Concentration is one of the factors that can determine the efficiency of any task. According to a study from UFRJ, attention was necessary for the achievements and advancements of humanity. Today, the challenges to concentrate increase when individuals are placed in environments with many distractions or more interesting offers competing for their attention.

This has been a common problem for people accustomed to working in more traditional settings like offices and less technological environments, who now need to readapt their services to work from home, using more digital tools.

According to a survey conducted on LinkedIn, 62% of people are more anxious and stressed. There is also a survey from the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV Eaesp) indicating that 56% of Brazilians are struggling to balance professional and personal activities, and 36% feel that productivity has dropped and they cannot maintain concentration when working.

Therefore, there is a great opportunity to offer products and services that help these people improve their productivity. One of them is hypnosis itself, and that’s what we will talk about in this article. Check it out!

What is hypnosis and self-hypnosis?

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), with minor considerations from the Brazilian Society of Hypnosis (SBH), hypnosis can be defined as a state of consciousness [intentionally induced] involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness, characterized by an enhanced capacity for response to suggestion. In this state, the subject is led to experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior [goal-oriented].

Self-hypnosis is the self-use of these techniques that can induce this alternative state of consciousness. It helps to be more focused and more willing to receive positive suggestions to achieve your goals.

This means that self-hypnosis is not any of the myths below:

• loss of mind control;
• brainwashing;
• sleeping;
• becoming unconscious;
• a mystical state.

It is an individual practice that can be taught with the help of a therapist to patients so they don’t need frequent direct contact and still get help in achieving their goals.

Its most common advantages are:

• It can be performed anywhere the individual can concentrate;
• The individual can feel more in control of themselves;
• The individual chooses the hypnotic suggestions that make the most sense to them;
• Helps reduce the need for new therapy sessions.

If the therapist identifies that their patients have difficulty concentrating, they need to learn how hypnosis can improve their patient’s attention. So, learn about some of them in the content below.

What are the factors that affect concentration?

There are emotional factors that can hinder concentration, such as fear, anxiety, and other negative feelings. But there are also physical factors that negatively influence concentration, such as lack of sleep, nutrition, and health problems. The combination of these factors can contribute to creating difficulties for the patient, who may need specialized clinical assistance for their specific problems.

The patient can engage in good practices that can be used to positively stimulate attention and can already be recommended in their daily life.

See some of them below:

• Train the brain;
• Look for games that enhance your attention;
• Improve the quality of your sleep;
• Make time for exercise;
• Spend time in contact with nature;
• Try meditating in your routine;
• Have rest periods;
• Listen to music that increases concentration;
• Have a varied diet;
• Consume caffeine;
• If needed, seek supplements;
• Practice concentration exercises.

Now, how can self-hypnosis help increase concentration? See the answer to this question below.

How can self-hypnosis increase concentration?

There are several impacts that self-hypnosis can have on patients’ concentration. Some of them are:

• promote calm and relaxation in the mind to not hinder study or work time;
• increase the ability to concentrate when reading, listening, or watching;
• maintain concentration during study and other desired moments;
• boost confidence;
• promote better memory recall;
• help combat procrastination;
• motivate studying.

Hypnosis can provide individuals with assistance in dealing with their internal issues through suggestions, and it can also aid in promoting a better understanding of what they have done and what they need to do.

As the patient’s emotional health can interfere with their concentration, self-hypnosis serves to provide individuals with suggestions to have less anxiety, fears, and insecurities that undermine their confidence, future expectations, and motivation. By helping control these negative influences, the patient is already more likely to be willing to engage in their activity of interest, whether work or study, in a lighter manner.

Furthermore, self-hypnosis can also help the patient improve their study skills, work performance, and stop worrying about exams, tests, and other evaluations. They start having a clearer understanding of their conditions and capabilities, using this to their advantage in a calm and relaxed way.

According to a study by the Oxford Academy, hypnosis has the ability to enhance human learning. In other words, even if the individual doesn’t have concentration problems, they can still have better concentration with hypnosis and improve their learning.

The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis also demonstrates a study with the same conclusion, stating that there is the possibility of learning and memorizing a new language using hypnosis.

The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis also published a study showing that hypnosis can also be used by teachers in schools as a teaching methodology. Students who experienced the use of hypnosis as a teaching method had better grades in the following months.

Therefore, even though there are ways to help increase concentration, hypnosis has received scientific evidence that it can optimize people’s attention and learning. The therapist who identified their patient’s difficulty in concentration or who wishes to improve their concentration can suggest self-hypnosis and teach them to use it in their daily life.

Did you enjoy learning about the benefits of self-hypnosis for concentration? Then, learn more about it in our guide that teaches self-hypnosis from basic to advanced!

This publication is also available at: Portuguese (Brazil) Spanish