The primary objective of this review is to analyze the main theoretical perspectives that define hypnosis, the value of considering it as a unique phenomenon, the evidence that sustains that view, and its effect on research. For more than a century in which the subject has been studied, the results are still hampered by a methodological flaw since the beginning of the research, the definition of the phenomenon. This review used the Medline via Pubmed as database for bibliographic search, including a total of 41 studies, where it could be found that 72,7% of the surveyed studies, adopt the approach in which there's an alternate state of consciousness to explain the phenomenon and to guide its interpretations, even though there isn't enough evidence to sustain the existence of an alternate state of consciousness exclusively hypnotic and it's relation to the capability of hypnotic response. In conclusion, it's suggested the performance of more studies that bring a merger between sociocognitive and state of mind perspectives, so that the findings can come to help with the evolution of hypnosis, which already presents strong results when applied in different medical and psychotherapeutic treatments, predominantly in the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.