis works
Can Hypnosis Create False Memories?
Yes, when hypnosis is used to dig up the past. The risk comes from two things working together: memory is rebuilt every time we recall it, and suggestion…
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Reiki
How Reiki and Biological Intuition Are Used Together
In the account of the practice that offers the Biological Intuitive Technique as its own method, Reiki and the technique are paired at the start of hypnosis work…
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How hypnosis works
How Do You Prepare for a Hypnotherapy Session?
What is the one thing worth doing before a hypnotherapy session? Write down, in a sentence or two, the change you want and the situation where the problem…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Hypnosis for Sugar and Junk-Food Cravings
Food cravings are very common: in one study described in the Wikipedia article on food craving, 97 percent of women and 68 percent of men reported having them…
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Hypnotherapy for a problem
Does Hypnosis Work to Quit Smoking?
The research summary is cautious. A Cochrane review of hypnotherapy for smoking cessation found no clear evidence that hypnotherapy is better than other approaches for helping people stop…