What is Hypnosis Research?

We believe that it is essential for students of hypnotherapy to engage in their own ongoing research and training. Hypnotherapy is still a young discipline and was previously seen as an adjunct to clinical psychology but since becoming an independent discipline in its own right, hypnotherapy has had to stand up for itself. Science demands rigorous testing and research before it recognises any therapy as valid or effective. This is true of all therapies and especially so in the case of hypnotherapy.

The amount of research into hypnotherapy has increased significantly over recent years with the development of neuroscience and our ability to now see what is happening inside the brain when people think and process information. This has given us invaluable insights into how and why hypnosis works. However this is only the beginning. Hypnosis has yet to be fully accepted by the public and professionals as a valid approach to enhanced learning and therapeutic change.

We hope that through continued research, hypnosis will be more widely accepted and used in contexts such as helping children learn more effectively, helping pupils develop better self-discipline and helping people set goals and achieve outcomes. There is no reason why this should not happen once the stigma of hypnosis, propagated by the media and entertainment, has been removed.

We encourage all of our students and graduates to become actively involved in their own personal research as part of their training whether it is simply testing new techniques with clients or writing a degree thesis on some new aspect of hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy today is wide open for exploration and its potential is enormous. This development can only happen through concerted effort, rigorous research and objective observation of new hypnosis techniques, skills and theories.

As pioneers in the application of mindfulness and Buddhist psychology within a hypnotic context we lead the way in this specific area of training. Much research has already been carried out into what happens within the brain when people meditate and this continues, with Buddhist authorities such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama actively engaged in discussions with researchers in neuroscience.

It would be fair to say that as a training organisation actively engaged in promoting the use of compassion, non attachment and other Buddhist principles within the field of hypnotherapy we are creating a path for others to follow.