So I was wondering, is it possible to hypnotize a person who has Aphantasia. Now, before you get into a debate that a human cannot just make another human to run on commands. I’m no talking about this kind of hypnotism.
Where an expert in this field guide his/her patient/client to close their eyes and imagine a bunch of scenarios to calm their mind, I’m talking about this kind.
What will happen if a client turned out to have aphantasia?
Will the expert be successful in his/her method?
As an aphant I cannot begin to imagine salivating by thinking of biting a lemon.
I believe some aphants can have smell and taste memories since it only has to do with a lack of visual imagine. Just like some cannot hear inner speech.
I cannot say it’s impossible but I’ve never believed in hypnotizism.
I think a lot of role misunderstand hypnosis. It’s just putting your brain in a relaxed state (theta waves) that you normally experience when you sleep and dream. If you experience that state when you are asleep, you can also experience it awake. It’s just a matter of finding the right relaxation technique.
One thing I didn’t mention in my comment is that for people who struggle to visualize, we just do a progressive muscle relaxation induction rather than a visualization. No need to imagine anything.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t fully understand hypnosis.
I don’t really dream that much. I normally fall asleep and then just wake up. I’ve had dreams before and I can’t say that I saw images or not. I want to say that I did see images because I would describe them as being very vivid and real like almost like I was experiencing it rather than just thinking. But when I wake up I cannot recall any of the images but know how the things in the dream looked and would recall them like I saw something in the real world.
But if my muscles are relaxed how is that supposed to put my brain in a relaxed state?
Relaxed body is going to generally activate your parasympathetic nervous system and relax your brain as well - here is a study showing that progressive muscle relaxation has a statistically significant effect: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8272667/
And I can guarantee you that you go into a theta state during sleep. Young children up to age of 7 spend a lot of time in a theta state, and as adults, we go there during REM sleep. It’s considered to be a highly suggestible state, that’s why it’s used in hypnosis (more on theta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta_wave)
Hypnosis is nothing mystical like some people claim. It’s literally just putting you into a deeply relaxed state so your brain is more willing to go with whatever is happening, but you still retain full control and can choose not to accept a suggestion.
When it comes to deeper hypnotic states and people claiming they couldn’t control themselves and did what the hypnotist told them to - I cannot speak to that because I am not trained to do that, and I am not sure exactly how that works because I’ve never experienced it or witnessed it.
I do believe that some people are highly suggestible while others are not - and IMO it has to be with how easily they can go into that theta state. I’ve had clients who just couldn’t get into it no matter what we tried - and it wasn’t because of aphantasia, they just have a hard time relaxing in general and are concernced about what is going to happen under hypnosis. It’s not for them, and that’s fine.
I don’t believe that there is a single therapy approach out there that will work for everyone - although purists will definitely claim their approach is the best.