A team from Hull University, performed an imaging study in which hypnotised participants showed decreased activity in the parts of the brain linked with daydreaming or letting the mind wander.

The same brain patterns were absent in people who had the tests but who were not susceptible to being hypnotised.

One psychologist said the study backed the theory that hypnosis “primes” the brain to be open to suggestion.

Hypnosis is increasingly being used to help people stop smoking or lose weight and advisers recently recommended its use on the NHS to treat irritable bowel syndrome.

Dr William McGeown, study leader, says “This shows that the changes were due to hypnosis and not just simple relaxation.”

Full article: (BBC News – 16th November 2009)

Until now.

The long-controversial practice of inducing a trancelike state through suggestion is getting a modern makeover by scientists armed with the latest neuroimaging tools and techniques. These researchers are beginning to offer evidence that, neurologically at least, hypnosis is entirely real.

“It makes sense that we are using modern tools of neuroscience research to understand what is a fascinating phenomenon,” said David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University. “It’s good for hypnosis, and it’s good for neuroscience.”

Read the full article – (Seed Magazine – 20th October 2006)

High profile disasters and terrorist atrocities, such as 9/11, only serve to heighten our fears. According to research reported in New Scientist this week, television distorts our perception of reality, making us more prone to misjudging the actual risks.

Known as the “availability heuristic”, first identified in the 1970s by psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, people are more likely to pay attention to the vividness and emotional impact of past events than on the probability of them happening again. In other words, people tend to rate their chances of dying in a plane crash higher after watching a news item about such an event.

As Hypnotist Lawrence Leyton shows in the Channel 4 ‘Fear of Flying’ programme, it is possible to erase the negative thoughts and feelings of terror with positive feelings, no matter the source of the fear.

At North Kent Hypnotherapy, we use all the underlying techniques shown in the programme (as well as others) to help clients overcome their fears and phobias. Unlike the programme, however, we let clients test themselves in their own time and in their own way (as we don’t have to make the experience interesting watching for television).

So if you are one of the many people who suffer from fear of flying, why not give us a call to see how we can help you. Or if you are out of our area, why not select a competent and ethical therapist based nearer home by visiting the Quest Institute or the National Council for Hypnotherapy.

(New York Times – 22nd November 2005)