Hypnosis is an act of guiding someone into three trances, namely relaxation, concentration, and suggestibility. Cassie Salewske, a certified hypnotherapist, wrote in an article that the idea of hypnotists taking over one’s mind and controlling their actions is entirely a media-driven myth. In fact, during the session, those who are being hypnotised can control all their actions, hear anything around them, and cannot be forced to do something against their will.
The definition of hypnotherapy is a practice of hypnosis done by hypnotherapists for therapeutic purposes. David Spiegel in his study revealed that hypnotherapy is a powerful means of changing the way we use our minds to control perception and our bodies. It helps relieve stress, anxiety, fear, depression, and other posttraumatic stress.
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In a workplace setting, both hypnosis and hypnotherapy could help employees work better and smarter. For instance, in today’s workplace where the involvement of technology has created the “always-on” culture, employees are at risk of being overwhelmed and dealing with more stress due to heightened exposure to work. Psychologist John Hackston in his research found that the environment of 24/7 connectedness strangely impacts employees’ stress and engagement. He revealed that only very few people enjoy feeling like they have to respond to a work email on a Sunday morning. The study also showed that those who found it difficult to switch off due to the always-on culture suffered a range of negative issues, including stress, interference with personal life, as well as being unable to focus on one thing at a time.
In this case, workplace hypnosis could help employees manage their stress and improve their focus. Ann Williamson’s study suggested that hypnosis can both affect one’s physical and psychological state. Not only does hypnosis help individuals be more productive, but it can also help stop addiction, fears, phobia, give relaxation, control one’s habit, and many more.
Charlotte Anne Edwards in her book also mentioned that investing in workplace hypnosis can help improve employee’s business skills, thus, creating a highly productive workforce. Using hypnosis could eliminate employees’ fear, anxiety, forgetfulness, and lack of confidence, and help improve good traits, including out-going, friendly, and conversational.
The cost of a single hypnotherapy session can be quite low, especially if your employees can attend a travelling seminar or work with an established hypnotherapist. However, leaders should understand that inviting a hypnotherapist to the workplace might not be covered in national health insurance. CostHelper calculated that hypnosis program costs between $50 – $275 or more per session, or a total of $100 to $1,375 or more for the two to five sessions.
While hypnosis could actually help employees be more productive and healthy, hypnotherapy might not be the right choice for everyone. David Spiegel cited that only about 10 percent of the population is generally categorised as highly hypnotizable, while others are less able to enter the trancelike state of hypnosis.
If your employees are among those who cannot be hypnotised, investing in this program might cost you more than the estimated budget as you need to have repeated sessions to achieve long-term relief from the problems you are addressing. Thus, hypnosis can be highly costly for businesses, especially when your employees are not highly hypnotisable. Yet, the program is worth trying as you never know what you can reap. After all, investing in employees is never a waste of money and energy.
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