Everyone learns differently. Some people enjoy reading blocks of texts, others memorize topics after just learning about them, but those who find it hard to stick to efficient studying habits or have difficulties focusing on the subject may find hypnosis for study an option worthy of exploring.
Hypnosis may have a lot of misconceptions with the way Hollywood has portrayed it as something magical, but it is actually clinical in nature and has been used as a therapeutic tool to fight anxiety, reduce physical pain, improve focus, reduce stress, and even change the way someone feels and thinks.
How Effective is Hypnosis for Study?
Many things could prevent you from studying effectively, from anxiety and stress to loss of focus. Hypnosis could address these things and help you pass your exams, graduate with your course, boost creativity and even just improve your studying habits.
Dealing with Stress
Stress while studying is so common. It begins in elementary school and could continue all the way to college. Some people even report being stressed at learning while training for new skills at work.
While stress is inevitable and many things are out of our control, it is possible to have power over your own feelings. For example, practicing relaxation and deep breathing techniques are doable anywhere. You just have to know what triggers your stress and how to bring your body and mind to a more relaxed state.
Anxiety in School
Being anxious in school due to being homesick, heavy workloads, academic competition, social anxieties, or even a personal pressure to do well can cause someone to feel overwhelmed when studying. Add lack of sleep or a poor diet into the mix, and anxiety can affect your body and cause actual pain (stomach ache, migraines, and so on).
You’re not alone in this. About 40 million Americans suffer from being anxious at least once a year.
During a hypnotherapy session, the therapist helps you arrive at a trance or dream-like state. Because your mind is receptive to ideas during this time period, the therapist provides a “hypnotic suggestion” addressing your anxiety concerns and reassuring the patient about their academic progress or how “they got this” when the patient has been studying excessively for the tests.
Beating Distractions
If it is hard for you to study or memorize notes due to external distractions (not your mind or inner voice telling you to panic), you can use hypnosis techniques to focus. Unfortunately, training your mind to block out distractions requires multiple sessions.
Once you learn how to identify and manage distractions, you won’t be as easily distracted the next time you hear constant chatter, endless phone notifications, and other “noise.” Also, worth checking out is our ‘Hypnosis for Motivation and Energy‘ post.
Lack of Confidence
Many students have a lack of confidence in certain parts of learning. For example, many students still have low self-esteem when it comes to public speaking, even if they have the knowledge and preparation behind them.
Self-hypnosis addresses this lack of confidence by practicing behavioral changes. In most cases, a person with low self-esteem has become so due to trauma in the past. For example, it could mean that a student had been made fun of while speaking publicly in class before, or a teacher had corrected him/her negatively in front of everyone.
An effective therapist can help with the deeper reason and work through them until the student regains his/her confidence.
Memory Problems and Learning Difficulties
Kids, teens, or adults with memory problems and learning difficulties such as dyslexia and ADD or ADHD (visit ‘Hypnosis For ADHD’ here) can incorporate hypnosis into their therapy. Self-hypnosis or hypnotherapy will not cure a person with these issues, but it could help them in other related things like concentration (see ‘Hypnosis for Concentration‘), reduced anxiety, and increased awareness.
If you have memory issues, guided hypnosis could help you remember more clearly by going through the “posthypnotic amnesia” or PHA technique. For example, when a person is in a relaxed state, the therapist could suggest to a hypnotized person that he/she will forget everything after the hypnosis until he receives a “cancellation,” such as “Now you can remember everything.”
Hypnosis FAQs for Improved Studying Habits
The idea that hypnosis can help you learn anything may sound far-fetched, but this kind of therapy is actually backed by science. These 4 questions are the most frequently asked when it comes to hypnosis for studying:
1. Can hypnosis help with focus and concentration?
When you study, you have to give your brain a chance to absorb whatever you’re learning. If you are continuously distracted, anxious, stressed out, and drowning in self-doubt, you’re going to work against your brain.
With hypnosis, you will feel focused enough to complete a book, nail a test, read your notes, and be in control of your emotions enough to finish a particular goal.
2. How long does it take to be hypnotized?
Therapists are not going to drown you with all your issues in one session. Instead, they will first talk to you about your goals, studying issues, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as other aspects of your life. Once the therapists learn about your past and present life, your traumas, state of mind, and the things you want to improve, they will now be able to make a plan on how to free you from your burdens.
A hypnotherapy session lasts an average of 1 hour. In most cases, people begin to feel more relaxed several minutes into the session and eventually feel the full effect of hypnosis 10 minutes in. For specific issues like quitting smoking, the effect should be immediate, but behavioral changes like study habits and anxiety may take a while to take effect.
3. Can you be hypnotized to remember something?
Many professionals avoid hypnosis for people who want to remember a traumatic experience. However, bringing memories back to a person’s conscious mind could affect a person’s medical and psychological well-being.
However, when it comes to learning and studying, hypnosis may be able to help with an increase in relaxation, focused learning, successful study habits, and even achieving a particular goal, you want to be fulfilled, such as passing the bar.
4. Can self-hypnosis accelerate learning?
This has been used to expand a person’s subconscious thoughts, such as memory, that we don’t normally access. But, just like manifesting something with consistent visualization and hard work, accelerated learning may also be possible as long as a person is focused on achieving it.
However, you have to understand that hypnotherapy doesn’t work for everyone. This is due to several reasons, such as susceptibility to hypnosis, willingness (or unwillingness) to practice the techniques, or personal learning style.
How does One Start Hypnosis for Learning?
Hypnosis is categorized into three types:
- Guided (where you use audio and other tools to induce a hypnotic state),
- Hypnotherapy (where a therapist guides you through all the behavioral changes and bring you to a hypnotic state at every session), and
- Self-hypnosis (the do-it-yourself version where you train your mind and body in various methods like deep breathing or visualization to reach specific goals.
All methods are successful for people of all ages. When used for studying for the exams, finishing a course, learning new programs to boost your career, or simply just rewiring your brain, hypnosis only produces positive changes in one’s life.
The secret, however, relies on consistency and regular practice.
For people who are interested in trying out hypnosis as a treatment for studying issues, I recommend you test it out with a therapist first. Eventually, you’ll have the knowledge and ability to try out guided hypnosis with your chosen platform (videos, audio, a book, and so on).
Because the benefits of hypnosis can only be sustained through continuous practice, everyone ends up being able to achieve the right way of self-hypnosis.