Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D    |     home

Hypnosis & Memory

By Wade H. Silverman, Ph.D.

For a long period of time, mostly in the 70's and 80's, there were dramatic presentations in movies, on television, and even in the news, of testimony given under a state of hypnosis.  Allegedly, traumatized witnesses would "recall" events that supposedly occurred and were blanked out under extreme duress.  These included memories of murders, robberies, or accidents.  In the late 80's and early 90's, many therapists attempted to retrieve recovered memories of sexual abuse under a state of hypnosis.  More recent scientific studies have cast doubt on the reliability of memories recovered under hypnosis.  Scientists have erroneously referred to these inaccurate representations as "false memories."  I say this characterization is erroneous because even memories recalled under normal circumstances are not necessarily reliable.  We tend to reconstruct events to meet our needs or the needs of those we love, admire or want to please such as therapists, spouses, or the police.

As was stated previously, hypnosis is nothing more than a state of deep relaxation.  It allows us to attend more intently on what we have already stored in our memory.  What we have stored could have been either inaccurately perceived or distorted through the prism of our personal needs.

Also never underestimate the need of a subject to please the hypnotist.  Memories and, therefore, testimony can be influenced by even subtle direction.  Many of the claims of "false memory" were due to the patient's perception of what the therapist wanted recalled.  Similarly, many cases of multiple personality are nothing more than elaborate instructions by the therapist to his/her hypnotized patient to act out alter egos.