Is Hypnosis Sinful?

The Church has never issued a formal teaching on hypnosis. As such it would be a matter of prudential judgment.

In my personal opinion its morality comes down to its intentions. Using hypnosis to try and quit smoking, lose weight or overcome a fear seems pretty harmless.

However, using hypnosis to manipulate another person’s thoughts, intentions, or memories would indeed be sinful and depending on circumstances could be gravely sinful.

For further reading: Jimmy Akin’s “You Are Getting Very Sleepy . . . “