There are many misconceptions about hypnotherapy. I had a number myself. A cartoonish image of a moustache-equipped doctor wielding a black-and-white swirling disc immediately comes to mind.
The reality is far more like a guided meditation. I was seeing a hypnotherapist in Clareville some years ago. The experience was eye-opening, emotional and deeply restorative. But I can tell you there were no spinning disc or clocks.
Hypnosis is simply a state of both deep relaxation and concentration. Hypnotherapy as a practice is a therapeutic technique that guides the body into this state, allowing access to the subconscious mind and making us more open to suggestion. It's why hypnosis is often used to treat phobias or adjust behaviours. It also means that hypnotherapy can be very useful for achieving a good night's sleep; and you can do it yourself.
Racing thoughts are keeping us awake
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, roughly half (48 per cent) of Australians say they have at least 2 sleep-related problems. Stress, anxiety and overthinking are frequently listed the cores problems. If an anxious mind is what is keeping you up, know you're not alone. In fact, 53 per cent of Australians have listed stress and anxiety as the reason they have difficulty sleeping.
"Think of your brain like a newsroom: during the day there’s so much going on that the headlines get diluted — emails, kids, errands," said Vanessa Gray Lyndon, Founder of Formulator of Vanessa Megan Skincare and trained hypnotherapist.
"At night the newsroom quiets down, but the editor – your threat‑and‑planning circuits, the amygdala, insula, parts of prefrontal cortex – keeps running stories."
She explains that with fewer external distraction, those planning circuits in your brain end up with even more capacity. This is otherwise known a "racing thoughts". Right as you're trying to wind down from a particularly busy day, the silence and slowness actually gives your brain more capacity to "race".
"That keeps the body in a sympathetic, 'on' state — faster heart, shallower breaths — which makes falling asleep harder," she says.
Add in the self-imposed pressure of having to fall asleep, it's a recipe for a cycle of insomnia.
How can hypnotherapy help?
Of course, hypnotherapy is not going to be a solution to complex insomnia issues. But if you can't sleep because you find yourself in a trap of replaying conversations from the day, worrying about tomorrow, stressing about inability to fall asleep or terrorising yourself with embarrassing moments from the past, then you could be a perfect candidate for hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy is a vehicle for delivering simple and positive suggestions to the subconscious, and in a way that you're particular receptive to those suggestions. Meaning hypnotherapy can put you into a state that allows you to ask or "suggest" that your racing thought switch off.
"Instead of just sitting with the problem, you’re gently teaching your deeper mind a new expectation — for example, 'It’s safe to rest'," she said.
Lyndon emphasises that hypnotherapy is not a substitute for medical care and that deeper issues always require clinical assessment first.
How is it different from other techniques?
If you're someone you has trouble sleeping, you've probably also had someone recommend breathwork or meditation to you. These are wonderful practices, but hypnotherapy goes one step further. "Meditation is excellent at creating space; hypnotherapy uses that space to rewrite the script," says Lyndon.
"Hypnotherapy intentionally reprograms automatic responses. Breathwork and meditation change breathing and attention right now; hypnotherapy adds a clear, repeatable message to the relaxed brain so those calm states become the new habit."
But she explains that hypnotherapy is not in opposition to other practices, instead it can work with them in a more targeted way. "Where breathwork soothes, hypnotherapy persuades your subconscious to take a different default stance at bedtime."
DIY: here's a five-minute hypnotherapy self-guide
- Lie down, place one hand on the chest and one on the belly.
- Take three slow breaths
- Gently repeat (silently): “I’m allowed to rest now.”
- Instead of trying to stop thoughts, let them soften. The key is not effort, but permission.
Remember, achieving a state of hypnosis works because it meets the mind where it is. Forcing relaxation on yourself, is not at all relaxing. Instead hypnotherapy looks to guide the subconscious out of alertness and into safety. Lyndon has also created a kit called Dream State to assist beginners in their hypnotherapy practices should they need the support.
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