People who ask this have often seen stage
hypnotists who do sometimes ask people to forget specific pieces of
information, like the number three, their name, or something that has happened
on the stage. So, it is possible to create a kind of forgetting, often referred
to as PHA or post-hypnotic amnesia. However, these recreational suggestions are
not intended to last long (just the length of the show), and the memories come
back when the person is cued to recall them, so they are arguably not so
much removed as temporarily hidden from awareness.
The problem is that memory is like a chain, with each event linked
to many others and you can’t remove just one link without the rest of the chain
being affected. As an example, if you forget your ex (probably the most common reason
for therapists being asked this question), what else would you forget? The
holidays you went on with them? The nights out where other friends went along?
Where you lived together? The kids?
As you can see, permanently removing every link of that particular
chain, even if it was attempted, could be very confusing and unhelpful.
And there are huge ethical and practical issues with testing whether
hypnosis can achieve permanent and complete memory removal.
Having said that, studies have been carried out, on temporary hypnotic suggestions around amnesia, which give us some information about how it works. They show that PHA is most likely to happen when it’s specifically suggested
and when researchers have categorised the person being hypnotised as ‘highly
hypnotisable’.
Implicit and explicit memory
Squire (2004) said that we have two types of long-term memory,
implicit and explicit. [cited in 1]
Implicit memory, also sometimes called unconscious memory, has an
automatic impact without us specifically having to recall it, for example,
riding a bike. Once you have learned,
you don’t have to recall each step in balancing and pedalling, you just get on
the bike and ride it. Implicit memory also includes emotional learning, especially where that
is connected with autobiographical experiences so has a role in trauma-induced phobias.
Explicit memory, or declarative memory, includes personal
experiences as well, but it’s the kind of thing that requires some deliberate
effort to learn and to recall, for example, learning a list of the capital
cities of Europe. Where implicit memory can lurk around for years whether we
think about it or not (making it true that you never forget how to ride a bike),
explicit memories can fade if we don’t recall and practice them regularly.
It’s thought that people with PHA typically show the effect in explicit
memory but there is also what Barnier et al (2008) call ‘a dissociation between
implicit and explicit memory, so that even though they can’t recall the
forgotten information it continues to influence their behaviour, thoughts and
actions.’ [2]
This ties in quite well with how we understand hypnotic regression –
we are searching for memories that are subject to this type of dissociation: the causative event (ISE) has been forgotten but the client's emotional responses are still being affected.
Using hypnosis to forget
Mendelsohn et al (2008) [3] asked people to watch a film, and a week
later they were hypnotised to forget having seen it. Experimenters had already
established that half the participants were responsive to PHA suggestions, and the other half
were not. Their memories of the movie were tested by being asked questions
about the film, then the amnesia suggestion was cancelled and they were asked
the questions again.
Mendelsohn found that those who responded to PHA did badly in the
first test and just as well as the other group in the second one, indicating
that they had forgotten much of what they had seen whilst under the influence of
PHA. However, this only applied to the content of the movie. They still clearly
recalled the context of seeing it. In terms of the metaphor used earlier in
this article, they had forgotten one link of this particular ‘chain of memory’,
but the surrounding ones were still firmly in place.
(As an aside, Mendelsohn also showed that hypnotic suggestion had a
distinct physical effect upon the brain; when answering the questions, those who
were experiencing PHA showed markedly different brain functioning than those
who were not.)
Can hypnotherapy make you forget?
Going back to our original question, it seems that, even if it was ethical to try to make a
client completely forget an ex or a trauma, it wouldn’t be very helpful in solving their
problems.
Barnier shows us that the emotions associated with a memory can
linger even when the content of the memory itself is inaccessible, and Mendelsohn
demonstrates that we remember the context of a piece of missing information
even if not the information itself. Our autobiographical memories are simply
too interlaced with other experiences and memories to be able to successfully
remove just one small part.
What we can do is to help the client live more comfortably with their
memories, by
- using cognitive restructuring or reframing techniques to help clients view the
situation differently
- using desensitisation techniques (such as ‘rewind’ or collapsing
anchors) so that they can remember the event or person in a neutral way
- using metaphors to release unwanted feelings, but leaving the learning (so the client doesn’t get into the same situation again in the future).
So when you get that question from potential clients you can maybe adapt this quote from the truly amazing film Flash Gordon (1980) [4]. The baddie of the piece, Ming the Merciless, is about to 'have his evil way' with heroine Dale Arden, and she is offered a drink that she's told will help.
Dale Arden: Will it make me forget?
Hedonia: No, but it will make you not mind remembering.
References
[1] Prera, A (2020, Oct 26). Implicit and
explicit memory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/implicit-versus-explicit-memory.html
[Accessed 25 Mar. 2021]
[2] Barnier, A J, Cox, R E, Cox, Savage, G
(2008). Hypnosis, Memory and the Brain. [online] Scientific American. Available
at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hypnosis-memory-brain [Accessed
25 Mar. 2021]
[3] Mendelsohn, A., Chalamish, Y.,
Solomonovich, A. and Dudai, Y. (2008). Mesmerizing Memories: Brain Substrates
of Episodic Memory Suppression in Posthypnotic Amnesia. Neuron, 57(1),
pp.159–170. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627307009828
[Accessed 25 Mar. 2021]
[4] www.imdb.com. (n.d.). Flash Gordon (1980) - IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080745/characters/nm0000758 [Accessed 26 Mar. 2021].
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Author: Debbie Waller is an experienced hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy trainer. She is the author of The Hypnotherapist's Companion and Their Worlds, Your Words and a co-writer of the Hypnotherapy Handbook, all of which are available from Amazon.
Find out more about Debbie's services on
Yorkshire Hypnotherapy Training - multi accredited hypnotherapy practitioner training, taster days and foundation levels.
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