How Does Hypnotherapy Work?

It sounds simple enough. But here's the problem: most people spend their entire lives trying to change habits, break patterns, and overcome fears using only the goal-setter. Meanwhile, the goal-getter (the part that actually drives 95% of your behavior) keeps running the same old programs.

You know the feeling. You decide to eat healthier, but find yourself reaching for chips at 10 PM. You decide to stop worrying, but your mind keeps spinning at 3 AM. You decide to be more confident, but something tightens in your chest before every presentation.

The decision happens in your conscious mind. The behavior lives somewhere else entirely.

Hypnotherapy works by guiding you into a focused, relaxed state where your brain becomes more receptive to positive suggestions. In this state, the critical, analytical part of your mind quiets down, allowing therapeutic suggestions to reach the subconscious mind where habits, beliefs, and automatic responses are stored.

At Miami Hypnotherapy Center, I've spent years helping clients bridge this gap between what they consciously want and what their subconscious keeps doing. I'm David Doyle, a Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist credentialed by ARCH (Canada's most rigorous accrediting body). What I've learned is this: once you understand how hypnotherapy actually works, the process stops feeling mysterious and starts making perfect sense.

Hypnotherapy works by accessing the subconscious mind, where 95% of your daily decisions and automatic behaviors originate. To understand why this matters, you need to understand how your mind is actually structured.

Think of your mind like an iceberg. The tip above the water (about 5%) is your conscious mind: logic, willpower, intentional decisions. This is the part you're aware of, the part that sets goals and makes plans.

But below the surface (the remaining 95%) is your subconscious: habits, emotions, beliefs, memories, automatic responses. This is the part that actually runs the show. It processes information at staggering speeds, making thousands of micro-decisions every second without you even noticing.

Here's where it gets interesting. Between these two parts sits something called the “critical faculty.” Think of it as a gatekeeper, a filter that evaluates incoming information and decides what gets through to your subconscious. When you're fully alert and analytical, this gatekeeper is vigilant. It questions everything. It resists change.

This is why willpower alone rarely works for lasting change.

You can consciously decide to stop a habit, but the critical faculty blocks that message from reaching the subconscious where the habit actually lives. You're essentially trying to have a conversation through a locked door.

Hypnotherapy opens that door.

During hypnosis, the critical faculty relaxes. Not disappears, relaxes. You're still aware, still in control. But the gatekeeper isn't analyzing every suggestion to death. This allows positive, therapeutic suggestions to reach the subconscious directly.

I call this process “the subconscious rewrite.” Instead of fighting your automatic patterns with willpower (which depletes), you're updating the underlying programming itself. The change happens at the source.

For decades, scientists knew hypnosis worked but couldn't fully explain why. That changed in 2016 when researchers at Stanford University published a study that finally showed what happens inside the brain during hypnosis.

Dr. David Spiegel and his team scanned the brains of 57 participants using functional MRI imaging. They screened 545 people to find 36 who were highly hypnotizable and 21 who scored low on hypnotizability tests. Then they compared brain activity during normal waking states versus hypnotic states.

The results were remarkable. Three distinct changes occurred only in the hypnotized group:

“When you're really engaged in something, you don't really think about doing it. You just do it.”

This is crucial to understand. Hypnosis isn't sleep. It's not unconsciousness. Brain imaging proves it's a distinct state of highly focused consciousness, a state that creates optimal conditions for therapeutic change.

When you come in for a hypnotherapy session (or connect via video, since I offer virtual sessions), the process follows a predictable structure. Understanding what happens at each stage can help you relax into the experience.

The whole process typically takes 60-90 minutes for a full session, with the actual hypnosis portion lasting about 30-45 minutes.

This is one of the most common questions I get, and the honest answer is: it varies. But there are consistent themes.

Most clients describe hypnosis as similar to the feeling just before falling asleep. You know that drifty, floaty state where you're aware of your surroundings but deeply relaxed? That's close.

Others compare it to being completely absorbed in a movie or book. You're so engaged that you lose track of time and become less aware of your physical surroundings. The outside world fades into the background.

Here's what hypnosis is NOT: you're not unconscious. You're not asleep. You don't black out or lose time. You remember everything that happens. You can hear every word I say and could open your eyes at any moment if you chose to.

You remain in control throughout. You can reject any suggestion that doesn't feel right. Your subconscious has built-in safeguards; it won't accept anything that violates your core values or sense of self.

Short answer: if you can daydream, you can be hypnotized.

Longer answer: hypnotizability exists on a spectrum, but the vast majority of people respond well.

But here's what I find interesting: the people who assume they “can't be hypnotized” are often wrong about themselves. The analytical, skeptical types who walk in doubtful frequently become excellent hypnotic subjects. Why? Because once they stop analyzing and simply allow the experience, their natural capacity for focus works in their favor.

Your doubt doesn't disqualify you. Showing up does.

Hypnotizability is also a skill that can improve with practice. The more you experience hypnosis, the more easily you can enter that state. It's like a muscle that strengthens with use.

Let's address the elephant in the room. Stage hypnosis and Hollywood movies have created some persistent misconceptions about what hypnosis actually is.

“Hypnosis is the oldest Western form of psychotherapy, but it's been tarred with the brush of dangling watches and purple capes. In fact, it's a very powerful means of changing the way we use our minds to control perception and our bodies.”

Understanding the mechanism helps explain the results.

Hypnotherapy works because it:

People often ask how hypnotherapy differs from meditation, since both involve relaxation and focused attention.

The key distinction is purpose and direction.

Meditation is generally about observing your thoughts without attachment. You notice what arises, accept it, and let it pass. The goal is present-moment awareness and general calm. It's a valuable practice, but it's not designed to change specific behaviors or beliefs.

Hypnotherapy is about changing thoughts, not just observing them. You're not passively watching your mind; you're actively introducing suggestions designed to create specific outcomes. It's targeted, goal-directed work.

Both are valuable. They're complementary, not competing. Many of my clients meditate regularly AND do hypnotherapy. The skills overlap and reinforce each other.

You've spent enough time fighting the same battles with the same 5% of your mind.

The goal-setter can keep setting goals forever. But until you bring the goal-getter on board, real change remains frustratingly out of reach.

Hypnotherapy isn't magic. It's a structured, research-backed approach to accessing the part of your mind where change actually happens. The part that runs in the background, making thousands of decisions before your conscious mind even gets involved.

If you're curious whether this could work for your specific situation, let's have a conversation. No pressure, no scripts, just an honest discussion about whether hypnotherapy is right for you.

— Danny

David Doyle

Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist credentialed by ARCH, Canada's most rigorous accrediting body. After 10+ years in the corporate world investigating complex cases, Danny now applies that same analytical mindset to helping people understand and work with their subconscious. He specializes in anxiety, habit change, and pain reduction, bringing an evidence-based approach to hypnotherapy.

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Last updated: January 2026