What Is Self-Hypnosis?

Self-hypnosis involves using the same principles as clinical hypnosis – focused attention, relaxation, and suggestion – but applied independently by the individual. All hypnosis is, in some sense, self-hypnosis: even in a clinical context, the practitioner can only guide the client into a state that the client’s own mind creates. Self-hypnosis simply removes the intermediary, requiring the individual to simultaneously direct and experience the process.

The capacity for self-hypnosis is considered an innate human ability. Most people already experience naturally occurring hypnotic-like states daily – the absorbed concentration of reading an engaging book, the highway hypnosis of a long familiar drive, or the drifting mind in the moments before sleep (the hypnagogic state). Formal self-hypnosis practice develops the ability to enter these states deliberately and to use them purposefully.

Benefits of Self-Hypnosis

Self-hypnosis has a range of documented uses. These include stress and anxiety management, improving sleep quality, pain management (including use during medical and dental procedures), performance enhancement (in areas such as sport and public speaking), habit change support, and self-confidence development. It is particularly valuable as a between-session tool for clients engaged in a course of clinical hypnotherapy, reinforcing and extending the therapeutic work carried out in sessions.

For practitioners and students, regular self-hypnosis practice serves an additional function: it develops experiential knowledge of the hypnotic state. A practitioner who has repeatedly experienced hypnosis from the inside is better equipped to guide clients through it and to respond to clients’ descriptions of their experience with genuine understanding.

Basic Self-Hypnosis Technique

There are many self-hypnosis methods. The following outline represents a widely taught foundational approach:

1. Preparation: Choose a quiet space where you will not be disturbed. Sit or lie comfortably. Set an intention for the session – what you would like to achieve or experience.

2. Induction: Close your eyes and focus attention on your breathing. Allow each breath out to deepen your sense of relaxation. Some practitioners count breaths from ten down to one, suggesting increasing relaxation with each count. Eye roll techniques – rolling the eyes upward before closing the eyelids – are also commonly used as a self-induction method.

3. Deepening: Visualise a place of calm – a garden, beach, or any setting associated with peace and safety. Spend time exploring this place in as much sensory detail as possible: what you can see, hear, feel, and perhaps smell. Allow the sense of relaxation to deepen with each breath.

4. Therapeutic work: Once settled in your calm place, deliver your prepared suggestion or affirmation. Keep suggestions positive, specific, and framed in the present tense where possible (“I feel calm and confident in social situations” rather than “I will try not to be anxious”).

5. Emergence: Count slowly from one to five (or three to one), with each number suggesting increasing alertness and wellbeing. Open your eyes feeling refreshed and alert.

Writing Effective Self-Hypnosis Scripts and Suggestions

The quality of suggestions used in self-hypnosis significantly affects outcomes. Effective suggestions share certain characteristics. They are positive in orientation (stating what is wanted rather than what is to be avoided). They are specific and concrete. They are plausible – suggestions that are too far removed from current reality may be rejected even in self-hypnosis. And they are consistent – repeated use of the same suggestion across multiple sessions is generally more effective than variety.

Many practitioners teach clients to create a short personalised “power suggestion” – a phrase that captures their therapeutic goal in a few words – and repeat this during self-hypnosis sessions between appointments. This extends the therapeutic effect of clinical sessions and develops the client’s sense of agency and self-efficacy.

Limitations and Appropriate Use

Self-hypnosis is a valuable adjunct to therapy but is not a substitute for clinical input where a client has a significant presenting concern. For issues such as trauma, severe anxiety, or clinical depression, clients should receive appropriate professional support and use self-hypnosis as a complementary practice rather than a standalone intervention. Practitioners should provide clear guidance about this distinction when teaching self-hypnosis to clients.

Additionally, self-hypnosis should not be practised while driving, operating machinery, or in any situation requiring full conscious attention and awareness.

Teaching Self-Hypnosis to Clients

Teaching clients self-hypnosis is a well-established element of clinical hypnotherapy practice. It serves several purposes: it reduces client dependency on the therapist, builds the client’s confidence in their own capacity for change, extends therapeutic work between sessions, and provides the client with a lifelong self-management tool. The practitioner’s role in teaching self-hypnosis includes demonstrating the technique, providing a written summary or recording for the client to use at home, and reviewing and refining the client’s practice in subsequent sessions.