Hypnosis: a brief history

• In the 1900s Emile Coué, worked on affirmations and auto-suggestions, as a form of self-hypnosis therapy. His famous phase was “Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better.”

• Milton Erikson, a psychotherapist, was fascinated by this psychological hack and devised many innovative techniques to utilize hypnosis in various clinical practices.

Benefits of hypnosis are gaining traction, with many researchers finding that it can treat anxiety, pain and trauma, making it gain respect among medical and psychological professions.

• Hypnosis works by first decreasing activity in the brains ‘dorsal anterior cingulate’ area, responsible for decision making and evaluation.
• Secondly, it connects two regions of the brain, the insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that increases the brain-body connection, making our body more receptive to our raw thoughts and emotions.
• Finally, it reduces connections between two different regions of the brain (medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex) reducing our cognitive tasks and neural activity, reducing our awareness of actions.

The new research for hypnosis and the labelling of the brain regions that get affected can help device further tools and ways to help patients with various addictions, psychological problems, and depression issues.