1 Hypnosis : The Theory behind the Therapy (original) (raw)

Hypnosis Reconsidered, Resituated, and Redefined

Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2012

The two-hundred-year history of hypnosis and its predecessor, animal magnetism, is replete with stories of unusual phenomena. Perhaps surprisingly, a close reading of that history reveals that investigators and students of hypnosis have been unable to achieve an agreed-upon definition of their subject matter. Because of this failure to describe the essential nature of hypnosis, they resorted to lists of hypnotic phenomena as a means for confirming the presence of a hypnotic state in clinical and experimental situations. However, identification and enumeration of hypnotic phenomena proved to be problematic. The content of these lists varied from era to era and from practitioner to practitioner, and the selection of phenomena seemed to be an arbitrary process. With no agreed-upon definition and no definitive list of phenomena that would apply to hypnosis and hypnosis alone, there was no way to ensure that the "hypnosis" that was being studied in clinical and experimental work was identical from one case to the next. This article offers a definition of hypnosis that is not based on lists of phenomena.

Hypnosis in psychotherapy, psychosomatics and medicine. A brief overview

Frontiers in psychology, 2024

Aspects of hypnosis and its application in psychotherapy, psychosomatics and medicine are examined and contextualized in the 250-year history of hypnosis. Imagination as an essential element of hypnotic treatments appeared as early as 1784 as an argument rejecting the theory of animal magnetism of Franz Anton Mesmer. In somnambulism of German romanticism, another proto-form of hypnosis after 1800, concepts of the mind-body problem were dealt with, which still characterize the understanding of unconscious mental processes today. Hypnosis was at the beginning of psychoanalysis, but was not pursued further by Sigmund Freud from 1900 onwards. Nevertheless, there were some hypnoanalytical approaches in the 20th century, as well as attempts to integrate hypnosis into behavior therapy. Techniques of imagination and relaxation combine both; in particular findings from cognitive psychology explain processes of both hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy. The influence of social psychology brought a new perspective to the debate about the nature of hypnosis, which continues to this day: is hypnosis to be understood as a special state of consciousness or is it a completely normal, mundane interaction? The experiments that were carried out to support one side or the other were also dependent on the hypnotizability of the subjects involved, as the more difficult hypnotic phenomena such as paralysis, hallucinations or identity delusions can only be demonstrated by highly hypnotizable subjects. The fact that these are not mere compliance reactions has now been proven by many studies using imaging techniques. But even those who are moderately hypnotizable benefit from hypnosis rituals. Variables postulated by socio-cognitive hypnosis researchers, such as motivation and expectation, are relevant, as is a good "hypnotic rapport." Practical application of hypnotherapy today is characterized by the innovative techniques and strategies developed by Milton H. Erickson. Research into the effectiveness of hypnosis in the field of psychotherapy and psychosomatics still leaves much to be done. The situation is different in the field of medical hypnosis, where there are considerably more studies with a satisfactory design and verifiable effects. However, the impact in practical application in everyday medical practice is still low. Newer developments such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence are being looked at with critical interest.

Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis: Implications for Theory and Methodology

Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences, 1977

The seemingly inexhaustible techniques of inducing hypnosis implies that the induction of hypnosis has nothing to do with the induction procedure per se, and that the gradual development of an alleged state of hypnosis is an illusion, an artifact of the induction procedure. This illusion is reinforced by the progression of item difficulty on standard susceptibility scales, and by the impression of increasing relaxation in the physical and facial appearance of subjects undergoing an induction. I will present evidence supporting the notion that the obtained enhancement of suggestibility is immediate. If this is indeed the case, then its enhancement must be obscured by the administration of the standard susceptibility scales. Another implication is that the trait theory underlying these scales is inappropriate; to wit, giving heterogeneous items equal weight when they do not all represent the same underlying system or function. Quite aside from this conceptual issue, these scales suffer from severe shortcomings with respect to item difficulty, which can lead to erroneous inferences regarding the nature of suggestibility or hypnosis. An alternative approach to the problem of measurement will be considered after I present some of the conceptual issues surrounding suggestibility and hypnosis.