Mixing up left and right can be surprisingly frustrating. You might know perfectly well what someone means when they say "turn left," yet still need a moment to work out which direction that is. Perhaps you occasionally give someone the wrong hand, struggle to follow directional instructions, or become confused when trying to identify left and right from another person's perspective.
For some people, this happens only occasionally. For others, it is a persistent difficulty that can affect everyday activities, confidence, and concentration.
Could hypnosis help?
Possibly, as a supportive approach to learning and practicing more reliable responses, but there is currently insufficient direct scientific evidence to establish hypnosis as an effective treatment for left/right confusion.
There are, however, some interesting connections between hypnosis, attention, mental imagery, perception, and the way we process spatial information. These provide reasons to explore the possibility carefully, without overstating what hypnosis can accomplish.
Let's look at what might be happening, how hypnosis could potentially help, and what other approaches are worth considering.
What exactly is left/right confusion?
Left/right confusion is difficulty reliably distinguishing the left side from the right side of the body or the surrounding environment.
It can take several forms:
Taking a moment to remember which hand is the left hand.
Occasionally turning in the wrong direction when following verbal instructions.
Confusing left and right when driving, walking, or navigating.
Finding it difficult to identify left and right on another person's body.
Becoming confused when someone faces you and gives directional instructions.
Knowing which direction is intended but struggling to translate that knowledge into an immediate physical response.
Interestingly, left/right confusion is not necessarily a problem with understanding directions in general.
Someone might have excellent spatial awareness, navigate unfamiliar places confidently, and understand maps perfectly well while still occasionally confusing left and right.
This is because identifying left and right involves several different mental processes, including spatial orientation, body awareness, memory, and the ability to associate a verbal label with the correct direction.
A large-scale investigation by van der Ham, Dijkerman, and van Stralen found that left/right identification ability varies considerably among otherwise healthy individuals. Their research also found that people frequently use physical strategies, such as remembering which hand they write with, to identify the correct side.¹
In other words, occasional left/right confusion does not automatically indicate that something is wrong.
Why do some people confuse left and right?
There isn't necessarily one explanation. Different people may experience the difficulty for different reasons.
Some possible contributing factors include the following.
1. Difficulty with spatial orientation
Spatial orientation involves understanding where things are in relation to your body and the surrounding environment.
Although identifying left and right might seem straightforward, it can become more complicated when you have to change perspectives.
For example, identifying your own left hand is one task. Identifying another person's left hand when they are facing you is a different task.
You may need to mentally adjust your perspective before you can answer correctly.
2. Difficulty associating words with directions
Some people understand the physical difference between the two sides but are slower to associate the words left and right with the appropriate direction.
This may be particularly noticeable when someone gives rapid verbal instructions.
You might know exactly what you want to do, but the verbal label takes an extra moment to process.
3. Attention and processing demands
Left/right identification can become more difficult when you're distracted, rushed, anxious, or trying to concentrate on several things simultaneously.
For example, following driving instructions while monitoring traffic requires considerable attention.
If you already need a moment to identify left and right, additional demands may make the process less reliable.
4. Reliance on learned strategies
Some people have developed reliable ways of identifying left and right.
They might remember which hand they write with, look for a ring or watch, or form an L shape with their thumb and index finger.
These strategies can be useful, but they may take longer than immediately recognizing the correct direction.
5. Developmental or neurological differences
Persistent difficulties with spatial orientation can sometimes occur alongside other developmental or neurological difficulties.
A 2025 systematic review by Thaler and Ocklenburg examined research into left/right confusion across psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurological conditions. It identified associations with several conditions, including developmental topographical disorientation and neurological damage affecting particular brain regions.²
This does not mean that someone who occasionally confuses left and right has a neurological disorder.
However, the wider context matters, particularly when the difficulty is severe, persistent, or accompanied by other changes in cognitive functioning.
Could hypnosis help improve left/right identification?
Hypnosis could potentially be used as part of a program designed to improve confidence, attention, mental rehearsal, and the consistency of responses when identifying left and right.
However, an important distinction needs to be made.
There is a difference between demonstrating that hypnosis can influence certain aspects of attention and perception and demonstrating that it can reliably correct left/right confusion.
The first has some experimental research behind it. The second has not been adequately established.
Hypnosis might therefore be worth exploring as a complementary learning approach, but it should not be presented as a proven treatment for this particular difficulty.
How might hypnosis help with left/right confusion?
Although direct clinical evidence is lacking, several possible applications are worth considering.
1. Strengthening mental associations
One possible use of hypnosis is to reinforce the mental associations between directional words and their corresponding physical movements.
For example, a hypnotherapy session might involve repeatedly imagining:
Raising the left hand when hearing the word left.
Raising the right hand when hearing the word right.
Turning left or right in response to simple instructions.
Identifying the correct side of the body without hesitation.
Recognizing left and right from another person's perspective.
The aim would be to make these associations more familiar through repeated mental rehearsal.
Mental rehearsal is already used in various learning and performance settings. Whether hypnotic rehearsal offers additional benefits for left/right identification, however, remains an open research question.
2. Improving attentional focus
Hypnosis often involves focused attention and reduced awareness of distracting information.
A practitioner might use suggestions designed to encourage someone to pay closer attention to directional instructions and respond more deliberately.
For example, suggestions could emphasize:
Listening carefully before responding.
Taking a brief moment to identify the intended direction.
Remaining calm when receiving instructions.
Paying attention to bodily orientation.
Responding confidently after identifying the correct side.
There is some experimental evidence that hypnotic suggestions can influence attention and the processing of spatial information.
In a 2009 study, Iani and colleagues investigated whether posthypnotic suggestions could reduce interference from irrelevant spatial information during a cognitive task. They found that a specific suggestion reduced this interference in participants with high hypnotic susceptibility.³
This is interesting because it demonstrates that suggestions can influence certain aspects of spatial information processing.
However, the task was not designed to assess everyday left/right confusion, so the findings should not be interpreted as evidence that hypnosis corrects this difficulty.
3. Building confidence and reducing hesitation
Some people become increasingly frustrated when they repeatedly confuse left and right.
They may start anticipating mistakes, worrying about giving incorrect directions, or feeling embarrassed when someone asks them to identify a particular side.
This can create an additional layer of difficulty.
Hypnosis could potentially help address the emotional response by encouraging relaxation, self-confidence, and a more comfortable approach to directional tasks.
For example, suggestions might focus on remaining composed, trusting a practiced identification strategy, and avoiding unnecessary self-criticism.
The objective would not be to eliminate every mistake but to make the experience less stressful.
4. Using visualization and mental rehearsal
Visualization could be another useful component of a hypnosis-based approach.
A person might imagine themselves successfully completing everyday activities involving directional decisions.
Examples could include:
Following directions while driving.
Walking through a familiar building.
Giving someone accurate directions.
Identifying the correct hand when asked.
Following a sequence of left and right movements.
Recognizing directional instructions when another person is facing them.
Repeated mental practice could help make these situations feel more familiar.
It is important, however, to distinguish mental rehearsal from demonstrated improvement in actual performance. Any benefit would need to be assessed through practical exercises outside the hypnotic session.
Can hypnosis influence how the brain processes spatial information?
This is an interesting area of hypnosis research.
Hypnosis does not simply involve relaxing and imagining things. Experimental studies suggest that hypnotic suggestions can influence certain aspects of attention, perception, and information processing.
For example, Markmann and colleagues published a 2023 study investigating the effects of hypnotic suggestions on tactile spatial discrimination.
Participants received suggestions that their index finger had become larger or smaller. The researchers found that these suggestions were associated with changes in tactile discrimination performance.⁴
This suggests that hypnotic suggestions can influence certain perceptual experiences and related processing.
However, tactile discrimination is not the same as identifying left and right.
The study does not establish that hypnosis can improve directional identification, spatial orientation, or the ability to distinguish the two sides of the body.
It does provide an interesting example of how suggestions can influence aspects of perception that might otherwise seem relatively automatic.
Could hypnosis help with confusing left and right when someone is facing you?
This is a particularly interesting possibility.
Identifying left and right from another person's perspective can be more complicated than identifying your own left and right.
Imagine someone standing directly in front of you.
If they raise their right hand, it appears on your left side.
To identify their right hand correctly, you may need to mentally adjust your perspective.
This can involve mental rotation and an understanding of how another person's body is oriented.
A hypnosis-based mental rehearsal exercise might involve imagining different situations in which people face you, turn sideways, or stand alongside you.
You could then practice identifying their left and right sides.
Suggestions might emphasize:
Recognizing another person's orientation.
Taking a moment to establish the person's perspective.
Mentally rotating your own viewpoint when necessary.
Identifying the correct side before responding.
These exercises could be incorporated into a broader learning program.
Nevertheless, there is currently no established evidence that hypnosis improves this particular ability beyond what might be achieved through ordinary practice.
Could hypnosis help with confusing clockwise and counterclockwise?
Potentially, similar learning and rehearsal techniques could be explored.
Clockwise and counterclockwise identification involves understanding rotational direction rather than distinguishing the two sides of the body.
Some people find it difficult to remember which way a clock's hands move, particularly when they are asked to imagine the direction without looking at a clock.
A hypnosis session could incorporate mental imagery involving:
Watching an imaginary clock face.
Visualizing its hands moving clockwise.
Reversing the direction to visualize counterclockwise movement.
Imagining turning objects in either direction.
Practicing rotational instructions in familiar everyday situations.
The intention would be to reinforce the association between the directional word and the corresponding movement.
Again, these are proposed applications of mental rehearsal and suggestion, not scientifically established hypnotic treatments for rotational confusion.
Could hypnosis help with other directional difficulties?
Possibly, although different difficulties may involve different underlying processes.
It is useful to distinguish between several types of directional confusion.
Confusing north, south, east, and west
Some people find compass directions difficult to remember.
They may understand the concepts but struggle to identify the correct direction when standing outdoors or looking at a map.
Mental rehearsal could potentially help reinforce associations between compass directions, familiar landmarks, and visual representations.
Difficulty following maps
Map reading requires interpreting visual information and translating it into an understanding of the surrounding environment.
Hypnosis might be used to rehearse remaining calm, concentrating on landmarks, and following a sequence of navigation instructions.
However, difficulties with map reading may involve spatial processing skills that require more specific assessment and practice.
Difficulty remembering routes
Some people struggle to remember routes, even after traveling them several times.
This may involve spatial memory, landmark recognition, or the ability to construct a mental representation of an environment.
A hypnosis-based approach could potentially support confidence and mental rehearsal, but it should not be assumed to correct an underlying spatial memory difficulty.
Difficulty coordinating verbal instructions with movement
Someone might understand an instruction but struggle to translate it into the correct physical movement.
For example, they may hesitate when asked to move their left arm or step to the right.
Practicing simple instructions alongside physical movements could be a useful learning exercise.
Hypnosis might provide a structured setting for rehearsing these actions, although evidence of additional benefits from hypnosis is currently lacking.
What might a hypnosis session for left/right confusion involve?
A session would ideally be tailored to the individual's particular difficulty rather than relying on a generic relaxation recording.
It might include several components.
1. Relaxation and focused attention
The session could begin with a comfortable hypnotic induction designed to encourage relaxation and focused attention.
2. Identifying the specific difficulty
The practitioner would establish which situations cause the most confusion.
For example, is the difficulty mainly with identifying your own left and right, following spoken directions, or understanding another person's perspective?
3. Mental rehearsal
The client might imagine performing simple directional tasks accurately and consistently.
4. Positive suggestions
Suggestions could emphasize attentiveness, calmness, confidence, and the ability to use a reliable identification strategy.
5. Practical reinforcement
The session could encourage the client to practice the same skills during everyday activities.
The objective would be to develop a more consistent response rather than simply imagining that the problem has disappeared.
Can self-hypnosis be used to practice left/right identification?
Yes, self-hypnosis could be used as a way of practicing mental rehearsal and positive suggestions.
For someone whose difficulty is relatively mild, a simple exercise might be worth trying.
For example:
Find somewhere comfortable and allow yourself to relax.
Take a few slow, comfortable breaths.
Imagine yourself identifying your left hand correctly.
Repeat the exercise with your right hand.
Visualize responding accurately to simple spoken instructions.
Imagine successfully identifying left and right when someone is standing in front of you.
Finish by reminding yourself to slow down, concentrate, and use your preferred identification strategy when necessary.
You could also record a short self-hypnosis script containing positive suggestions and listen to it regularly.
It is worth remembering that relaxation and visualization are not substitutes for practical learning. Combine them with actual exercises involving your hands, body movements, and directional instructions.
If the difficulty is substantial or unexplained, professional assessment is more appropriate than relying on self-hypnosis alone.
What other techniques can help with left/right confusion?
There are several straightforward strategies worth trying.
In fact, some may be more immediately useful than hypnosis.
Use your writing hand as a reference
If you have a consistent dominant writing hand, this can provide a convenient reference point.
When you need to identify left and right, briefly recall which hand you usually write with.
Use the L-shaped hand technique
Extend your thumbs and index fingers on both hands.
One hand should form a recognizable letter L when viewed with your palms facing away from you.
That is your left hand.
This is a simple visual reminder that many people find helpful.
Practice directional movements
Ask someone to give you simple instructions, such as:
Raise your left hand.
Touch your right shoulder.
Turn left.
Take one step to the right.
Touch your left ear with your right hand.
Start slowly and increase the speed as your responses become more consistent.
Practice with another person's perspective
Stand opposite someone and practice identifying their left and right hands.
Then try the same exercise when standing alongside them.
This can help you become more familiar with the differences between your own perspective and someone else's.
Use visual reminders
If you regularly struggle in particular situations, practical reminders may help.
For example, you could use a small mark on one hand, a watch, or another familiar visual reference.
There is no need to make directional identification more complicated than necessary.
Is left/right confusion associated with dyslexia or other learning difficulties?
Left/right confusion has been reported in some people with neurodevelopmental conditions, but it should not automatically be attributed to dyslexia or another learning difficulty.
The 2025 systematic review by Thaler and Ocklenburg found that increased left/right confusion has been reported in several neurological, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental conditions.²
However, the relationship between these conditions and directional confusion is not necessarily straightforward.
A person may have difficulty distinguishing left and right without having dyslexia, ADHD, or another diagnosed condition.
Similarly, having one of these conditions does not mean someone will necessarily experience left/right confusion.
If directional difficulties occur alongside problems with reading, writing, coordination, memory, or other aspects of everyday functioning, a broader assessment may help identify what is contributing to them.
Is left/right confusion ever a sign of a neurological problem?
It can be, although occasional confusion is common and is not usually a reason for alarm.
More persistent or pronounced difficulties deserve attention, particularly if they appear alongside other symptoms.
One neurological condition associated with left/right disorientation is Gerstmann syndrome.
This relatively rare syndrome is traditionally associated with four difficulties:
Left/right disorientation.
Difficulty recognizing or identifying individual fingers (finger agnosia).
Difficulty with arithmetic (acalculia).
Difficulty writing (agraphia).
It is associated with damage involving particular regions of the brain, especially the dominant parietal region.⁵
Importantly, occasionally mixing up left and right does not mean someone has Gerstmann syndrome.
The wider pattern of symptoms and appropriate neurological assessment are essential.
A sudden onset of confusion, particularly when accompanied by weakness, numbness, difficulty speaking, vision changes, severe headache, or problems with balance, requires emergency medical assessment. These can be warning signs of a stroke or another serious neurological problem. Do not attempt to address sudden symptoms with hypnosis.
If directional difficulties have gradually become worse or are interfering significantly with everyday life, discuss them with a healthcare professional.
How would you know whether hypnosis was helping?
It is important to establish practical measures of improvement rather than relying entirely on how confident or relaxed you feel after a session.
You could keep a simple record of your performance in everyday situations.
For example, note:
How frequently you confuse left and right.
How long it takes you to identify the correct direction.
Whether you make fewer mistakes when following spoken instructions.
Whether you find it easier to identify directions from another person's perspective.
Whether you feel less anxious or hesitant when making directional decisions.
It may also help to practice the same short set of directional exercises before and after a period of training.
This provides a more objective indication of whether your performance is changing.
Ideally, improvements should also transfer into everyday situations rather than occurring only during a hypnosis session.
Remember that improvement could result from repeated practice, greater familiarity, reduced anxiety, or a combination of factors. Without controlled testing, it would be difficult to attribute any improvement specifically to hypnosis.
How many hypnosis sessions might be needed?
There is no established treatment protocol or scientifically validated number of hypnosis sessions for left/right confusion.
If someone wanted to explore hypnosis as a complementary approach, a practitioner might initially recommend a small number of sessions to establish whether the individual finds the process useful.
The number would depend on factors such as:
The nature of the difficulty.
How frequently it occurs.
Whether it is associated with anxiety or hesitation.
The individual's response to hypnosis.
How consistently practical exercises are completed between sessions.
It would be sensible to review progress rather than automatically committing to a lengthy course.
If there is no meaningful improvement, the approach should be reconsidered.
Does everyone respond to hypnosis in the same way?
No.
People vary considerably in their responsiveness to hypnotic suggestions.
Some individuals find it relatively easy to become absorbed in mental imagery and respond to suggestions. Others experience hypnosis differently or find certain suggestions less effective.
Research into hypnosis also indicates that individual differences in hypnotic susceptibility can influence responses to particular experimental suggestions.
For example, the study by Otto-Salaj and colleagues examined lateralized responses to hypnotic suggestions in 1,269 participants. The researchers found no consistent differences in response strength between suggestions directed toward the left and right sides of the body.⁶
This is particularly relevant when considering left/right confusion.
It cautions against assuming that hypnosis automatically produces a special or predictable improvement in how someone processes information about the two sides of the body.
A good practitioner should therefore avoid promising results based simply on the fact that someone is willing to try hypnosis.
Should hypnosis be used instead of professional assessment or other treatment?
No.
Hypnosis should not replace appropriate assessment when left/right confusion is persistent, severe, newly acquired, or associated with other difficulties.
Depending on the circumstances, useful professional support might include:
A primary care physician, who can consider whether further investigation is appropriate.
A neurologist, if neurological symptoms or concerns are present.
A neuropsychologist, who can assess specific cognitive and spatial processing difficulties.
An occupational therapist, who can help with practical strategies for everyday activities.
A qualified educational or developmental specialist, where learning-related difficulties are suspected.
The most appropriate professional will depend on the nature of the problem.
If no underlying medical or neurological concern is identified, practical learning strategies may be sufficient.
Hypnosis could then be considered as an optional complementary technique if the individual finds it helpful.
So, could hypnosis help with left/right confusion?
It is an interesting possibility, but the evidence needs to be interpreted carefully.
Hypnosis has been shown in experimental research to influence certain aspects of attention, information processing, and perception. These findings provide a scientific basis for exploring whether carefully designed suggestions and mental rehearsal might support some aspects of directional learning.
However, there is currently insufficient direct research to establish that hypnosis improves left/right identification or resolves persistent directional confusion.
A sensible approach would be to combine practical exercises with mental rehearsal, visualization, and, where appropriate, relaxation and positive suggestions.
For someone who simply needs an extra moment to distinguish left from right, this may be a worthwhile area to explore.
For someone experiencing more substantial or unexplained difficulties, identifying the underlying cause should come first.
Ultimately, the goal is not to achieve perfect directional identification through hypnosis. It is to develop reliable strategies, improve everyday confidence, and make directional decisions easier and less frustrating.
Reader-Friendly Summary
Left/right confusion is relatively common, and it does not necessarily indicate a learning difficulty or neurological problem.
Hypnosis could potentially be explored as a complementary way of practicing directional identification, strengthening mental associations, improving confidence, and rehearsing everyday situations.
There is some scientific evidence that hypnotic suggestions can influence attention and aspects of spatial information processing. However, there is not yet sufficient direct evidence that hypnosis can correct left/right confusion itself.
Practical techniques, including using your writing hand as a reference, forming an L shape with your fingers, and practicing directional movements, may also help.
If the difficulty is persistent, worsening, or accompanied by other cognitive or neurological symptoms, seek an appropriate professional assessment rather than relying on hypnosis alone.
Notes
1. Ineke J. M. van der Ham, H. Chris Dijkerman, and Haike E. van Stralen, “Distinguishing Left from Right: A Large-Scale Investigation of Left–Right Confusion in Healthy Individuals,” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 74, no. 3 (2021): 497–509.
2. Moritz Thaler and Sebastian Ocklenburg, “Left-Right Confusion in Psychiatric, Neurodevelopmental and Neurological Disorders: A Systematic Review,” Brain Research Bulletin 229 (2025): 111435.
3. Cristina Iani, Federico Ricci, Giulia Baroni, and Sandro Rubichi, “Attention Control and Susceptibility to Hypnosis,” Consciousness and Cognition 18, no. 4 (2009): 856–63.
4. Marius Markmann, Melanie Lenz, Oliver Höffken, Agnė Steponavičiūtė, Martin Brüne, Martin Tegenthoff, Hubert R. Dinse, and Albert Newen, “Hypnotic Suggestions Cognitively Penetrate Tactile Perception through Top-Down Modulation of Semantic Contents,” Scientific Reports 13 (2023): 6578.
5. Alfredo Ardila, “Gerstmann Syndrome,” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports 20, no. 11 (2020): 48.
6. Laura L. Otto-Salaj, Robert Nadon, Irene P. Hoyt, Patricia A. Register, and John F. Kihlstrom, “Laterality of Hypnotic Response,” International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 40, no. 1 (1992): 12–20.