Everything useful about hypnotherapy depends on one thing: what happens after you open your eyes. Feeling calm in the therapist’s chair is pleasant. Feeling calm in the meeting next Tuesday is the point. The tool that connects the two is the post-hypnotic suggestion.
What it is
A post-hypnotic suggestion is an instruction given during hypnosis that is meant to take effect later, usually in response to a cue.
It has two parts:
- The cue — a situation, sensation, time or action. “When you sit down at your desk…”
- The response — what happens. “…you take a slow breath and feel your shoulders drop.”
Stage hypnotists use the same thing for laughs: “Whenever I say ‘Monday,’ you’ll stand up and salute.” In therapy, the cue is something from your real life and the response is something you want.
The experiment that got scientists’ attention
The Stroop test is a classic of psychology. You are shown the word RED printed in blue ink and asked to name the ink colour. Reading is so automatic for fluent readers that the word interferes, and people slow down. For decades this was considered unavoidable.
In 2002, Amir Raz and colleagues gave highly suggestible people a post-hypnotic suggestion that the words on the screen would look like meaningless symbols. Later, out of hypnosis, they took the test. The Stroop interference was eliminated. Less suggestible people given the same suggestion showed no significant change.
The finding suggests that, in responsive people, a suggestion can alter a mental process that had been thought to be automatic.
How long do they last?
It varies widely. Trivial suggestions with no personal meaning tend to fade within hours or days. Suggestions that match something you actually want, are tied to a cue you meet often, and are repeated, can become lasting habits.
At that point it is fair to ask where the suggestion ends and ordinary learning begins. Psychologists who study habit formation use a very similar tool called an implementation intention: “If situation X arises, I will do Y.” The two ideas overlap a great deal.
What a post-hypnotic suggestion cannot do
- It cannot make you act against your values. People reject suggestions they find objectionable.
- It is not permanent programming. Without reinforcement, most fade.
- It is not equally strong in everyone. Highly hypnotizable people respond far more.
- It does not replace motivation. It works with what you want, not against it.
Writing a good one
- Choose a specific cue. “When I feel the first flutter of nerves” works better than “when I am stressed.”
- Make the response small and concrete. A breath, a posture, a phrase.
- Phrase it positively and in the present tense. “I breathe out slowly” instead of “I won’t panic.”
- Link it to a feeling. “…and a sense of steadiness spreads through me.”
- Rehearse it in imagination, several times, seeing the cue and feeling the response.
- Repeat it daily for a couple of weeks.
Examples
- Sleep: “When my head touches the pillow, my body remembers how to let go.”
- Cravings: “When I notice an urge, I take one slow breath and the urge begins to pass.”
- Public speaking: “As I stand up, I feel my feet on the floor and my voice is steady.”
- Self-hypnosis: “Each time I practise, I relax more quickly and more deeply.”
The bottom line
A post-hypnotic suggestion is the bridge from the session to real life. Well designed and well rehearsed, it is where hypnosis does its most practical work.
Next in the series: Hypnotic Regression: Can You Really Go Back?
This article is for general information and is not medical advice.