If the word ‘hypnosis’ stirs up visions of swinging pendulums or bizarre 1990s TV shows, you’re not alone – an image of a terrified woman being talked into holding a very large spider while in a trance still makes me shudder to this day. But while it can sound woo-woo, there’s a surprisingly robust body of research behind this centuries-old treatment – and a new wave of self-hypnosis apps are making it more accessible than ever.
‘Hypnosis is considered the oldest Western form of psychotherapy,’ says Dr David Spiegel, a clinical research psychiatrist at Stanford University and co-founder of the Reveri app, which launched in the UK earlier this year. Studies support the idea
