The word hypnosis may bring to mind thoughts of swinging watches, spinning spirals and someone repeating the word sleep in their deepest voice. These are merely clichés that have been strengthened by the media during the history of hypnosis. Some people still view hypnosis as mind control. David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford's school of medicine, said

It's thought to be something that takes away control from a patient, but it's actually something that enhances their own self control. So you can teach people how to manage their anxiety, how to manage their pain and they are grateful for it.
Furthermore hypnosis is not something that somebody does to another person. Let me explain, both the subject and the hypnotherapist/hypnotist need to actively take part and work together to achieve a hypnotic state. If someone does not want to experience hypnosis, quite simply they won't.

The word hypnosis itself is slightly misleading as “hypno” suggests it is a sleep when in fact it isn't. Dr James Braid (1795-1860) was a Scottish physician who became a famed surgeon in Manchester. He is also known as the "father" of modern hypnosis. Braid coined the term, hypnosis using the Greek word, hypnos, meaning sleep. Once the term hypnosis caught on, Dr. Braid thought it over and theorized that the hypnotic subject is never really asleep so he tried to rename hypnosis to 'monoideism'. Although the new name never caught on it is a more accurate description. ‘Monoideaism’ means ‘mono’ = a single, ‘ideaism’ (for ‘idea’) = thought or idea. Researchers have long stated that hypnosis can be characterized as a relaxed, narrowly focused form of attention. Most scientists will agree that a combination of increased relaxation, concentration and heightened suggestibility is involved in hypnosis but not sleep.

Although the beneficial effects of hypnosis have been known of for some time, modern neuroimaging technologies now give us a better understanding of what happens in the brain of a hypnotised person. In 2000 Spiegel ran a study into perceptual and sensory experiences to demonstrate the effects hypnosis has on the brain. The study involved asking hypnotised and non-hypnotised people to view pictures in both colour and greyscale. When it was suggested that those hypnotised would see photos in colour, the regions of the brain responsible for processing colour were activated, even if they were looking at the greyscale images. When the same hypnotised people were told they would only see the images in greyscale, the activity of the colour processing regions of the brain decreased, even if they viewed the colour photos. From this research, the scientists from Harvard and Stanford have demonstrated beyond doubt that hypnotised people use their brain subconsciously in a way not previously thought possible by scientists.

Michael Nash, a psychologist at the University of Texas and the former editor of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis has said “As we do more and more research in laboratories, we can, in a sense, ‘domesticate’ hypnosis, the neuroscience link adds a component to the credibility of hypnosis.”

Hypnosis is a natural state that we all go in and out of several times a day although most people will not recognise it. Becoming so engrossed in the storyline of a book or movie to the exclusion of the surrounding environment is an example of this state that most people can relate to. We've all experienced this state of mind and it is not mystical or controlling in any way, but it can be used therapeutically to change undesired patterns of behaviour and speed up the healing process.