In today's episode of The Psychology World Podcast, we going to talk about the abnormal and clinical psychology topic of The Myths About Hypnosis.
Personally, I think this is a great topic because it hypnosis is definitely a sort of mystical therapy in psychology.
Also, it often gets represented on TV, but in a completely wrong way, so in this abnormal psychology episode. I think it'll be good to look at this topic.
5 Common Myths About Hypnosis:
Abnormal Psychology Hypnosis Myth- Hypnosis is a Quick Fix:
Firstly, it's commonly believed that hypnosis is a quick fix that will solve all your problems, or it's commonly believed that hypnosis is completely useless.
I understand this is because this is what I believed before reading this article.
In reality, hypnosis can have a lot of therapeutic benefits. Like it can help to decrease pain, anxiety or it can help reduce obesity and it can be beneficial for other conditions too.
Myth- Hypnosis is a Standalone Intervention:
Another misconception about hypnosis is that it is used as a standalone intervention or treatment.
This is another abnormal psychology myth I understand because on TV hypnosis is always used by itself and it always magically treats the person.
Instead, hypnosis is always used in addition to other interventions. Like psychodynamic therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Hypnotists Need to Be Highly Skilled For It To Work:
This is another great myth because the hypnotist only need to be able to administer the procedures and they need to have basic social skills. This is very useful since the hypnotist needs to establish a rapport (trust) with the client.
Hypnotic States Resembles Sleep:
Personally, I understand this myth because whenever you see hyponisis happen it always look like the person is asleep.
In reality, whilst some people do fall asleep, people are awake and have good awareness of their environment during the state.
Hypnosis Improves Memory:
This has to be my favourite myth because if you've done cognitive psychology or you've read my Cognitive Psychology book then you know because of how memory works this will rarely
happen.
Therefore, the reality of this myth is hypnosis can increase and return memories of recent events to the person. But it can increase false memories as well.
Overall, I really hope you enjoy today's episode. If you want to learn more, please check the links below:
Have a great day, everyone!
Abnormal Psychology Reference:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-new-home/202102/21-myths-about-hypnosis
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