2015 Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy, and Mental Health Trends

by Tim Brunson, PhD

Worldwide interest in "hypnosis" and "hypnotherapy" has been on a path of steady decline over the past ten years. That is according to trend information that is readily available from Google, Inc. The number of people searching for those two keywords is about half of what it was only ten years ago. This trend is apparently more pronounced in the United States, which has a tremendously large number of Web users. However, it appears that simultaneously interest in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland is rapidly increasing.

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Within the United States, recent interest in hypnosis and hypnotherapy varies widely by state. New Mexico is the state with the most interest followed not so closely by Arizona, Washington (state), Colorado, and California. Mississippi, West Virginia, Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming appear to have little or no interest. As this data – to include that mentioned in the previous paragraph – is gross and not per thousand residents, this makes interest in New Mexico and the lack of interest in Mississippi much more pronounced.

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In comparison, public interest in the keywords "meditation" and "mindfulness" has been rising for the past several years. Searches for meditation, which was trending downward from 2004 through 2009, is back on the rise. Mindfulness searches have been rising steadily for the past ten years. This should not be surprising. Silva Mind Control, appears to be undergoing a re-branding using the word meditation in their new courses (even though I could not detect much of a deviation from their long-standing mind-control through-the-alpha-state philosophy). And, we have noticed numerous continuing education offerings, conference speeches and workshops, and professional books that use mindfulness in their titles. It seems that strategy is too often to make old material appear to be new by somehow connecting it – albeit usually inappropriately and with little understanding – to mindfulness in some manner. Additionally, it is ironic that the US has seen a strengthening of religious fundamentalism and political conservatism all the while Buddhist and Hindu-influenced mindfulness seems to be rising in popularity. Nevertheless, it is obvious that in the states where people frequently search for the word "church," that both mindfulness and hypnosis appear to have less popularity.

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We were also interested in the trends concerning a few other transformational concepts. Specifically, we looked at the interest in "psychoanalysis" and "behaviorism," for which interest has been muted compared to other concepts over the past ten years. Like hypnosis and hypnotherapy, interest in those two terms have more than halved. Interest in "NLP" (i.e. Neuro Linguistic Programming) has plummeted by two-thirds. Even "CBT" (i.e. cognitive behavioral therapy), which stills seems to be politically correct and en vogue in many mental health circles, while remaining preeminent, appears to have declined by about a third.

In conclusion, it appears that interest in psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which have not been favored for over a decade, is declining quickly. Hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and NLP (and especially NLP) is steadily on the down turn. CBT, which has reigned supreme in mental health for some time, is even declining. Presumably CBT, which still will most likely endure for the time being, is somewhat being replaced by more emphasis on mindfulness.

What does this mean? When it comes to hypnosis and hypnotherapy, it is increasingly incumbent on practitioners and their associations to seriously consider their relevance and the need to evolve rather than become completely obsolete. The world of hypnosis, replete with idealistic adherence to the belief in the "wonderful subconscious mind" and the elitism of a select few Ericksonian purists, may suddenly find itself rather redundant and irrelevant should it refuse to update itself and more successfully get into the mainstream. Peripheral concepts such as mindfulness, mind/machine symbiosis, and artificial intelligence need to be considered in such evolution.

Regarding mental health trends, the over regulated, protective (of the prominence of their professional standing), and slowness when it comes to integration, especially within the United States, may likewise serve to suddenly cause the demise of acceptable contemporary beliefs. Other less cognitively rigid predominantly English speaking countries seem to be much more flexible incorporating new discoveries and concepts into their thinking.

Are these search trends relevant? We think so. Google currently commands 68% of the search traffic worldwide and even higher in the European Union. Big data numbers regarding what people search for are readily used by microeconomists, entrepreneurs, and politicians alike to make sure that what they are communicating and offering remains relevant. It is incumbent upon those in the healing, helping, and transformative professions and occupations to do the same.

Nevertheless, while changing trends may represent a rather permanent shift in our culture (e.g. transistors vs. microprocessors, buggy wheels vs. automobiles), and sometimes they can be deemed temporary or seasonal (e.g. football, Christmas, etc.), they should not be ignored. All significant movements represent both opportunities and threats that should warrant flexible responses.

In closing, with the long-term downward trend regarding hypnosis and hypnotherapy, one should wonder if this would bring into question the relevance of this Institute. We think not. Other than fading away, there are two other options. First, we could unethically "coat" hypnotherapy with trendy terms like mindfulness as this is already being done successfully by other mental health-oriented organizations, authors, and experts. That tactic provides little benefit to anyone. Or, we could look at the essence of hypnotherapy and see how it applies to human evolution. For instance, microprocessors have replaced transistors in the world of electronics. However, the underlying concept of signal amplification and switching that was critical regarding transistors (and their vacuum tube predecessors) have been retained yet improved upon by the more modern – and ever evolving – microprocessors. Similarly, cars have replaced buggies. Yet, our interest in transportation permeates our culture more efficiently and more effectively. It is the essence behind the trend that must be our focus.

Likewise, hypnotherapists must focus less on self-identification, rivalries, and worn out concepts and instead concentrate on core concepts such as benefit of efficient selective thought. Then once integrated with stronger trends such as mindfulness, mind/body health, and cognitive computing (formerly referred to as artificial intelligence), we believe that conceptually the field to evolve into something that is beneficial to all.

Tim Brunson, PhD, is the Executive Director of The International Hypnosis Research Institute. For more information visit www>HypnosisResearchInstitute.org