Summary of Hypnosis Capabilities: No use in recovering memories

B

benbuehne

Padawan Learner
An interesting article I was aware of.

_http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/hypnosis_memory.htm

I add this because I see a good amount of discussion regarding hypnosis use for memory recovery or past life regression. While past life regression would really not be able to be proven either way, the evidence seems to show that in terms of recovering memories from this life that the tool is useless. In fact what you would find is that hypnosis is more able to then distort your memory and make it more inaccurate.

I bring this to light because of some healthy skepticism. As I read through some of the material I see hypnosis is relied upon a decent amount. I wonder about some of the information provided due to hypnosis. I was hoping that some of these concerns could be put to rest by some forum members.

In addition... such information also makes me wonder about the effects of self hypnosis techniques. Would self-hypnosis then simply allow one to shape their own mind... or could they have the control while under hypnosis to actually make these changes? Unfortunately it seems that self-hypnosis is a phenomenon with no real study behind it from the scientific community.

Thoughts?
 
I would also like to point out that I'm not trying to do anything here but continue to gather information... and of course as any questions or concerns should arise I would want to submit this. I have, admittedly, not finished reading.

Thank you all!
 
I think the effectiveness of hypnosis depends largely on the prejudices and willingness of the subject and practitioner. In Myth of Sanity by Martha Stout for instance, people who had extremene dissociative ego states due to trauma were capable of bringing memories they have from this life back to their conscious minds. The people were said to be composites in some cases but some were real and anonymous in others. From what I can see hypnosis can be used to speak with the subconscious mind of a patient without interference from the ego's biases so it can be helpful if used correctly.
 
benbuehne said:
An interesting article I was aware of.

_http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/hypnosis_memory.htm

I add this because I see a good amount of discussion regarding hypnosis use for memory recovery or past life regression. While past life regression would really not be able to be proven either way, the evidence seems to show that in terms of recovering memories from this life that the tool is useless. In fact what you would find is that hypnosis is more able to then distort your memory and make it more inaccurate.

I bring this to light because of some healthy skepticism. As I read through some of the material I see hypnosis is relied upon a decent amount. I wonder about some of the information provided due to hypnosis. I was hoping that some of these concerns could be put to rest by some forum members.

In addition... such information also makes me wonder about the effects of self hypnosis techniques. Would self-hypnosis then simply allow one to shape their own mind... or could they have the control while under hypnosis to actually make these changes? Unfortunately it seems that self-hypnosis is a phenomenon with no real study behind it from the scientific community.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I think the usefulness of hypnosis depends on the skill of the hypnotist and the purpose for which it is applied. For example, we already know from Laura et al's work that I found here:
_http://2012.tribe.net/thread/9ba8659e-19b8-4a17-aedc-a86b9768861d

...that you can't hypnotize someone to believe something that goes against a deeper seated counter belief.

Also, there's a case everyone who dabbles in hypnotism should be aware of, OSIT. It deals with "symptom substitution" (emphasis theirs):

Now, there is ONE CASE in which the Subconscious will either accept the instructions temporarily, or will accept the NEW instruction 100% but will start producing undesirable results in a totally different area.

And you should learn about this CASE if you want to use deep altered (hypnotic) states effectively and efficiently.

It is the case of SYMPTOM SUBSTITUTION -- name used by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, creators of NLP.

And that happens when there are previously stored, long held BELIEFS and VALUES that are totally OPPOSITE and IN CONFLICT with the NEW affirmation/instruction.

In such a case, not even hypnosis will solve the situation because even if the Subconscious were to accept the NEW affirmation/instruction (with the CONSCIOUS part, the doubting part set temporarily aside while in deep hypnosis) and takes action to bring it into reality, the old CONFLICTING beliefs/values must BE EXPRESSED SOMEHOW and will start producing undesirable results in a different area -- and you won't even know why!

Therefore, before using hypnosis, old conflicting beliefs/values MUST be FIRST cleared/eliminated!
Source: _http://www.dstressdoc.com/Articles/ConsciousSubconscious.html
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Using hypnosis for past-life purposes could be problematic due simply to a version of "context-based recall". In essence, in this life, memories tied to a "different I" are recalled better when that "I" is known or can be assumed, because all those memories are associated with a "different person", so to speak. So, one could probably imagine the difficulties trying to recall a totally different life as a possibly totally different "I".
 
Thank you very much Buddy that does seem to be what is shown. For some purposes hypnosis can be a rather effective tool and I have seen that in a sense there needs to be a comfort level associated with the messages being told to someone. Your answer does help provide some clarity on the subject.
 
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