By: Sarah Ban
April 1, 2018
As a freelance writer, I often have chaotic periods where I have tons of projects and deadlines going on at once. A few months ago, I had multiple assignments with some big names in beauty, and I was feeling excited (getting work is always good when you’re a freelancer) and anxious at the same time. A never-ending checklist whizzed through my mind day and night—especially at night when my head hit the pillow. After five straight weeks of relentless tossing and turning, I was ready to try anything to get to sleep. I'd tried taking hot baths, taking sleep supplements, and applying lavender balm on my temples, but nothing worked. I spent hours every night staring at my bedroom ceiling, analyzing every detail of my life. And so, in a last-resort attempt to quiet my overactive mind, I ended up on a hypnotist’s chair.
There is some science behind using hypnosis for sleep-related issues. A 2018 review of 24 studies that looked at hypnosis for sleep, for example, found that 58 percent of the studies reported a benefit on sleep from hypnosis (although, it should be noted, the authors found that 29 percent of the studies reported no benefit at all, and they acknowledged that their findings were limited by the number of studies available, small sample sizes, and low methodological quality). But, to be honest, I was ready to try anything at this point, and hypnotherapy seemed like a low-risk method to investigate.
To my surprise, I started noticing a huge difference once I committed to a hypnotherapy regimen. After four sessions spread over eight weeks, and armed with mantras and iPhone recordings of my hypnotherapist’s soothing voice that I used at home, I slowly began to doze off quicker and stay snoozing longer.
I also noticed an unexpected and very welcome change in another arena: clearer skin. My combination skin, usually dehydrated yet still oily around my forehead, looked more even textured and hydrated. My entire face was no longer peppered with stubborn pimples that lasted for several months. Did my visits to the hypnotist to deal with my sleep issues have a spillover effect onto my combination skin? I set out to find out.
First, let’s talk about what hypnosis actually is.
The goal of hypnosis is to get you into a relaxed and engrossed state without your conscious mind butting in—similar to how you absorb yourself into a story while reading a book instead of thinking about your litany of responsibilities. While hypnosis proponents recommend the therapy for lots of different ailments, a review of meta-analyses suggested that hypnosis may work in certain conditions, like chronic pain, while finding mixed or no benefit in others. Hypnosis for sleep and sleep-related conditions, as I mentioned before, is one of the more-studied fields that shows promising results. Even so, hypnosis is not standard care for any condition, and is instead used as a complementary or alternative option to more established treatments.
My first hypnotherapy session started with 45 minutes of chatting, just like you would with a regular therapist. For the hypnosis piece, I lay down on a reclining leather couch and was instructed to close my eyes, breathe deeply, and focus on my hypnotherapist’s words as she guided me into a deep state of relaxation. From there, she instructed me to envision myself in various environments, like a serene lake veiled with fog.
After my first session, I started to notice the things that usually got me riled up—the shower water turning ice-cold, unexpected traffic, a curt customer service rep—didn't seem quite as unbearable. I'd close my eyes, picture my misty lake, and repeat my anxiety-reducing mantras rather than cursing under my breath. After the full four sessions, I was enjoying the benefits of a calmer mind in bed, ruminating less, and falling asleep within ten minutes flat (which is major compared to the usual five to six hours)—and staying asleep to boot. Plus that whole clearer-skin thing.
