Can Hypnosis Improve Memory?

Our mind is a complex system. The more we learn about it, the more we realize how little we know of it.

With latest in brain imaging techniques, scientists are only beginning to realize the immense potential of hypnosis. With access to our subconscious, hypnosis can have extraordinary effects on our psychological processes.

But can hypnosis improve memory? Let us explore this question in greater detail:

Understanding Memory

To put in simple terms, the human memory consists of three stages:

Acquisition

This is the stage where the information is encoded in your brain. It involves all the sights, sounds and other sensory input that you may receive from the environment. While walking in a park, you hear a couple have a casual conversation. If you are asked four days later to describe the content of that conversation, you probably won’t be able to. That brings us to the next stage.

Retention

This is the stage where you store the information received from the environment. This depends on how much attention you were paying at a particular moment.

Taking our couple in the last example; what if the couple were having an exact conversation you had with your wife last night? This would increase your chances of retaining their conversation at a later moment.

Recall

This is the final piece of the puzzle. The information you have encoded and stored has to be retrieved at a later point. The rate of recall will depend on how well you acquired the information and how well you managed to retain it.

How Hypnotists Can Help With Better Recall

Hypnosis, a process often called focused meditation, enhances the imagination by gathering resources from mental faculties of a person. By helping you access the depths of your mind, it can aid in better recall. A trained hypnotist can help focus on particular aspects of the material to be retrieved, thereby facilitating recall.

Generally, a hypnotist induces a mild hypnotic state in which the individual can speak. By asking questions, such as sensory mode of information (visual, auditory etc.), the context of the situation and the associations made at the time of storing, the hypnotherapist can help an individual remember in vivid details the contents of the event.

The evidence of hypnosis affecting memory lies in the fact that it influences brain activity. A research at the University College London found that brains of the people who were hypnotized with suggestions of leg paralysis activated in different ways than people with pretend hypnosis and paralysis.

Rekha Shrivastava, at the Blossom Hypnotherapy, understands the power of hypnosis to improve mental functions. From pain management to stress management, she has helped many clients in Rochester, New York by helping them employ the tremendous faculties of their minds.