Üsküdar Üniversitesi Continuous Education Application and Research Center (ÜSEM) and Traditional and Complementary Medicine Application and Research Center (GETİPMER) hosted Nişantaşı University Neuropsychiatry Specialist Dr. Lecturer İsak Pardo as the guest of the “Clinical Hypnosis Talks” program. In the online program, Pardo made evaluations regarding the topic of ‘Hypnosis in Neuropsychiatry’. Dr. Lecturer İsak Pardo stated, “Hypnosis is an entirely voluntary and willing event that requires concentration and imagination. This is because the function of attention is very important here. Therefore, individuals with attention deficit are not easily hypnotized. Attention is a brain and mind function with varying degrees. If your attention is scattered, we can see that the person cannot be sufficiently suggested. That's why both attention and concentration are needed in hypnosis.”
“A person's conscious control is never completely lost”
Emphasizing that it is wrong to call hypnosis a state of sleep and that it should be referred to as a completely special state, Neuropsychiatry Specialist Dr. Lecturer İsak Pardo stated; “We call hypnosis a trance state. Hypnosis is a technique, Hypnotherapy is a treatment. Except for the metaphor technique, it is not easy to suddenly put that person to sleep. Because a person's conscious control is never completely lost. That's why we call our method conscious hypnosis, to make it a bit more original. Actually, there are no different types of hypnosis, there is only one hypnosis. However, in deep hypnosis, as it lowers the person's subconscious to different levels and reduces their awareness, this situation moves beyond conscious hypnosis. Therefore, what causes the most confusion is normal hypnosis and conscious hypnosis. To explain it, both are essentially the same but are hypnosis at different degrees. In both cases, the person under hypnosis hears everything. They can even judge the situation. For example, if you say something that is not in line with a person's social values during hypnosis, they will not follow it. In fact, if you insist on it, the person will emerge from hypnosis,” he explained.
“Both attention and concentration are needed”
Mentioning that there is no such thing as not waking up in hypnosis, Dr. Lecturer İsak Pardo stated; “Unless they want to, a person does not reveal their secrets. When given the suggestion 'you will come out of hypnosis', the person opens their eyes and returns to their normal state. I have awakened many of my patients with the suggestion 'wake up'. However, when we wake someone up by saying 'wake up', it can leave an effect on the person, similar to how you would shake someone awake from normal night sleep. Therefore, to wake someone up, we need to act gently, giving the person time and ensuring they are fully awake. Hypnosis is an entirely voluntary and willing event that requires concentration and imagination. This is because the function of attention is very important here. Therefore, individuals with attention deficit are not easily hypnotized. Attention is a brain and mind function with varying degrees. If your attention is scattered, we can see that the person cannot be sufficiently suggested. That's why both attention and concentration are needed in hypnosis,” he said.
“What is desirable in medical hypnosis is to be able to enter the person's inner world”
Talking about the differences between stage hypnosis and medical hypnosis, Dr. Lecturer İsak Pardo said; “The legal regulation grants this right to doctors. A law was passed, but unfortunately, no one is following it. We know that if approved by the Ministry of Health, physicians and psychologists can only apply hypnosis within their areas of expertise. It cannot be used as an entertainment tool. It cannot be disseminated with any image or photograph. Hypnosis is also not permissible to be performed in front of an audience. This is why stage hypnosis and medical hypnosis are separated. Stage hypnosis directs events that will amaze everyone on stage in a very brief and fluctuating manner. In medical hypnosis, however, this is not desirable. What is desirable in medical hypnosis is to be able to enter the person's inner world,” he said.