Skeptics describe hypnosis in 1 of 3 ways: dangerous mind control, an ineffective farce, or placebo – The American Journal of Medicine

It is often viewed as a loss of control and, therefore, dangerous, when in fact it is a powerful means of teaching clients how to control mind and body. The ability to enter into hypnosis, termed hypnotizability, is a stable trait possessed by most people, which can be entered into or terminated by the patient. Hypnosis is more powerful than placebo. Changes during hypnosis include reduced activity in the dorsal portion of the anterior cingulate cortex (a key component of the salience network) and connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the insula (a pathway for mind-body control).

Augmented by data on neurotransmitter metabolism and genetics, the neurophysiologic basis of hypnosis is no longer mysterious. Read more here

When I say “Do not think of a flying purple pig, in fact you will never ever think of a flying purple pig.”What do you think of?

We can feed our minds with all sorts of suggestions. When you tell a child to not run across the road as they could get hit by a car, it is a suggestion. The way we interpret those suggestions will signal to our brain a positive or negative event. Repetitive suggestions as we do when learning, are very powerful in the hypnosis process. The plan is to make the suggestions positive.
The triggers, the words and actions implanted by the stupid. Yes, the stupid. Those people who have implanted triggers that manifest themselves in your memory years later in life. Fortunately, those triggers can be replaced.
Whilst researching for my book, Transform your Psyche, your journal to self-discovery. I realised that those triggers if not dealt with accumulated as the years progressed, presenting themselves every seven years, through events in our life.

So simply answered. How does self hypnosis work? If you have driven somewhere and cannot recall the full journey. That is self hypnosis. Suggestions are feed to our subconscious, repetitive songs, commercials. We are being hypnotised daily. Let’s make it a positive experience.

Brigid Curran Intuitive and Clinical Hypnotherpist and presenter of Reinvent 2021