This article first appeared in Personal Wealth, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on Nov 16 - 22, 2015.

IT IS Tuesday morning and you are dressed for work. You start the car engine, tune in to your favourite radio station and drive away. Before you realise it, you are at the office parking lot. And you can’t recall stopping at the traffic lights or turning in the right direction. 

You might not have been aware of it, but you were in a hypnotic or trance state, where you were unconscious of the actions you were taking. Your brain tends to enter this state when you are performing routine activities, such as showering or doing the dishes, watching an absorbing movie or TV show, or when you are about to fall asleep.

The British Society of Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy uses this example to explain how hypnosis is used to put the conscious mind to sleep. It is in this state that hypnotherapists offer suggestions directly to the unconscious mind to effect beneficial changes in their patients or clients. 

Dr Daniel Zainal Abdul Rahman, a psychiatrist who offers hypnotherapy at Prince Court Medical Centre, uses an iceberg diagram to explain why the subconscious mind is powerful. The visible portion of the iceberg represents logical thinking, critical thinking and willpower, while the submerged portion represents beliefs, emotions, intuition, values and imagination, among others.

“You only see 10% of the iceberg. You don’t see the other 90% because it’s below the surface of the water. The Titanic sank because all they saw was a small piece of ice,” he points out.

Daniel, who has been conducting hypnotherapy since 1992, describes it as an alternative or complementary treatment that is safe, non-invasive and focuses on the root the cause of a particular mental or emotional issue, such as grief, trauma or psychological pain. 

To explain what it feels like being hypnotised, Daniel says 90% of those who have experienced hypnosis described it as being relaxed yet alert, or being awake but not bothered about anything or other semi-conscious feelings. Time appears to slow down and an hour’s session may feel like only 10 minutes.

“There is no right or wrong way of experiencing hypnosis, just as there is no right or wrong way of experiencing a daydream, which is a state of hypnosis itself,” says Daniel.

Contrary to popular belief, he adds, hypnotherapy does not only help psychotic patients but is widely used to cure diseases that are influenced by psychosomatic disorders. The diseases include psoriasis, eczema, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure and heart disease. Hypnotherapy is also used to help patients deal with insomnia, obesity and addictions, especially smoking. 

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is often compared with hypnotherapy because it is also used to help patients overcome anxiety, depression and phobias. In CBT, the therapist talks with the patient to better understand his or her problems. Then the therapist helps the patient by proposing different ways to think about the problems or alternative ways to behave. The key difference between CBT and hypnotherapy is that the former addresses the issues related to the visible portion of the iceberg while the latter looks at the issues related to the submerged portion. 

“Hypnotherapy directly addresses the master control room. You must remember the mind and body connection is very powerful, and the mind is here [below the surface],” says Daniel. 

Sheila Menon, principal of the London College of Clinical Hypnosis (LCCH) Asia, says in the 1800s, hypnotherapy was used in place of anaesthesia. After the use of ether was found to be a better solution, hypnosis was no longer a popular alternative. 

“But in the 1950s, the British Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association endorsed the use of hypnosis. And even in Malaysia, at Universiti Malaya in the 1960s, they had been using hypnosis for surgeries,” says Menon. 

In the current modern age, she says, hypnotherapy has become popular again because it is an easy therapeutic tool that uses natural states of relaxation. “When we work with patients, we use the same language, the same parameters that medical and psychological professionals use. In the same way, if a doctor wants to refer someone to us, we understand the language they are talking about and their condition.” 

Anyone can go for hypnotherapy, says Daniel. It is widely available in the country and each hypnotherapist offers a different specialisation. Treatment costs depend on the expertise of the hypnotherapist and type of treatment chosen. For example, Daniel charges RM250 per session while LCCH’s therapy centre, which is at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, charges RM380 per session. The number of sessions vary, depending on the needs of the patient.

Hypnotherapy myth busting

Due to the way hypnosis is presented in popular culture, hypnotherapy is surrounded by a lot of misconceptions. One of the common myths is that patients will be out of control or even have amnesia. This is in fact false as patients remain in full control even though their focus might be somewhere else. 

Daniel says instead of controlling the patients, as perceived by some people, he only gives guidance and suggestions, and it is up to the patients to decide whether they want to follow them or not. “You cannot make people do things. I will give you the directions, and you can choose whether or not to follow them. You are in control. That means your motivation to change is very important.” 

Menon says another myth is that patients will blurt out their deepest darkest secrets during the therapy. She points out that this is false because your conscious mind remains the same. “In that state, we remain who we are. If somebody were to call our name or ask us a question suddenly, we can still respond to it.”

Another misconception is that once a patient goes into a hypnoidal state, they will never wake up. Menon says that there is no reason to worry about this. “I am very happy to say that no one in the history of hypnosis has ever not woken up. Everybody wakes up. The worst thing [if the hypnotherapy does not work] is you go into a nice comfortable state, you fall asleep and wake up later feeling refreshed.”

Hypnotherapy is also associated with the “placebo effect”, which refers to something that appears to be a real medical treatment but is not, and yet still has a positive impact on the patient’s well-being. 

“This is environmental manipulation. Whatever works, works — very simple. If the [placebo] helps the therapy, yes of course,” says Daniel. He explains that hypnotherapy also involves intangible things. That is the reason his room is decorated extensively, with slightly dim, warm lighting and rocking chairs that can be turned into recliners. 

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.