#350: Hypnosis is NOT What You Think! How to Control Your Mind & Body – Dr. David Spiegel
The Gabby Reece Show
Dear Media
4.8 • 954 Ratings
🗓️ 17 November 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. David Spiegel is one of the world’s leading experts on hypnosis, mind body medicine, and the power of focused attention. With over four decades of clinical work and research at Stanford, he explains how self hypnosis can help you reduce stress, manage pain, improve sleep, break habits, and shift long held patterns that keep you stuck.
Dr. Spiegel also guides me through a short self hypnosis exercise that reveals how quickly the mind can influence the body. We explore why some people are more hypnotizable than others, how trauma and imagination shape the brain, and how to use these tools to change your internal narrative and strengthen emotional resilience.
This conversation is full of practical insights about stress, anxiety, performance, grief, and the ways we can reprogram the stories we tell ourselves. If you have ever wondered whether hypnosis is real, or how the brain can change your lived experience, Dr. Spiegel offers research backed clarity and simple techniques anyone can try.
Take 20% off a yearly or lifetime subscription to Reveri with code GABBY: https://reverihealth.app.link/gabby-reece-show
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Timeline - My friends at Timeline are offering 20% off, just for my listeners. Head to timeline.com/gabby to get started.
Cornbread - Get 30% off your first order and free shipping on orders over $75 at cornbreadhemp.com/gabby and use code GABBY at checkout.
Super Power - Head to Superpower.com and use code TAKE20 at checkout for $20 off your membership. Live up to your 100-Year potential. #superpowerpod
Maui Nui - Maui Nui is offering a free 12-pack of their jerky sticks with your first order of $79 or more. Just go to mauinuivenison.com/GABBY to grab yours.
For more on Gabby
Instagram @GabbyReece: https://www.instagram.com/gabbyreece/
TikTok @GabbyReeceOfficial https://www.tiktok.com/@gabbyreeceofficial
The Gabby Reece Show Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GabbyReece
The Gabby Reece Show podcast is Produced by Rainbow Creative (https://www.rainbowcreative.co/)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | She said, this is some kind of crazy-ass voodoo shit. |
| 0:04.0 | Hi everyone, welcome to the show. |
| 0:06.0 | So today I'm going to be talking with Dr. David Spiegel, and he is a psychiatrist. |
| 0:10.0 | He's also a researcher and the Wilson professor and associate chair of psychiatry at Stanford University, the School of Medicine. |
| 0:18.0 | I got so tired of knowing what hypnosis can do for people and seeing it |
| 0:23.2 | used so little. Dr. Spiegel has over 45 years of experience seeing patients conducting clinical |
| 0:29.7 | research and exploring how the mind can heal the body. And he completely redefines what you think |
| 0:36.6 | you know about hypnosis. |
| 0:38.3 | It's actually a gain in control. You take control of what's going on in your mind and your brain |
| 0:43.3 | and use it to help yourself. |
| 0:45.3 | Showing how focused attention and self-suggestion can help us build confidence, manage stress, |
| 0:52.3 | sleep better, and even control pain. |
| 0:55.0 | A lot of people are suffering. |
| 0:56.0 | Hypnosis is something that can help people see the same situation from a different point of view. |
| 1:02.0 | I feel like that's where the freedom is. |
| 1:04.0 | He is insightful and intuitive, but he's really grounded. |
| 1:08.0 | He also is the co-founder of Reverie, which is a self-hypnosis app that makes this method accessible to anyone. |
| 1:16.1 | And yes, he even takes me through a short self-hypnosis exercise. |
| 1:21.2 | Looks something like this. |
| 1:23.3 | The left hand seems to want to go up, is that right? |
| 1:25.7 | Yep. |
| 1:26.3 | Does that surprise you at all? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dear Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dear Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.