Saturday, November 30, 2019

In Hypnosis Is There Really a "Sunken Place?"


In November I had the opportunity to speak about and demonstrate hypnosis as an altered state of consciousness to psychology students at Richard Montgomery High School, Sandy Spring Friends School, Clarksburg High School, Sherwood High School, Northwest High School, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, and Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.  It was an awesome experience as I had more than 250 students volunteer to try hypnosis.

During my introductory remarks I mention the misconceptions created about hypnosis in movies and television.  One of the films I cite is the 2017 film Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele.

While the hypnotic induction is compelling and realistic, the ability to compel someone to act against their beliefs (i.e. The Sunken Place) is not.  Here is a link to a blog post I published in March 2017 that explores the use of hypnosis as a critical dramatic element in the film:


I’ve included below a video of Get Out’s hypnosis, along with the actual script from the movie.  Take a few minutes to watch the video.  Do you think hypnosis could ever take a person to the Sunken Place?

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