What is hypnosis?

That's a difficult question to answer. After nearly a century of academic research there is a wealth of experimental material, but no agreed consensus regarding the nature of hypnosis. Some people think that hypnosis is an 'altered state of consciousness', but scientists also disagree about the precise definition of consciousness so this argument can get quite complicated. When we talk about hypnosis we often tend to be either talking about the relaxed, focussed, absorbed feelings associated with a 'trance state', or we tend to be talking about the interesting things people can do when hypnotised - such as not feeling pain, or experiencing hallucinations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) covers some of the most common queries - feel free to submit your own!
Definitions covers some of the key terms associated with hypnosis and suggestion in more detail

Photograph of a pocketwatch. Original photo by the Rocketeer on flickr. Used under a creative commons license. http://flickr.com/photos/kt/1132717/

To get a better understanding of hypnosis and its associated phenomneon you have delve into the Research. In the research section of this website there are summaries of key experiments, important findings, and descriptions of some of the key theories of hypnosis.