What Is Scientific Hypnosis?

At Tom Silver Hypnosis Academy, Scientific Hypnosis refers to the approach Tom Silver developed through his teaching, demonstrations, and exploration of hypnosis. Students study his original recordings alongside published research and live instruction with Tommy Giorlando.

The aim is to understand what you are observing, ask clearer questions, and practice responsibly. Scientific language is useful when it helps explain the evidence and its limits.

Research, observation, and method

Three different kinds of material appear in the training:

• Published hypnosis research: Studies investigating hypnosis, attention, perception, brain activity, and related processes.
• Tom Silver’s recorded observations: His demonstrations, explanations, and EEG material, studied in their original teaching context.
• Tom Silver’s methods: Practical approaches, including Emotion Replacement Therapy, taught through explanation, demonstration, and guided practice.

These categories should not be treated as interchangeable. A study about hypnosis generally does not establish that every named hypnosis method has been independently validated.

What brain research can tell us

Researchers have studied changes in brain activity and connectivity associated with hypnosis. For example, Jiang and colleagues used functional MRI to examine participants selected for high or low hypnotizability. Their findings concern the participants and conditions studied; they do not establish a universal response or validate E.R.T.

Read Brain Activity and Functional Connectivity Associated with Hypnosis and Brain correlates of hypnosis: A systematic review and meta-analytic exploration.

How the academy teaches the subject

Students study original recordings and join live online sessions for questions, demonstrations, guided practice, and feedback. The curriculum includes observation, communication, suggestibility, scientific context, and Tom Silver’s E.R.T. framework.

Certification requires both a written knowledge assessment and a practical skills assessment. This is professional-development education; academy certification does not grant a healthcare license.

Learn about Emotion Replacement Therapy or read about Tom Silver.