113 - David Spiegel: Hypnosis and Mental Illness

David Spiegel is Willson Professor of Medicine and Associate Chair of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. He did his undergraduate work at Yale and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. David is highly regarded as one of the most creative psychiatrists in the field, and has worked on a wide array of topics within the discipline. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss his pioneering work in hypnotherapy, as David is the world’s leading hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy researcher. More particularly, they discuss the origins of hypnotherapy, its relationship to hypnosis in popular culture, how therapeutic interventions fare compare to pharmaceutical interventions for mental illness, how hypnosis treats mental disorders, and how self-hypnosis can be a useful tool in everyone’s mental health arsenal. David is also the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Reveri, which is a groundbreaking self-hypnosis application for your smartphone that can guide you through a wide variety of modules to help improve sleep, anxiety, eating habits and many other facets of life.

Reveri: https://www.reveri.com

Trance & Treatment: Clinical Uses of Hypnosis: https://a.co/d/0lLXoU2

OUTLINE:

00:00 Introduction

4:24 David’s Start in Hypnotherapy

10:28 Hypnotherapy’s Rising Popularity

16:46 Therapy Versus Medication?

23:50 PTSD, MDMA, and Hypnosis

30:37 What Is Hypnotherapy?

36:05 Hypnosis and Comedic Gags

39:24 Are You Hypnotizable

59:31 Is Hypnotherapy Supported by Research?

01:04:41 Can Hypnosis Treat Eating Disorders?

01:09:20 Hypnosis, Restructuring, Psychopathy, and Understanding the Self

01:15:32 Reveri and Self-Hypnosis

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.