Hypnosis can sometimes make a person temporarily less able or less willing to retrieve particular memories when given an amnesia suggestion. In some experiments, people have difficulty recalling information they learned or events they experienced before hypnosis, even though they may be able to remember those things after the suggestion is canceled.
That is a real and scientifically interesting effect—but it needs careful explanation. Hypnotic amnesia does not mean that memories have necessarily been erased, destroyed, or permanently made inaccessible. It also does not mean a hypnotist can reliably remove important personal memories or control what someone remembers about their life.
To understand what hypnosis can and cannot do, it helps to distinguish memory storage from memory retrieval, temporary experimental effects from clinical memory disorders, and a person's subjective experience from what researchers can objectively establish.
What are autobiographical memories?
Autobiographical memories are memories about your own life. They include personal experiences, events, and information connected to your identity and history.
Examples include:
Remembering your first day at school.
Recalling a family holiday or a birthday celebration.
Remembering a conversation with a friend.
Recalling where you lived as a child.
Remembering an important achievement or difficult experience.
Autobiographical memory is not a perfect recording of the past. It is reconstructive: when you remember an event, your mind brings together information, knowledge, expectations, and details associated with that experience.
Some autobiographical memories are vivid and detailed. Others are vague, incomplete, or difficult to retrieve. A memory can also change over time, and a person's confidence in a recollection does not guarantee that every detail is accurate.
These characteristics matter when considering hypnosis because a suggestion that affects recall is not necessarily changing the underlying memory itself.
Can hypnosis temporarily block access to personal memories?
In some people, yes. Hypnotic amnesia is a recognized phenomenon in experimental hypnosis research. A hypnotist or researcher may suggest that, after hypnosis, a participant will temporarily be unable to remember certain information or experiences until given a specific cue or instruction.
In laboratory studies, highly hypnotizable participants have sometimes shown substantial difficulty recalling material after an amnesia suggestion. The effect can be reduced or reversed by a later suggestion to remember.¹
This is sometimes called posthypnotic amnesia because the difficulty remembering occurs after the hypnotic procedure.
However, the effect is not universal. People vary in their responsiveness, and some participants do not experience the suggested amnesia. Results also depend on the material being remembered, the wording of the suggestion, the experimental procedure, and how memory is tested.
It is therefore more accurate to say that hypnosis can sometimes influence access to particular memories than to claim that it can reliably make anyone forget events from their life.
Does hypnotic amnesia mean the memory has been erased?
No. This is one of the most important distinctions.
A person may be unable to retrieve information at a particular moment without that information having been erased from memory. Memory researchers distinguish between the availability of stored information and the ability to access or retrieve it.
Hypnotic amnesia is generally studied as a change in recall or retrieval, not as proof that the original memory has been destroyed. The fact that a participant can sometimes recall the information after a cancellation cue or other intervention supports the view that the memory was not simply erased.²
An everyday comparison might help. Imagine that you know a person's name but cannot bring it to mind. You may feel as though the name has disappeared, even though you recognize it immediately when someone provides a hint. The information was not necessarily lost; retrieving it was temporarily difficult.
This comparison is not a complete explanation of hypnotic amnesia, but it illustrates why difficulty remembering should not automatically be interpreted as memory destruction.
Can hypnosis make someone forget an important event from their past?
Hypnosis may sometimes affect a person's ability to retrieve particular information under experimental conditions. However, there is no sound basis for promising that it can reliably remove a significant autobiographical event from someone's memory.
A suggestion to forget an event is not the same as deleting the memory. A person might experience temporary difficulty recalling it, might still remember it despite the suggestion, or might experience no noticeable effect.
The outcome can vary with the individual's hypnotic responsiveness and the circumstances in which the suggestion is given.
It is also important to distinguish a temporary experimental response from the complex memory difficulties associated with psychological or neurological conditions. Hypnotic amnesia should not be treated as a way to reproduce, cure, or manage those conditions.
Can someone genuinely experience the feeling of being unable to remember?
Yes. A person may sincerely experience a suggested memory block as real.
For example, following an amnesia suggestion, a participant might be asked to recall a list of words, a sequence of numbers, or details from a previous task. The participant may find that the information does not come to mind, even though they are trying to remember it.
This does not necessarily mean the person is pretending. The subjective experience of being unable to retrieve something can be genuine.
However, a genuine feeling of not remembering does not establish that the memory has been erased or that the person is incapable of retrieving it under all circumstances. Researchers therefore distinguish between what participants report experiencing and what their performance on memory tests demonstrates.
Can hypnosis block access to an entire period of someone's life?
There is no good evidence that hypnosis can reliably create a complete, lasting blackout of an extended period of autobiographical memory.
Experimental hypnotic amnesia generally involves specific information, tasks, or material selected for the study. It should not be confused with an extensive loss of personal history.
A person who cannot recall an entire period of life may be experiencing a different kind of memory problem. Possible explanations can include ordinary forgetting, neurological conditions, psychological factors, or dissociative symptoms. The cause cannot be established simply by observing that someone has gaps in their recollection.
Hypnosis is not a dependable way to create a selective blank period in someone's personal history, and it should not be used with that expectation.
Is hypnotic amnesia the same as dissociative amnesia?
No. They are different phenomena.
Hypnotic amnesia refers to a memory-retrieval effect associated with hypnotic suggestions. It is typically investigated under controlled conditions and may be temporary or reversible.
Dissociative amnesia is a clinical condition involving an inability to recall important autobiographical information, usually related to traumatic or stressful experiences, that is inconsistent with ordinary forgetting. It can cause significant distress or impairment and requires appropriate clinical assessment.³
The two should not be treated as interchangeable. A person who responds to an experimental amnesia suggestion has not thereby developed dissociative amnesia. Likewise, someone experiencing serious gaps in autobiographical memory should not assume that hypnosis is an appropriate way to diagnose or resolve them.
If you are concerned about substantial or unexplained memory loss, it is sensible to seek an assessment from a qualified health professional.
Can hypnosis help someone recover memories they cannot access?
This is a separate question from whether hypnosis can temporarily interfere with recall. A technique that affects memory retrieval does not necessarily improve the accuracy of remembering.
Hypnosis has sometimes been used in attempts to help people recall forgotten events. However, increased recollection is not the same as increased accuracy. Suggestions and guided imagery can influence how people remember events, including by increasing confidence in details that are incorrect or by encouraging people to mistake imagined material for actual experience.⁴
For this reason, hypnosis should not be treated as a reliable way to uncover hidden autobiographical memories or establish what happened in the past. If a memory is important for medical, legal, or personal reasons, it is especially important not to assume that a vivid recollection is necessarily accurate.
A careful practitioner should avoid leading questions, pressure to produce a memory, or suggestions that a particular event must have happened. The goal should be to support the person, not to manufacture certainty about the past.
Can a hypnotist make someone forget something against their will?
There is no reliable basis for claiming that a hypnotist can simply take control of another person's autobiographical memory and permanently erase chosen events.
Hypnotic suggestions can influence experience and behavior, but their effects vary from person to person. A participant's responsiveness, willingness to engage, the specific suggestion, and the circumstances all matter. Experimental findings about temporary amnesia do not demonstrate that a hypnotist can permanently delete personal memories or control a person's entire life history.
It is also important not to confuse a person's inability to recall something in one setting with an inability to remember it under every circumstance. Someone might fail to retrieve information on one test and recall it later, recognize it when prompted, or retain other forms of knowledge associated with it.
Hypnosis is not a dependable memory-erasure tool, and claims that it can permanently remove unwanted memories go beyond the available evidence.
What if someone is experiencing unexplained memory gaps?
If you or someone you know is struggling to remember significant periods of life, the priority should be understanding what is happening rather than trying to create or remove memories through hypnosis.
Memory gaps can have different causes, including medical, neurological, and psychological conditions. A qualified health professional can assess the circumstances, consider possible explanations, and recommend appropriate care.
Seek prompt medical attention for sudden or severe memory loss, particularly if it occurs with confusion, a head injury, weakness, difficulty speaking, or other new neurological symptoms.
For ongoing autobiographical memory gaps, a mental health professional with relevant experience can help assess whether dissociative symptoms or other psychological factors may be involved. The appropriate approach depends on the individual and the cause of the problem.
What is the most important distinction to remember?
The key distinction is between being unable to retrieve a memory at a particular time and having the memory permanently erased.
Research on hypnotic amnesia shows that suggestions can sometimes produce a genuine, temporary difficulty in recalling information. Yet these effects are not universal, and they do not establish that a memory has been destroyed. The research also highlights why memory must be handled carefully: a person's confidence, subjective experience, and ability to recall details do not, by themselves, prove that a recollection is accurate.
Hypnosis can be a useful subject of scientific study and may have appropriate uses in some therapeutic settings. But it should not be presented as a reliable way to delete personal memories, create lasting autobiographical blackouts, or recover hidden truths about the past.
Notes
1. John F. Kihlstrom, “Hypnosis, Memory and Amnesia,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 352, no. 1362 (1997): 1727–32.
2. John F. Kihlstrom, “Hypnosis, Memory and Amnesia,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 352, no. 1362 (1997): 1727–32; John F. Kihlstrom, “Hypnosis as a Retrieval Cue in Posthypnotic Amnesia,” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 94, no. 3 (1985): 264–71.
3. David Spiegel, “Dissociative Amnesia,” Merck Manual Professional Version, last reviewed June 2025.
4. John F. Kihlstrom, “Hypnosis, Delayed Recall, and the Principles of Memory,” International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 42, no. 4 (1994): 337–45.