Essentials: Using Hypnosis to Enhance Mental & Physical Health & Performance | Dr. David Spiegel

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. David Spiegel, MD, the Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Center on Stress and Health, and Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.

We discuss the science and clinical applications of hypnosis, including how hypnosis works in the brain. We examine the evidence-based uses of clinical and self-hypnosis for pain, trauma, phobias, sleep and stress, and explain how to gauge your own level of "hypnotizability." We also outline practical ways to access these tools, from working with a trained clinician to using structured self-hypnosis protocols.

Articles

• Modulation of gastric acid secretion by hypnosis (Gastroenterology)
• Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Chronic Combat-Related PTSD Patients Suffering From Insomnia: A Randomized, Zolpidem-Controlled Clinical Trial (International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis)
• Brain Activity and Functional Connectivity Associated with Hypnosis (Cerebral Cortex)
• Hypnosis Reduces Distress and Duration of an Invasive Medical Procedure for Children (Pediatrics)
• Group Therapy and Hypnosis Reduce Metastatic Breast Carcinoma Pain (Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine)

Resouces

• Reveri hypnosis app
• Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
• American Society for Clinical Hypnosis

People Mentioned

• Gordon Bower: psychologist, learning theorist, Stanford University