Not exactly, not safely — hypnosis does not reliably recover lost memories, and it often increases the risk of creating false memories.
Why:
Hypnosis increases suggestibility. People under hypnosis are more likely to accept suggestions, leading them to report things they imagine or want to please the hypnotist rather than things that actually happened.
Memory is reconstructive, not a perfect recording. Every recall is a reconstruction that can be influenced by cues, expectations, and suggestion.
Studies and reviews (including research in cognitive psychology and forensic settings) show that “memory retrieval” under hypnosis yields many errors and confabulations. Hypnotically retrieved memories are often less accurate than memories recalled without hypnosis, and are particularly vulnerable to mixing real events with suggestions, leading to false recollections.
Source-monitoring problems: under hypnosis people can lose track of whether a detail came from a true memory, a suggestion, a dream, media reports, or imagination, and then report it as an actual memory.
Because of these risks, many courts and professional guidelines restrict or disallow testimony based on memories recovered under hypnosis.
What hypnosis can sometimes do:
It can help a person relax, focus attention, and retrieve forgotten details that are consistent with other evidence (but those details still need independent corroboration).
It may help reduce anxiety or change subjective experience of memories (therapeutic uses like for anxiety, pain management, or habit change), but that’s different from reliably recovering accurate past events.
Best practices if you need to investigate past events:
Prefer standard, non-suggestive memory-retrieval techniques used in forensic and clinical settings (e.g., cognitive interview methods) that minimize leading questions and encourage free recall.
Seek independent corroboration of any memory (records, eyewitnesses, physical evidence).
If hypnosis is used, document everything (exact wording of suggestions/questions, audio/video record), and treat any hypnotically obtained memories as potentially unreliable until independently verified.
Consult a qualified forensic psychologist, psychiatrist, or legal professional for situations where recovered memories could have legal consequences.