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Would you trust a self-hypnosis app?

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“In one, look up; in two, slowly close your eyes and breathe deeply; and on three, let the air out and your body floats.” This is how my self-guided hypnosis session with Reveri begins. I sink deeper into my chair and, to my surprise, I feel my arm begin to rise, a sign that the process might be working.

reveri is one of several apps that offer programs to help manage and alleviate problems ranging from stress and trauma to improving concentration and controlling unwanted habits. Sessions typically last between five and 13 minutes, bringing the user to a state of highly focused attention.

After seeing the power of hypnotism in keeping my stubborn uncle from smoking, I wondered if it could help me encounter musical performances as a teenager. More recently, I have wondered if it could alleviate my husband’s insomnia. I’m not the only one curious: Reveri’s enrollment grew 50 percent last year, while hypnoboxanother self-hypnosis app, nearly doubled its revenue and saw a 394 percent increase in subscription rate.

Hypnosis is increasingly recognized as a legitimate therapeutic tool. “Hypnosis works by allowing people to enter a state of deep relaxation where the subconscious mind is more open to positive suggestions, which can help change behaviors, attitudes or feelings,” says Eliott Cohen-Skalli, founder of the app. autohypnosis. a leafwhich launched last year and develops online programs with advice from a board of hypnotherapists and psychologists. He explains that neuroimaging studies have shown changes in brain activity during hypnosis, particularly in areas related to attention, perception, and emotion regulation. This allows for greater receptivity to positive thinking.

According to Reveri founder Dr. David Spiegel, a Stanford psychiatrist who has used hypnosis with about 7,000 people over the course of his career, the most fear-inducing misconception about the practice is loss of control. In reality, it is about gaining control. “Suggestibility is actually cognitive flexibility: the ability to discover abilities you didn’t know you had. That is a great context for change,” he says. It can’t make a football coach dance like a ballerina, but “it does give people the opportunity to try to be different. If you want to better manage pain or get to sleep, seeing things from another point of view can be valuable.”

Oneleaf programs were developed with a board of hypnotherapists and psychologists.
Oneleaf programs were developed with a board of hypnotherapists and psychologists.

The first step in Reveri is to test your ability to hypnotize, which is partly due to genetics, but is also experiential. “If you’re the kind of kid who uses your imagination a lot, you tend to be more hypnotizable as an adult,” Spiegel says. “As we move into adolescence, we think more logically: about 20 percent of the population retains their high capacity to hypnotize into adulthood; 60 percent suffer from it to some extent, but not with such intensity.”

After answering a few introductory questions, I am given the profile of “The Diplomat”, which indicates that I am moderately hypnotizable and will find certain categories (Disconnecting from Work and Breathing Exercises) more effective than others. Over a few weeks, I try sessions designed to relieve stress and anxiety, one of the most popular treatments along with those for insomnia and improving concentration. Spiegel’s gentle voice asks me to imagine a screen with my worry on one side and a viable solution on the other. At first, I panic at the pressure of having to identify a specific problem and feel a little irritated by what seems like a reductionist approach; Anxiety often arises when there are no obvious solutions. But once I am able to analyze the problems, I can visualize ways to address them.

I also try Oneleaf’s Sleep Better program with my husband. During the session we are asked to enter an imaginary starlit garden. I soon hear my partner’s breathing become heavier as he falls asleep.

One of the main advantages of using an app for self-hypnosis is convenience and accessibility: a subscription to Reveri costs £89.99 a year, much less expensive and time-consuming than a course of in-person sessions. “If you wake up at 3 in the morning, the last thing you want is me in your room telling you how to go back to sleep,” Dr. Spiegel laughs. “But you have me on the app.” Although it can’t provide the same personalized experience as a live hypnotherapist, Reveri has created interactive recordings using Alexa technology and this year has introduced Hypno-Pharmacy, a support tool that assesses your concerns through an online problem tracker and provides a personalized response. -hypnosis prescription.

“People are looking for alternatives because they are frustrated by the limitations of traditional mental health solutions,” says psychiatrist and executive coach Dr. Anna Yusim, pointing out the expensive sessions and potential negative side effects of many prescription medications. By contrast, hypnosis can provide fairly instant relief: “It brings unconscious material to the foreground, making it easier to address and reprogram these core beliefs,” Yusim says. I expect a gradual process, but I find that the practice has an almost immediate effect: after each session I feel noticeably more relaxed and I am told that practicing regularly could lead to long-term benefits, such as coping better with anxiety or improving sleep patterns . “Four out of five people benefit within ten minutes,” adds Spiegel.

But while it can significantly improve well-being, self-hypnosis is no substitute for Western medicine. “It’s an opportunity to try to manage your own symptoms, or at least manage it until you get the care you need,” Spiegel says. “The worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work.” Yusim adds: “Choose reputable apps created by qualified professionals and remember that they may not be as effective for more complex psychological conditions.”

As my session comes to an end, my arm lowers and my eyes open. I haven’t quite reached the trance state I had imagined, but I do feel a greater sense of calm. I really want to go back to my imaginary screen and try to be different.