Should a Christian be involved with hypnosis?

from the old testament

• God commands His people, the Israelites, to have nothing to do with any sort of paranormal activity or divination, as well as other questionable spiritual activities like sorcery, spells, or witchcraft. These things can be seen as influencing the mind away from things that are pleasing to God (Deuteronomy 18:10–12).
• God is our refuge and the one who gives us strength. He is the one we turn to in times of trouble, not the potentially harmful mental influence of others (Psalm 46:1).
• We are to guard our hearts, and subsequently our minds, as everything we do and say comes from them. If we give control of our minds to someone else, we may not be doing or speaking things pleasing to God (Proverbs 4:23).

from the new testament

• Paul interacted with a slave girl who was controlled by an evil spirit that gave her the ability to know things she otherwise would not. The girl was able to tell fortunes, which involves knowing things she couldn’t without her mind being controlled by something else (Acts 16:16–18).
• We are not to let sin reign in our bodies or obey its evil desires. We do not offer any part of ourselves up as an instrument of wickedness, but instead, we offer ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:12–13).
• When we choose to let someone else influence us and follow what they say, we become like slaves to them. We can either be slaves to sin, which ultimately leads to death, or slaves to obedience to God, which leads to righteousness (Romans 6:16).
• A fruit of the Spirit is self-control; control of our minds and bodies should not be given to anyone else aside from God (Galatians 5:22).
• We need to be alert and clear-minded in order to avoid our enemy, the devil, as he looks for people to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
• God cares for us deeply and will help us face anything. With this in mind, we should cast our fears and anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7).

implications for today

Hypnosis is a process by which critical thinking is diminished, and internal visualization is greatly heightened. It has been used to decrease pain, treat addiction, overcome fear, and entertain. There are several different kinds of hypnosis:

Traditional hypnosis is when a hypnotist puts a person into an alternate state that opens them to commands. This is most often seen in entertainment.

Hypnotherapy is when the hypnotist puts a person into a trance and attempts to overcome some problem, such as facing fears, losing weight, or quitting smoking. The therapy is not successful unless the person fully commits to the hypnosis.

Self-hypnosis, similar to meditation, involves a person being trained by a hypnotist to put himself into an alternate state and reinforce certain thoughts to overcome a problem.

Covert hypnosis is using conversation to hypnotize someone without them knowing, as seen in the TV show The Mentalist. Covert hypnosis is sometimes used by therapists on people who are skeptical of hypnosis in general, but it is also touted as a way to control people, especially for men to pick up women by influencing the woman to drop her guard.

Studies are slowly unlocking the mysteries of hypnosis. It is not sleep or relaxation, or even a trance. It is a re-direction of the brain's attention away from interaction with the external and toward internal thought. The brain has only so much processing power to disperse to various thinking centers. This was shown in a famous experiment done fifteen years ago. People were told to memorize either a 2-digit or 7-digit number, then to choose either a fruit cup or a piece of chocolate cake. Those given the 7-digit number chose the cake far more often than the others—in part because concentrating on the number left them fewer cognitive resources to make a critical choice.

"Interaction with the external" involves taking in data from surroundings, determining possible reactions (critical thinking), and then choosing and completing a reaction (decision making). The critical thinking and decision-making sections of the brain are most active when we are exposed to outside stimuli, particularly stimuli that we are not comfortable with. It puts us on our guard and keeps us engaged.

Allowing our minds to be controlled by anything other than ourselves, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, can be dangerous. We know the Holy Spirit’s influence can be trusted and will lead us toward righteousness and goodness. Other influences can very quickly lead us to sin and harm.

In terms of hypnosis being used to overcome problems and face fears, we should remember that God is sovereign over all things and more than powerful enough to help us. While the techniques of hypnosis may seem helpful is this area, we are best off having God’s help in dealing with our problems, as He has our best in mind.