Every hypnosis session begins with an induction: the relaxation, the counting down, the “deeper and deeper.” It looks like the essential step, the thing that switches hypnosis on.
So here is an awkward question researchers started asking decades ago. What happens if you leave it out?
The experiment
The design is simple. Take a group of people and give them the standard test suggestions with no induction at all. Just: “Hold out your arm and imagine it getting heavier.” Later, give the same people the same suggestions after a full hypnotic induction, and compare.
In an influential 1999 study, Wayne Braffman and Irving Kirsch did exactly this. They found:
- Responses with and without an induction were highly correlated. People who responded well without hypnosis responded well with it.
- The difference between the two was relatively small.
- Not everyone improved with an induction. Compared with their waking scores, 46 per cent responded more after the induction, 29 per cent showed no change, and 25 per cent responded less.
For a quarter of people, the induction made things slightly worse.
Imaginative suggestibility
Kirsch and colleagues called responsiveness to suggestions without hypnosis imaginative suggestibility. Their conclusion was that this is the main ingredient. “Hypnotizability,” strictly speaking, is only the small extra that an induction adds on top.
The findings were not entirely new. In the 1960s Theodore Barber had shown that people given strong encouragement to imagine could do most of what hypnotized people did. And back in the 1880s, Hippolyte Bernheim of the Nancy school had argued that the phenomena of hypnosis could be produced by suggestion in the waking state.
What does the induction add?
For most people, a modest boost. Reviews of this research generally find that an induction increases responding somewhat, on average.
Why it helps is debated.
- Expectation. Calling something hypnosis raises the expectation that unusual things will happen. In studies where the same procedure is labelled either “hypnosis” or “relaxation,” the hypnosis label produces more response.
- Focus. A few minutes of settling reduces distraction.
- A signal. The induction marks a boundary: ordinary rules are suspended, and it is acceptable to respond.
- Rapport. It is time spent being guided by someone attentive.
There is also evidence that the content of the induction hardly matters. Relaxation is not required: people can be hypnotized while pedalling an exercise bike. Short inductions work about as well as long ones.
So is hypnosis just imagination?
Not quite, and the wording matters.
- The experiences are real. Brain imaging shows that suggested changes in pain or perception are matched by changes in brain activity.
- The trait is real. Responsiveness is stable for decades.
- What this research questions is whether the induction ritual creates a special state without which nothing happens. It suggests the capacity is there all along.
For the highly responsive, something distinctive does seem to occur. But the ability belongs to the person, not to the procedure.
Why this matters to you
You are not waiting for a trance. Many people finish a first session thinking it failed because they never felt “under.” If suggestion works without a special state, there is nothing to wait for. Respond to the suggestions and let them develop.
Suggestion is everywhere. Words from a doctor, a parent, a coach or yourself act as suggestions in ordinary waking life. This is why the language used in healthcare matters, and why negative self-talk does damage.
You can use suggestion in everyday moments. A slow breath and one clear sentence, said with attention, is a suggestion. You do not need fifteen minutes and closed eyes.
The induction is still worth doing. It settles you, raises expectation, and for nearly half of people it improves response. It is also pleasant.
If inductions put you off, you may be among the quarter who do better without. Try a more conversational approach.
Try it yourself
Without an induction. Sit normally with your eyes open. Hold one arm straight out. Imagine a heavy bag hanging from the wrist. Keep imagining for a minute. Notice what the arm does.
With an induction. Another day, close your eyes, take five slow breaths, relax your body from head to toe, count down from ten, and then do the same exercise.
Was there a difference? For many people it is small. Either way, you have learned something about how you respond.
What it means for practitioners
- Skill lies in the suggestions, the relationship and the expectation, more than in the induction.
- Time spent on a long induction might be better spent on the work.
- Hypnotic principles can be used in any consultation, with no formal hypnosis at all.
The bottom line
The induction is not a switch that turns hypnosis on. Most of the response to suggestion is present without it, and it adds a modest boost for some people, largely by raising expectation and focus. The ability is yours, and you carry it with you all day.
Next in the series: Absorption: The Trait Behind Hypnosis
This article is for general information and is not medical advice.