One might ask, "How does hypnosis work?" The answer to this question is not definite. The mind has been a big puzzle among scientists and a certain mental state called hypnosis is a puzzle as well. The only things that can be said about hypnosis are the very things that happen in the hypnotic state. These are the behavioral changes and brain activities that a subject undergoes under hypnosis. What remains to be a mystery for those who have studied hypnosis 200 years ago can still be safely said today.
A lot of theories have been given to answer the question, "How does hypnosis work?" Psychiatry understands hypnosis as a trance or mental state characterized by an openness or susceptibility to suggestions, deep relaxation and heightened use of images as in imagination. Milton Erickson, the premier hypnotism expert of the past century considers this trance state as a normal everyday occurrence like when one is "lost" or fully concentrated in a book, movie or daydreaming. In this state, the person is fully awake, intensely focused on a subject and seemingly oblivious to other stimuli in the surrounding. Hypnosis is induced in the person through stimuli that is why some forms of daydreaming or trance are considered self-hypnosis.
To induce hypnosis on the person is actually an extension of the hypnosis itself. To answer the question "How does hypnosis work?" may well start from the different techniques on how the trance is induced. A period of intense focus, concentration and mental relaxation is needed in hypnosis. Some techniques include Fixed-gaze induction or eye fixation, rapid or a series of firm demands, progressive relaxation and imagery, and the loss of balance.
In hypnosis, images seem very real that it involves one's emotions yet one is aware that they are just imaginary. In hypnosis, it is believed that the unconscious part of the mind is the one being addressed directly to while the conscious part remains active. The danger of those who dissociate lies in their inability to distinguish what really happened to them what they believed to have happened to them. "How does hypnosis work?" is a question that can only be answered through the study of what goes on in the person's mind and body.
One of the reasons why the subconscious is the main focus in hypnosis is because of its inherent activity to operate all the necessary things we need to do without thinking of it consciously, like breathing and blinking. The subconscious also regulates bodily sensations, such as taste and touch and also one's emotions. When the subconscious is tapped and opened, the possibilities of feeling different sense experiences could be realized and this is what hypnotists try to facilitate in hypnosis. The subconscious is also the storehouse of one's memories so care should be taken in exploring it. How does hypnosis work rely on what actually goes on in the unconscious.
Essential to how a person's hypnosis should go about depends on his or her desire, belief and capacity to relax or feel comfortable to start his or her journey to the unconscious.