Caroline Cavanagh explains that stage hypnosis and hypnotherapy use the same trance states but for different purposes: stage hypnosis entertains, while hypnotherapy treats anxiety, phobias, and other issues. Both rely on the same brain state, but people in trance stay true to their own values and won't do anything against them.
Chapters
Hiya, I'm wondering, do you know the difference between stage hypnosis and the hypnosis used in hypnotherapy? And this is a question I asked on social media recently, and the common reaction that most people replied was that they thought it was a different thing. So I'd love to clear that up now, because actually, you might be surprised, it's exactly the same thing. All hypnosis is— and we use the word trance state, it's kind of the same thing— Is a state of brain activity. So you will know when your brain's busy. You'll also know when you feel relaxed. You'll also be aware that there's a different brain state going on if you're daydreaming, and obviously totally different when you're asleep. So there's 4 really key criteria, 4 key criteria— I can't even speak— categories of brain activity that are going on, and we slip into and out of those each and every day. Now, the stage hypnosis, those people do actually go into what's an equivalent of like that daydreamy state. It's where the conscious mind, this bit at the front here, has just gone a little bit quieter, kind of gone out the game, which allows the subconscious mind, which lives at the back part of the brain, to kind of be the dominant part. And that part of the brain is really, really playful. Now, people that choose to go on stage, whether it's a physical stage, TV shows, are extroverts. They love being the center of attention, and that's okay. And what the hypnotist is then very, very good at doing is picking the extreme of that extreme group. They then go into that trance state, exactly the same state that we use in therapeutic use, but in that state, the motivation is entertainment. So if the hypnotist says to that person, cluck like a chicken, they're gonna go, yeah! I clap like a chicken because what I'm getting back is exactly what I want. It's the response from the audience. It's being the center of attention. There's also been a lot of work done by a guy called Derren Brown, which you may be familiar with, who did some, some very controlled experiments 4 or 5 years ago, I think it was, to try and prove or disprove, can you be manipulated when you're in a trance state? And what he proved without any sort of doubt Well, the answer is no. When people are in that trance state, they are still bound and controlled by their own belief set. So in very simple terms, if someone will get naked and dance on tables when they're drunk, they will do it under hypnosis because it's the sort of thing that's within their value set that's acceptable to do. So thumbs going up there, maybe someone can relate to that, that would be fun to know. But then let's bring it back to hypnotherapy. In hypnosis, in hypnotherapy, we enter those stay same stages of brain activity that makes the subconscious the dominant area. But then hypnosis on stage that way entertainment. Therapeutically, we go in a polar direction. The motivation isn't about entertainment. It isn't about making people laugh. It isn't about making the therapist laugh. It's about helping you. To make some changes at that subconscious level which allow you to have a different behavior, whether that's reducing your anxiety, overcoming a phobia, changing your relationship with food. The list is huge. But the bottom line is the brain activity trance state is the same, but you are not being controlled. Not on stage, also not by the therapist. Therapists can't make you do anything that you don't want to do. Most importantly though, they don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do beyond what is going to help you be the person that you want to be. So if you have experience of stage shows and you think it is all about clucking chickens, well, yeah, it is, but they're only doing it because they want to. If you want to use a trance state for making some changes in your life, it's incredibly powerful. So thank you for listening. Hopefully that's cleared up a few doubts, and I will look forward to coming back and sharing some more information with you. See you soon. Bye-bye for now.
