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With hypnosis, patients may report information that they have not previously encountered.

Within the subconscious realm, we can easily suspend logical thinking.

Accepting a patient’s report is not the same as accepting the patient’s interpretation.

Clinicians who have used hypnosis as part of their practice for a long time sometimes will encounter patients who report or manifest experiences that are difficult to explain.

For example, patients may report information that they do not believe they have previously encountered such as a foreign language or poetry.

When this occurs, Western-trained clinicians typically identify plausible rationales that nonetheless seem far-fetched.

The same type of skeptical approach is encountered by people who report near-death experiences, past lives, encounters with otherworldly beings, or divine guidance.

For instance, consider the case of a 14-year-old patient who reported seeing demons. He explained that through his subconscious, the demons showed him complex Hebrew words that fit the context of our interactions, which I could translate because I am a native Hebrew speaker. However, the patient in question is a native English speaker and had no Hebrew language knowledge.

The arrival of the demons can be thought of as a metaphor that represents the patient’s fears.

The appearance of Hebrew might be explained as an example of cryptomnesia, defined as a memory based in a forgotten experience, and its reinstatement appearing as a new experience (Baker, 1992).

However, I find it hard to believe that this patient had exposure to different Hebrew words that were later manifested by his subconscious, or that he acquired complex knowledge of a foreign language outside of his........

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