Using Hypnosis to Enhance Health & Performance | Dr. David Spiegel

About this video

Dr. David Spiegel, associate chair of psychiatry at Stanford and director of the Stanford Center on Stress and Health, joins Huberman to discuss clinical hypnosis and self-hypnosis, distinct from stage hypnosis. Huberman explains that Dr. Spiegel’s work presents hypnosis as a unique brain state in which neuroplasticity may be heightened, and that clinical hypnosis has been shown in studies by Dr. Spiegel and colleagues to improve stress, chronic anxiety, chronic pain, psychiatric illnesses and even outcomes in cancer. They discuss hypnotizability, which varies between people, and a simple test Dr. Spiegel developed to assess whether someone is highly, moderately or lowly hypnotizable. Dr. Spiegel advises seeing a licensed, trained professional who can properly assess a problem, explains he often teaches patients a self-hypnosis exercise in one or two visits, and describes the Reveri app, including elements of about 15 minutes and refreshers of one or two minutes.

Key takeaways

• Dr. Spiegel distinguishes clinical and self-hypnosis from stage hypnosis.
• Huberman describes hypnosis as a brain state in which neuroplasticity may be heightened.
• Dr. Spiegel advises working with a licensed professional who can assess the underlying problem.
• Dr. Spiegel describes teaching patients self-hypnosis in one or two visits for ongoing use.
• Dr. Spiegel reports short Reveri refreshers of one or two minutes helping many users feel better.

Episode details: published February 21, 2022 · 499.8K views · 1:52:41 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The science and protocols described are Andrew Huberman’s, presented for education — not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before changing your own health practices.

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