Dr. David Spiegel

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Hypnosis is a state of highly focused attention. Have you ever gotten so caught up in a good movie that you kind of forget you're watching a movie? Absolutely. You become part of the movie instead of part of the audience. World-renowned psychiatrist, expert on self-hypnosis, Dr. David Spiegel. How do we change ourselves? Deal with the aspect of the threat and you can control it.

Hypnosis is a state of highly focused attention. Have you ever gotten so caught up in a good movie that you kind of forget you're watching a movie? Absolutely. You become part of the movie instead of part of the audience. World-renowned psychiatrist, expert on self-hypnosis, Dr. David Spiegel. How do we change ourselves? Deal with the aspect of the threat and you can control it.

Your boss may have said something awful to you, but your body doesn't have to react that way.

Your boss may have said something awful to you, but your body doesn't have to react that way.

Hypnosis is, oddly enough, the oldest Western conception of a psychotherapy. The first time a talking interaction was thought to have therapeutic benefit. And I think there's much overlap between some of the things you do and think like a monk, you know, focusing on visualization, on controlling your breathing, on... on visualizing things that can be ways of being different.

Hypnosis is, oddly enough, the oldest Western conception of a psychotherapy. The first time a talking interaction was thought to have therapeutic benefit. And I think there's much overlap between some of the things you do and think like a monk, you know, focusing on visualization, on controlling your breathing, on... on visualizing things that can be ways of being different.

And hypnosis is a state of highly focused attention. It's like getting, have you ever gotten so caught up in a good movie that you kind of forget you're watching a movie?

And hypnosis is a state of highly focused attention. It's like getting, have you ever gotten so caught up in a good movie that you kind of forget you're watching a movie?

So you become part of the movie instead of part of the audience. Now what you're doing when you're doing that is using for consciousness what a telephoto lens does for a camera. You see what you see with great detail, but you're less aware of the context. You dissociate other things you would ordinarily be aware of.

So you become part of the movie instead of part of the audience. Now what you're doing when you're doing that is using for consciousness what a telephoto lens does for a camera. You see what you see with great detail, but you're less aware of the context. You dissociate other things you would ordinarily be aware of.

Our brains are processing thousands of things all the time, what's going on in the body, noises, potential threats, all kinds of things. But in hypnosis, you narrow the range of focus. And for example, right now, you're having sensations in your body touching these nice chairs, but hopefully you weren't even aware of that. If you were, we could stop the interview right now. So we all do that.

Our brains are processing thousands of things all the time, what's going on in the body, noises, potential threats, all kinds of things. But in hypnosis, you narrow the range of focus. And for example, right now, you're having sensations in your body touching these nice chairs, but hopefully you weren't even aware of that. If you were, we could stop the interview right now. So we all do that.

We can put out of awareness things that would ordinarily be in awareness. In hypnosis, you focus intently, you dissociate. And the third thing you do is you disconnect from your ordinary ways of being and thinking. And this is where I think there's a lot of similarity between meditation, mindfulness, and what you do in hypnosis, which is you kind of get over yourself and

We can put out of awareness things that would ordinarily be in awareness. In hypnosis, you focus intently, you dissociate. And the third thing you do is you disconnect from your ordinary ways of being and thinking. And this is where I think there's a lot of similarity between meditation, mindfulness, and what you do in hypnosis, which is you kind of get over yourself and

but in a somewhat different way. You suspend your view of yourself and you try out being different. Now, the thing that scares a lot of people is that many people have been to one of these awful stage shows, you know, where they've seen the football coach dance like a ballerina. And I don't like making fun of people. But at the same time, there is a point.

but in a somewhat different way. You suspend your view of yourself and you try out being different. Now, the thing that scares a lot of people is that many people have been to one of these awful stage shows, you know, where they've seen the football coach dance like a ballerina. And I don't like making fun of people. But at the same time, there is a point.

And the point is for us to change, and that's what your life's work is about now, is how do we change ourselves? How do we not get trapped in sort of rote desires? Or I love that there was a quote, You had about how life is too short to spend your time living somebody else's life, you know.

And the point is for us to change, and that's what your life's work is about now, is how do we change ourselves? How do we not get trapped in sort of rote desires? Or I love that there was a quote, You had about how life is too short to spend your time living somebody else's life, you know.

And I think what you can do in hypnosis in narrowing your focus of attention, in dissociating, is suspend your usual view, feeling about what you're like and try out being different.