Hypnosis has been used as a therapeutic treatment for many problems, including overcoming fear of dentists, recovering memories of forgotten events, stopping smoking, and losing weight. In hypnosis, the patient relaxes, and the hypnotist, using techniques of relaxation and suggestion, tries to move the patient into an awake and yet relaxed state in which conscious inhibitions won't keep the person from accepting suggestions or speaking freely about bad memories.
But it has not been proven that an objective mental state different from normal consciousness is attained in hypnosis. It appears that what happens is that the patient becomes more suggestible than usual and more likely to go along with the suggestions of the therapist, who is sympathetic and persuasive. Rather than claiming that the treatment is a mysterious trance called hypnosis, it would be more honest to speak of trusting cooperation between patient and therapist.
Research has shown that memories retrieved through hypnotic suggestion are unreliable and may be inadvertent fabrications rather than memories of actual events.
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