Yogyakarta, August 24, 2026 — The Faculty of Psychology at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has once again conducted innovative research on mental health interventions in the workplace. A recent study examined the effectiveness of Hypnotic Guided Imagery (HGI) in transforming negative emotions into positive emotions among employees experiencing mental exhaustion or burnout.
The study, titled “EEG-Based Analysis of Emotional Effects of Hypnotic Guided Imagery (HGI) on Employees with Burnout: A Feasibility Study,” was conducted by Moniek Vidia Pramestri, S.Psi., M.A., Prof. Dra. Kwartarini Wahyu Yuniarti, M.Med.Sc., Ph.D., Psikolog, Prof. Dr. Frederick Travis, dan Dr. Nida Ul Hasanat, M.Si., Psikolog The article was published in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.
The dynamics of professional demands in the workplace often force employees to suppress their feelings, while poorly regulated negative emotions may increase the risk of burnout by up to 67%. This emotional exhaustion can trigger abnormal physical symptoms and directly affect daily effectiveness and performance. In this study, HGI was examined as a deep-relaxation-based intervention that uses visualization, suggestions of pleasant experiences, and focused attention. Although the therapy is known to reduce unpleasant emotions, the physiological basis of emotional changes in the brain remains to be explored more comprehensively.
To evaluate these changes, the research team integrated Electroencephalography (EEG) to detect changes in emotional valence and arousal levels among participants. Emotional valence was measured using Frontal Alpha Asymmetry (FAA), while arousal levels were calculated using the beta-to-alpha wave ratio in the frontal region of the brain.
A total of 32 employees experiencing burnout participated in the study and were randomly assigned to an HGI group consisting of 19 participants and a control group consisting of 13 participants. In addition to recording brain signals, the researchers independently assessed participants’ psychological conditions using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Extended (PANAS-X) questionnaire before and after the session.
Based on the PANAS-X measurements, employees who received the HGI intervention reported a significant increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect compared with the control group. However, statistical analysis using MANOVA on the EEG data did not show significant quantitative changes in either valence or arousal. These findings indicate a discrepancy between subjective reports and physiological recordings.
The researchers identified several possible explanations for this discrepancy, including the relatively small sample size, characteristics of the frontal alpha asymmetry measurement protocol, and variations in participants’ levels of burnout. Therefore, the findings are not intended to provide definitive conclusions regarding the effectiveness of HGI in addressing burnout.
Instead, the study serves as an important preliminary investigation into how hypnosis-based psychological interventions can be evaluated using a neurophysiological approach. Combining EEG with self-report instruments enables researchers to gain a broader perspective on emotional changes during an intervention.
Kwartarini Wahyu Yuniarti, Moniek Vidia Pramestri, and Nida Ul Hasanat are researchers from the Faculty of Psychology UGM, while Frederick Travis is affiliated with the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition, Maharishi International University of Management, United States.
The findings also open opportunities for further research on HGI and burnout involving larger participant samples, more standardized EEG protocols, and research designs that allow for the evaluation of longer-term changes.
Through this research, the Faculty of Psychology UGM continues to strengthen the development of evidence-based psychological research by combining psychological intervention approaches with neurophysiological technology. Such studies are expected to contribute to the development of increasingly objective and comprehensive methods for evaluating psychological interventions, particularly in addressing mental health challenges in the workplace.
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