Is Hypnosis Dangerous? Real Risks vs Myths

Updated 2026-11-08

Is hypnosis dangerous? For most healthy adults, no: serious harm is rare, and the side effects people do report are usually mild and short-lived. But it isn’t risk-free, and a few groups of people should talk to a doctor before they try it.

This page separates the fears that come from movies from the risks that show up in the research, and covers the three settings you’re most likely to meet hypnosis in: with a therapist, on a stage, and on your own.

The short answer

The Royal College of Psychiatrists says that when performed by a qualified health professional, hypnotherapy has “few, if any, side effects”. Cleveland Clinic calls hypnosis “a safe, low-risk way” to manage some symptoms and conditions.

The trial data points the same way. A review of hypnosis studies registered on ClinicalTrials.gov found that the rate of serious adverse events likely attributable to hypnosis was 0%, and the rate of other adverse events was 0.47%. The author also noted that several trials didn’t report adverse events at all, so treat that number as a floor, not a guarantee.

Clinicians who use hypnosis every day see a bit more. In an international survey of 691 clinicians, 55% had encountered some adverse effect in a client, but these were “generally short-lived and very rarely judged as serious.” Nearly half said none of their clients had ever had one.

So: generally safe, occasionally uncomfortable, and riskier for specific people and in specific settings. The rest of this page is about those specifics.

Hypnotherapy, stage hypnosis and self-hypnosis: how the risks differ

Most of the safety information online is about hypnotherapy with a professional. The risk profile changes a lot depending on who is running the session and why.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists puts it bluntly: the hypnosis you’ve seen on stage “is nothing like hypnosis used in therapy.” It also notes that self-hypnosis is “a very useful life skill” that therapists often teach.

Self-hypnosis has one real advantage: you write the suggestions, so nobody else can steer the session. Its weakness is that nobody screens you first. That’s why the “who should talk to a doctor” list below matters most if you’re practicing alone.

Myths that aren’t risks

Three fears come up again and again. None of them hold up.

“You can get stuck”

You can’t stay trapped in hypnosis. A review of 21 common hypnosis myths found that participants “remain awake and aware of their surroundings during hypnosis,” and that psychophysiological studies don’t support the idea that hypnosis is a kind of sleep. The same authors note that tired people sometimes simply fall asleep after suggestions to relax, and then wake up as they normally would.

What does happen is slower re-alerting. In the clinician survey, 20% of clinicians had seen “difficulty terminating/waking from hypnosis” in a client at some point, and about a quarter had seen disorientation afterward. That’s grogginess, not being stuck, and the steps further down deal with it.

“Someone can make you do things against your will”

Hypnosis isn’t mind control. Cleveland Clinic says that you’ll “always be in control of your mind and thoughts”, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists says you do not have to follow the therapist’s suggestions.

The research agrees. In one study described in the myths review, participants who were told they could be deeply absorbed and still resist did not respond to 95% of the suggestions. For more on the limits, see what hypnosis can’t make you do.

“You lose consciousness”

Cleveland Clinic calls this a common myth and adds that most people remember everything that happens during a session. In one experiment, highly suggestible people who said they were deeply hypnotized recounted, almost word for word, a telephone conversation they overheard during hypnosis.

Real risks and side effects

These are the risks that do show up in health guidance and research.

Short-lived side effects

Cleveland Clinic lists dizziness, drowsiness or fatigue, headaches, increased anxiety and trouble sleeping as rare side effects after a session. WebMD’s list is similar: anxiety, headaches, dizziness and drowsiness.

In the clinician survey, these effects were mostly brief. Clinicians estimated that they lasted a few minutes on 65.6% of occasions, an hour or longer on 14.3%, and a day or more on 6.5%.

Emotional distress

The most common adverse effect clinicians reported was emotional upset, seen by 41.7% of respondents at some point in their practice. Twenty-one percent had seen “unwanted access to traumatic memories.” A relaxed, inward-focused state can bring feelings to the surface, which is one reason the screening step matters.

A review of the unwanted effects of hypnosis reached a similar view: adverse effects are “common, may be physiological or psychological, and are mostly short-lived”. Note the word “common” here refers to minor effects across research, clinical and stage settings, not to serious harm.

False memories

This is the most serious documented risk, and it mainly applies to sessions that try to “recover” memories. The Royal College of Psychiatrists warns that if a therapist uses suggestions incorrectly, they can create memories that may not be accurate without meaning to.

Research backs this up. Hypnosis produces increases in inaccurate memories as well as accurate ones, and courts in 27 US states have barred testimony based on concerns about false memories and unwarranted confidence in them. The review concludes that hypnosis “is not a reliable recall enhancement tool.” Age regression doesn’t fix this: what people “remember” in it often diverges sharply from how real children of that age behave.

For self-hypnosis, the practical rule is simple: use it to relax and rehearse, not to dig for buried memories.

Unqualified practitioners

If you see someone else, the practitioner is a risk in their own right. The Royal College of Psychiatrists notes that hypnotherapy is also offered by non-professionals with little training, and WebMD points out that not all states require certification. WebMD suggests checking for a license or membership in a body such as the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis or the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.

Who should talk to a doctor first

This list isn’t medical advice. It’s drawn from guidance by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and WebMD. If any of these apply to you, talk to your doctor before you try hypnosis or self-hypnosis:

• You have psychosis, or have had it. Hypnotherapy might not be suitable for people experiencing psychosis, as it could make this worse.
• You have a serious mental health condition, such as schizophrenia, or experience hallucinations or delusions. WebMD says hypnosis can be dangerous for people with serious mental disorders.
• You’re dealing with drug or alcohol misuse, which WebMD includes in the same list.
• You have a history of trauma. Unwanted access to traumatic memories was reported by about one in five clinicians.
• You want to use it for pain. WebMD says a doctor should first check for other conditions that medication or surgery can treat.
• You’re going to be a witness in a trial. You might be advised against hypnotherapy because of the memory effects above.
• You have any ongoing health condition. The Royal College of Psychiatrists advises sharing any existing health conditions with your therapist or doctor first.

How to practice self-hypnosis safely

If none of the above applies to you, self-hypnosis is a low-risk practice. These five rules keep it that way. For the full method, see how to practice self-hypnosis.

1. Pick a safe time and place. Sit or lie somewhere comfortable. Never practice while driving or doing anything that needs your attention.
2. Keep the suggestions practical. Relaxation, focus, sleep routines, rehearsing a presentation. Leave memory recovery and trauma work to a qualified professional.
3. Start short. Ten minutes is enough. Notice how you feel afterward before you go longer.
4. Stop if it feels wrong. If you feel distressed, open your eyes and end the session. You are in control and can stop at any moment.
5. Don’t let it replace care you need. The Royal College of Psychiatrists warns against becoming overdependent on any therapy. If a problem isn’t improving, see a professional.

How to come out of a session

Ending a session is the same whether it went well or you want to stop early:

• Tell yourself you’re going to count back from three, and that you’ll feel alert and clear when your eyes open.
• Count slowly. On three, get ready and notice the room: the sounds, the chair under you, the light through your eyelids. On two, with your eyes still closed, roll them up. On one, let them open slowly.
• Take a deep breath and move your hands and feet.
• Sit for a minute before you stand. Drowsiness and disorientation are among the most common after-effects, so don’t drive straight after a session.

If you still feel foggy, upset or unwell after a while, stop practicing and talk to your doctor.

Try a session with a safe structure built in

Our free session script has the entry, the suggestions and the count-up exit written out, so you don’t have to improvise the parts that matter for safety.