Learn more about hypnosis

Although hypnosis is now increasingly studied, it is difficult to explain how it works in simple words. If you want to know more, you can look at the research of neurophysiologist Pierre Rainville, at the University of Montreal, or that of researcher Amir Raz, at McGill University.

Progress in neuroscience and cognitive science have made it possible to better understand the hypnotic process. However, it is difficult for science to define hypnosis because science is meant to be general and systematic while hypnosis tends to be particular, specific to each person and to their circumstance. The work of Isabelle Stengers with Leon Chertok discusses this elusiveness and how it applies to scientific study of hypnosis.

When the hypnotherapist Jean-Marc Benhaiem* answers the question "What part of the brain is active during hypnosis?". He replies "The whole brain is involved". Depending on what the person is going through under hypnosis, different areas of the brain may be activated. The bottom line is that there is no specific active area of the brain under hypnosis. Different areas are engaged and allow changes to be made.

Finally, the philosopher François Roustang has written at length about hypnosis, therapeutic relationship, and healing process. His books La fin de la plainte, Il suffit d’un geste and Savoir attendre show both a subtle and poetic understanding of therapeutic hypnosis.

*Jean-Marc Benhaiem, hypnotherapist attached to the Hospitals of Paris and director of the University Diploma in Medical Hypnosis at Pitié-Salpêtrière, addresses these questions in his conference “L’insaisissable hypnose" (2017).