hypnosis by wikipedia

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Hypnosis by Wikipedia

Author: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Hypnotic Seance, by Richard Bergh

Hypnosis is a psychological condition in which some people may

be induced to show various differences in behavior and thinking.Although some individuals experience an increase in suggestibility

and subjective feelings of an 'altered state of consciousness', this is

not true for everyone. In fact, some supposed hypnotic indicators

and subjective changes can be achieved without relaxation or a

lengthy induction, a fact that increases the controversy aroundhypnosis.

Intense debate surrounds the topic of hypnosis. Some scientists

have disputed its very existence, while many therapists insist upon

its value. One potential source of controversy is the wide variety of

theories of hypnosis that traditionally have been split into 'state'

and 'non-state' camps. This controversy may be decreasing as

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modern brain-imaging techniques offer hope for an increased

understanding of the nature of hypnosis and the value of both

perspectives is increasingly recognized.The applications of hypnosis vary widely. Two distinct

applications of hypnosis are its use in entertainment and health

applications. The popular perception of the hypnotic experience is

that of the entertainment version. The stage hypnotist uses a

variety of methods to relax and focus the subjects, eventually

making it appear to the audience that the subject is asleep or,

popularly termed, in a trance. During the performance, the subjects

seem to obey the commands of the hypnotist to engage in

behaviors they might not normally choose to perform.

On the other hand, hypnosis applications in the medical and health

fields are often experienced very differently. Evidence supports the

clinical use of hypnosis for pain control, for weight control, in the

treatment of irritable-bowel syndrome, and as an adjunct to

cognitive behavioral and other therapies. Hypnosis, itself, is not a

therapy, but is effectively used as an adjunct to other therapies;

hence, "hypnotherapy" is less preferable than the use of hypnosis-related techniques as part of an integrated psychological package.



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Contents

1) History \6

a) Early history \6

b) Magnets \6

c) Medical research \12

d) Psychological studies \13

e) Modern applications \18

f) Recent innovators \22

2) Definitions \26

a) American Psychological Association \26

b)Harry Cannon \27

c) Michael Yapko \29

d) Dave Elman \29

e) Joe Griffin \29

f) Richard Bandler \30g) Alpha- and Theta-state theories \30

3) Theories \32

a) Dissociation and neodissociation theories \32

b)Social constructionism / Role-playing theory \33

c) Neuropsychological theory of hypnosis \37



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d)Hypnosis as a state of hysteria \37

e) Hypnosis as a conditioned process leading to sleep \37

f) Hyper–suggestibility theory \38g) Informational theory \38

4) Research on Hypnosis \39

5) Hypnosis Methodologies and Effects \43

a) General methods \43

b)General effects \441. Focused attention \44

2. Suggestibility \44

3. Judgment \45

4. Abreaction \46

6) Hypnosis applications \47

a) Hypnotherapy \47

b)Clinical hypnosis \48

c) Self-hypnosis \48

d)Dental application \49

e) Obstetric application (painless childbirth) \50

f) Forensic application \50

g) Mass application \51

h)Stage application \51

i) Indirect application \54

j) Objective Signs of the Hypnotic State: Breuer's Absent

Pupillary Reflex Sign \54



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7) Professional associations and governmental

authorities \56

8) Popular culture \57

a) Hypnosis and the judiciary system \57

9) References \59

a) Footnotes \59

b) Books \59

10) Web sites links \61a) Professional associations' links \61

b) Governmental authorities' links \62

c) Historical sites links \63



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1) History

a) Early history

Sleep temples

Hypnotism as a tool for health seems to have originated withthe Hindus of ancient India who often took their sick tosleep temples to be cured by hypnotic suggestion as alsofound to be the case in ancient Egypt and Greece. Hypnotic-like inductions were used to place the individual in a sleep-like state, although it is now accepted that hypnosis isdifferent from sleep.

Avicenna

Avicenna (980-1037), a Persian psychologist and physician,was the earliest to make a distinction between sleep andhypnosis. In The Book of Healing, which he published in1027, he referred to hypnosis in Arabic as al-Wahm al-Amil,stating that one could create conditions in another person sothat he/she accepts the reality of hypnosis.[1]

b) Magnets

Paracelsus



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Paracelsus

Paracelsus (1493-1541), a Swiss, was the first physician touse magnets in his work. Many people claimed to have beenhealed after he had passed magnets (lodestones) over their bodies.

Valentine Greatrakes

An Irishman by the name of Valentine Greatrakes (1628-1666) was known as "the Great Irish Stroker" for his abilityto heal people by laying his hands on them and passingmagnets over their bodies.

Johann Joseph Gassner

Johann Joseph Gassner (1727-1779), a Catholic priest of thetime, believed that disease was caused by evil spirits andcould be exorcised by incantations and prayer.

Father Maximilian Hell

Around 1771, a Viennese Jesuit named Maximilian Hell(1720-1792) was using magnets to heal by applying steel plates to the naked body. One of Father Hell's students was ayoung medical doctor from Vienna named Franz AntonMesmer.

Franz Anton Mesmer



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Mesmer

Western scientists first became involved in hypnosis around1770, when Dr. Franz Mesmer (1734-1815), a physicianfrom Austria, started investigating an effect he called"animal magnetism" or "mesmerism" (the latter name stillremaining popular today).

The use of the (conventional) English term animalmagnetism to translate Mesmer's magnétisme animal is

extremely misleading for three reasons:

Mesmer chose his term to clearly distinguish his variant of magnetic force from those which were referred to, at thattime, as mineral magnetism, cosmic magnetism and planetary magnetism.

Mesmer felt that this particular force/power only resided in

the bodies of humans and animals.

Mesmer chose the word "animal", for its root meaning (fromlatin animus = "breath") specifically to identify hisforce/power as a quality that belonged to all creatures with breath; viz., the animate beings: humans and animals.

Mesmer developed his own theory and inspired himself also

to the writings of the English physician Richard Mead.



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Mesmer found that, after opening a patient's vein and lettingthe patient bleed for a while, by passing magnets over thewound would make the bleeding stop. Mesmer also

discovered that using a stick instead would also make the bleeding stop.

After moving to Paris and becoming popular with the Frencharistocracy for his magnetic cures, the medical communitychallenged him. The French king put together a Board of Inquiry that included chemist Lavoisier, Benjamin Franklin,

and a medical doctor who was an expert in pain controlnamed Joseph Ignace Guillotin. Mesmer refused tocooperate with the investigation and this fell to his discipleDr d'Eslon. Franklin constructed an experiment in which a blindfolded patient was shown to respond as much to a non- prepared tree as to one that had been "magnetised" byd'Eslon. This is considered to be perhaps the first placebo-

controlled trial of a therapy ever conducted. The commissionlater declared that Mesmerism worked by the action of theimagination.[2]

Although Mesmerism remained popular and "magnetictherapies" are still advertised as a form of "alternativemedicine" even today, Mesmer himself retired toSwitzerland in obscurity, where he died in 1815.

Abbé Faria



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Abbé Faria

Many of the original mesmerists were signatories to the first

declarations proclaiming the French revolution in 1789. Far from being surprising, this was almost to be expected, in thatmesmerism had opened up the prospect that the social order was in some sense suggested and could be overturned.Magnetism was neglected or forgotten during the Revolutionand the Empire.

An Indo-Portuguese priest, Abbé Faria, revived public

attention to animal magnetism. In the early 19th century,Abbé Faria introduced oriental hypnosis to Paris. Faria camefrom India and gave exhibitions in 1814 and 1815 withoutmanipulations or the use of Mesmer's baquet.

Unlike Mesmer, Faria claimed that it 'generated from withinthe mind’ by the power of expectancy and cooperation of the

patient. Faria's approach was significantly extended by theclinical and theoretical work of Hippolyte Bernheim andAmbroise-Auguste Liébeault of the Nancy School. Faria'stheoretical position, and the subsequent experiences of thosein the Nancy School made significant contributions to thelater autosuggestion techniques of Émile Coué and theautogenic training techniques of Johannes Heinrich Schultz.

Marquis de Puységur



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De Puységur

A student of Mesmer, Marquis de Puységur, first described

and coined the term for "somnambulism."Followers of Puységur called themselves "Experimentalists"and believed in the Paracelsus-Mesmer fluidism theory.

Récamier and Reichenbach

Reichenbach

Récamier, in 1821, was the first physician known to have

used hypnoanesthesia and operated on patients under mesmeric coma.

In the 1840s and 1850s, Carl Reichenbach beganexperiments to find any scientific validity to "mesmeric"energy, which he termed Odic force. Although hisconclusions were quickly rejected in the scientific

community, they did undermine Mesmer's claims of mindcontrol.

Mesmerism in its later guise of hypnotism contained a clear implication that many saints might be hysterics, leading theRoman Catholic Church to ban hypnotism until the mid-20thcentury.



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c) Medical research

James Braid

James Braid

The evolution of Mesmer's ideas and practices led theScottish neurosurgeon James Braid in 1842 to coin the term,and develop the procedure known as, "hypnosis."

Popularly called the "Father of Modern Hypnotism," Braidrejected Mesmer's idea that hypnosis was induced bymagnetism, and ascribed the "mesmeric trance" to a physiological process resulting from prolonged attention to a bright moving object or similar object of fixation. He postulated that "protracted ocular fixation" fatigued certain parts of the brain and caused a trance—a "nervous sleep" or,from the Greek, "neuro-hypnosis."

Later Braid simplified the name to "hypnosis" (from theGreek hypnos, "sleep"). Finally, realizing that "hypnosis"was not a kind of sleep, he sought to change the name to"monoideaism" ("single-idea-ism"), but the term "hypnosis"had stuck.



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Braid tried hypnotism to treat various psychological and physical disorders. He had little success, especially with"organic" (that is, "physical," or non-psychological)

conditions. Other physicians claimed better results, particularly in using hypnosis for pain control. An 1842report described a painless amputation performed on ahypnotized patient. This was widely dismissed, and therewas strong resistance in the medical profession to the idea of hypnosis; but there followed other reports of success.

Braid is credited with writing the first book on hypnosis, Neurhypnology (1843).

John Elliotson

Dr. John Elliotson (1791-1868), an English surgeon, in 1834reported numerous painless surgical operations that had been performed using mesmerism.

James Esdaile

Dr. James Esdaile (1805-1859) reported on 345 major operations performed using mesmeric sleep as the soleanesthetic in British India. The development of chemicalanesthetics soon saw the replacement of hypnotism in thisrole.

The deaths of Braid and Esdaile curbed the interest inhypnotism. Experimentation was revived into the 1880s,mainly in continental Europe, where new translations of Braid's work were circulated.

d) Psychological studies



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Jean-Martin Charcot

Jean-Martin Charcot

The neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) endorsedhypnotism for the treatment of hysteria. La méthodenumérique("The numerical method") led to a number of systematic experimental examinations of hypnosis in France,Germany, and Switzerland. The process of post-hypnoticsuggestion was first described in this period. Extraordinaryimprovements in sensory acuity and memory were reportedunder hypnosis.

From the 1880s the examination of hypnosis passed fromsurgical doctors to mental health professionals. Charcot had

led the way and his study was continued by his pupil, PierreJanet. Janet described the theory of dissociation, the splittingof mental aspects under hypnosis (or hysteria) so skills andmemory could be made inaccessible or recovered. Janet provoked interest in the subconscious and laid theframework for reintegration therapy for dissociated personalities.

Holy See



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Objections had been raised by some theologians stating that,if not applied properly, hypnosis could deprive a person of their faculty of reason. Saint Thomas Aquinas specifically

rebutted this, stating that "The loss of reason is not a sin initself but only by reason of the act by which one is deprivedof the use of reason. If the act that deprives one of his use of reason is licit in itself and is done for a just cause, there is nosin; if no just cause is present, it must be considered a venialsin."

On July 28, 1847, a decree from the Sacred Congregation of the Holy office (Roman Curia) declared that "Havingremoved all misconception, foretelling of the future, explicitor implicit invocation of the devil, the use of animalmagnetism (Hypnosis) is indeed merely an act of makinguse of physical media that are otherwise licit and hence it isnot morally forbidden, provided it does not tend toward an

illicit end or toward anything depraved."Later, in 1956, Pope Pius XII gave his approval of hypnosis.He stated that the use of hypnosis by health care professionals for diagnosis and treatment is permitted. In anaddress from the Vatican on hypnosis in childbirth, the Popegave these guidelines:

Hypnotism is a serious matter, and not something to bedabbled in.

In its scientific use, the precautions dictated by both scienceand morality are to be followed.

Under the aspect of anaesthesia, it is governed by the same principles as other forms of anaesthesia.

American Civil War



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Hypnosis was used by field doctors in the American CivilWar and was the first extensive medical application of hypnosis. Although hypnosis seemed to be very effective in

the field, with the introduction of the hypodermic needle andthe general chemical anesthetics of ether in 1846 andchloroform in 1847 to America, it was much easier for thewar's medical community to use chemical anesthesia thanhypnosis.

Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault

Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault (1864-1904), the founder of the Nancy School, first wrote of the necessity for cooperation between the hypnotizer and the participant, for rapport. Along with Bernheim, he emphasized theimportance of suggestibility.

First International Congress, 1889

The First International Congress for Experimental andTherapeutic Hypnotism was held in Paris, France, on August8-12, 1889. Attendees included Jean-Martin Charcot,Hippolyte Bernheim, Sigmund Freud and Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault. The second congress was held on August12-16, 1900.

British Medical Association, 1892

The Annual Meeting of the BMA, in 1892, unanimouslyendorsed the therapeutic use of hypnosis and rejects thetheory of Mesmerism (animal magnetism). Even though theBMA recognized the validity of hypnosis, Medical Schoolsand Universities largely ignored the subject.

Boris Sidis



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Boris Sidis

Boris Sidis (1867-1923), a Ukraine-born American

psychologist and psychiatrist who studied under WilliamJames at Harvard University, formulated this law of suggestion:

Suggestibility varies as the amount of disaggregation, andinversely as the unification of consciousness. Disaggregationrefers to the split between the normal waking consciousnessand the subconscious.

Emile Coué

Emile Coué (1857-1926), a French pharmacist, popularizedthe following laws of suggestion:

The Law of Concentrated Attention

Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realize itself.

The Law of Reversed Effect

The harder one tries to do something, the less chance onehas of success.

The Law of Dominant Effect



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A strong emotion/suggestion tends to replace a weaker one.

Johannes Schultz

The German psychiatrist Johannes Schultz adapted thetheories of Abbe Faria and Emile Coué and identifyingcertain parallels to techniques in yoga and meditation. Hecalled his system of self-hypnosis Autogenic training.

e) Modern applicationsCrowd psychology

Gustave Le Bon's study of crowd psychology compared theeffects of a leader of a group to hypnosis. Le Bon made useof the suggestibility concept.

Psychoanalysis

Hypnosis, which at the end of the 19th century had became a popular phenomenon, in particular due to Charcot's publichypnotism sessions, was crucial in the invention of psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud, a student of Charcot.Freud later witnessed a small number of the experiments of Liébeault and Hippolyte Bernheim in Nancy. Back in

Vienna he developed abreaction therapy using hypnosis withJosef Breuer. When Sigmund Freud discounted its use in psychiatry, in the first half of the last century, stagehypnotists kept it alive more than physicians.

Platanov and Pavlov

Russian medicine has had extensive experience with

obstetric hypnosis. Platanov, in the 1920s, became well

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known for his hypno-obstetric successes. Impressed by thisapproach, Stalin later set up a nationwide program headed by Velvoski, who originally combined hypnosis with Pavlov

techniques but eventually used the latter almost exclusively.Ferdinand Lamaze, having visited Russia, brought back toFrance "childbirth without pain through the psychologicalmethod," which in turn showed more reflexologic thanhypnotic inspiration.

20th-century wars

The use of hypnosis in the treatment of neuroses flourishedin World War I, World War II and the Korean War.Hypnosis techniques were merged with psychiatry and wasespecially useful in the treatment of what is known today asPost Traumatic Stress Disorder.

William McDougall (1871-1944), an English psychologist,

treated soldiers with "shell shock".Clark Hull

The modern study of hypnotism is usually considered tohave begun in the 1930s with Clark Leonard Hull (1884-1952) at Yale University. An experimental psychologist, hiswork Hypnosis and Suggestibility (1933) was a rigorous

study of the phenomenon, using statistical and experimentalanalysis. Hull's studies emphatically demonstrated once andfor all that hypnosis had no connection with sleep("hypnosis is not sleep, … it has no special relationship tosleep, and the whole concept of sleep when applied tohypnosis obscures the situation").

The main result of Hull's study was to rein in the

extravagant claims of hypnotists, especially regarding



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extraordinary improvements in cognition or the senses under hypnosis. Hull's experiments did show the reality of someclassical phenomena such as hypnotic anaesthesia and post-

hypnotic amnesia. Hypnosis could also induce moderateincreases in certain physical capacities and change thethreshold of sensory stimulation; attenuation effects could beespecially dramatic.

Andrew Salter

In the 1940s, Andrew Salter (1914-1996) introduced to

American therapy the Pavlovian method of contradicting,opposing, and attacking beliefs. In the conditioned reflex, hehas found what he saw as the essence of hypnosis. He thusgave a rebirth to hypnotism by combining it with classicalconditioning. Ivan Pavlov had himself induced an alteredstate in pigeons, that he referred to as "Cortical Inhibition",which some later theorists believe to be some form of

hypnotic state.

British Hypnotism Act

In Britain, in 1952, a Hypnotism Act was instituted toregulate stage hypnotists' public entertainments.

British Medical Association, 1955

On April 23, 1955, the British Medical Association (BMA)approved the use of hypnosis in the areas of psychoneurosesand hypnoanesthesia in pain management in childbirth andsurgery. At this time, the BMA also advised all physiciansand medical students to receive fundamental training inhypnosis.

American Medical Association, 1958



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In 1958, the American Medical Association approved areport on the medical uses of hypnosis. It encouragedresearch on hypnosis although pointing out that some

aspects of hypnosis are unknown and controversial.

American Psychological Association

Two years after AMA approval, the American PsychologicalAssociation endorsed hypnosis as a branch of psychology.

U.S.A. Definition for Hypnotherapist

The U.S. (Department of Labor) Directory of OccupationalTitles (D.O.T. 079.157.010) supplies the followingdefinition:

"Hypnotherapist -- Induces hypnotic state in client toincrease motivation or alter behavior pattern throughhypnosis. Consults with client to determine the nature of

problem. Prepares client to enter hypnotic states byexplaining how hypnosis works and what client willexperience. Tests subject to determine degrees of physicaland emotional suggestibility. Induces hypnotic state in clientusing individualized methods and techniques of hypnosis based on interpretation of test results and analysis of client's problem. May train client in self-hypnosis conditioning

UK National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Hypnotherapy 2002

National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Hypnotherapywas published in 2002 by Skills for Health, theGovernment's Sector Skills Council for the UK health

industry.



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Indian Restriction

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of

India, vide its letter no.R.14015/25/96-U&H(R) (Pt.) dated25th November, 2003, has very categorically stated thathypnotherapy is a recognized mode of therapy in India to be practiced by only appropriately trained Personnel.

Code for commercial advertising on Doordarshan and AllIndia Radio states that “No advertisement should containany offer to diagnose or treat complaints or conditions by

hypnosis"

f) Recent innovators

Ernest Hilgard and others

Studies continued after the Second World War. Barber,Hilgard, Orne and Sarbin also produced substantial studies.

In 1961, Ernest Hilgard and André Weitzenhoffer createdthe Stanford scales, a standardized scale for susceptibility tohypnosis, and properly examined susceptibility across age-groups and sex.

Hilgard went on to study sensory deception (1965) andinduced anesthesia and analgesia (1975).

Milton Erickson

Milton Erickson (1901-1980) developed many ideas andtechniques in hypnosis that were very different from whatwas commonly practiced. His style, commonly referred to as



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Ericksonian Hypnosis, has greatly influenced many modernschools of hypnosis.

Harry Arons

In 1967, Harry Arons, a self-taught professional hypnotist,wrote a textbook, Hypnosis in Criminal Investigation,dedicated to the application of hypnosis in the judicialsystem. Chapters include such applications such as memory,age regression, induction techniques and confabulation.Arons also traveled the country training law enforcement

agencies. His teaching created national acceptance in thelegal community and increased positive awareness to the practice of hypnosis for trial applications.

Arons is best known today for introducing a scale that isused for measuring the 'depth' of trance in hypnosis, calledthe Arons scale, which recognizes six levels of trance depth:

1.Hypnoidal

2.Light trance

3.Medium trance

4.Profound trance

5.Somnambulism

6.Profound Somnambulism

Dave Elman

Dave Elman (1900-1967) was one of the pioneers of themedical use of hypnosis. Elman's definition of hypnosis isstill widely used today among many professional

hypnotherapists. Although Elman had no medical training,



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he is known for having trained the most physicians and psychotherapists in America, in the use of hypnotism.

He is also known for introducing rapid inductions to thefield of hypnotism. One method of induction which heintroduced more than fifty years ago, is still one of thefavored inductions used by many of today's masters.

He placed great stress on what he termed "the Esdaile state"or the "hypnotic coma", which, according to Elman, had not been deliberately induced since Scottish surgeon James

Esdaile last attained it. This was an unfortunate andhistorically inaccurate choice of terminology on Elman's part. Esdaile never used what we now call hypnosis even ona single occasion; he always used mesmerism (also knownas animal magnetism).

According to his book Hypnotherapy (Westwood, 1964),

Elman was able to guide a subject into the state withinminutes, and taught his students to do the same. Accordingto Elman's supporters, such a deep state of hypnosis had not been seen for a century.{Fact|date=February 2007}

Ormond McGill

Ormond McGill (1913-2005), stage hypnotist and

hypnotherapist, was the "Dean of American Hypnotists" andwriter of the seminal "Encyclopedia of Genuine StageHypnotism" (1947). McGill died on October 19, 2005.

John Kappas

John Kappas (1925-2004), author of the ProfessionalHypnotism Manual (1975) and founder of the first nationally

accredited school of hypnotherapy in the U.S, literally



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defined the profession of hypnotherapy when he founded theHypnotherapists Union. AFL/CIO and authored thedefinition of Hypnotherapist in the Federal Dictionary of

Occupational Titles #079.157.010.

Notes

1. ^ Haque, Amber (2004), "Psychology from IslamicPerspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars andChallenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists",Journal of Religion and Health 43 (4): 357-377 [365]

2. ^ H.F. Ellenberger, The Discovery of the Unconscious,Basic Books, 1980.



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2) Definitions

It is often said that there are as many definitions of hypnosis as

there are hypnotists. Researchers and clinicians have different

requirements for explanations of hypnosis, so that the focus of

theories from these respective fields can vary greatly.

One fundamental distinction in hypnosis theory is between 'state'

and 'non-state' approaches to hypnosis. State theorists believe thathypnosis is an altered state of consciousness, whereas non-state

theorists believe that hypnotic effects are the product of more-

mundane psychological processes such as absorption and

expectancy. The APA definition (below), essentially a consensus

statement from a broad range of researchers and clinicians, remains

neutral in this argument.

a. American Psychological Association

Hypnosis typically involves an introduction to the procedure

during which the subject is told that suggestions for imaginative

experiences will be presented. The hypnotic induction is an

extended initial suggestion for using one's imagination, and may

contain further elaborations of the introduction. A hypnotic

procedure is used to encourage and evaluate responses to

suggestions. When using hypnosis, one person (the subject) is

guided by another (the hypnotist) to respond to suggestions for

changes in subjective experience, alterations in perception,



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sensation, emotion, thought or behavior. Persons can also learn

self-hypnosis, which is the act of administering hypnotic

procedures on one's own. If the subject responds to hypnoticsuggestions, it is generally inferred that hypnosis has been induced.

Many believe that hypnotic responses and experiences are

characteristic of a hypnotic state. While some think that it is not

necessary to use the word "hypnosis" as part of the hypnotic

induction, others view it as essential.

Details of hypnotic procedures and suggestions will differ

depending on the goals of the practitioner and the purposes of the

clinical or research endeavor. Procedures traditionally involve

suggestions to relax, though relaxation is not necessary for

hypnosis and a wide

variety of suggestions can be used including those to become more

alert. Suggestions that permit the extent of hypnosis to be assessed

by comparing responses to standardized scales can be used in both

clinical and research settings. While the majority of individuals are

responsive to at least some suggestions, scores on standardized

scales range from high to negligible. Traditionally, scores aregrouped into low, medium, and high categories. As is the case with

other positively scaled measures of psychological constructs such

as attention and awareness, the salience of evidence for having

achieved hypnosis increases with the individual's score.

b. Harry Cannon



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Harry Cannon FNRAH defines hypnosis: "a psychological

mechanism by which a suggestion moves directly to and is

accepted by the subconscious mind." For this (hypnosis) to take place you require four things:

1. A focus of attention 2. A heightened emotion 3. The suggestion

itself 4. No critique of the suggestion by the conscious intellect.

When these four requirements are met, suggestion takes root in the

subconscious and so has action out in motor function. This simply

means that the suggestion is acted upon by the mind.

At: [1] Harry postulates that all our learning is via the modality of

hypnosis. He gives the following example: “Imagine a small child

being caught by their mother taking something that does not

belong to them from another child. Imagine then the mother

chastising her child for this action (the child now has a focus of

attention and a heightened emotion). She then instructs her child to

stop it and not do it again (the given suggestion). This suggestion,

laid down during the child’s formative years has, by the criteria

above, moved to the subconscious mind without any intellectual

argument from the child. Because of this experience, a new social boundary has now been placed upon the child who, in later life will

definitely ‘feel’ those same feelings and emotions whenever it

finds itself in a similar situation”.

So hypnosis is all around us and is happening all the time. The

level and apparent intensity of the ‘hypnotic state’ is nothing more

than the witnessing of an individual's subjective experience of it,



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and nothing more.

c. Michael Yapko

Michael Yapko defines hypnosis: "...hypnosis is a process of influential communication in which the clinician elicits and guides

the inner associations of the client in order to establish or

strengthen therapeutic associations in the context of a collaborative

and mutually responsive goal-oriented relationship. (Yapko, M..

Hypnosis and the Treatment of Depressions. Brunner/Mazel Inc.,

New York, New York, ISBN 0-87630-682-2, p. 37)

d. Dave Elman

Dave Elman defines hypnosis as "a state of mind in which the

critical faculty of the human mind is bypassed, and selective

thinking established." The critical faculty of your mind is that part

which passes judgment. It distinguishes between concepts of hot

and cold, sweet and sour, large and small, dark and light. If we can

bypass this critical faculty in such a way that you no longer

distinguish between hot and cold, sweet and sour, we can

substitute selective thinking for conventional judgment making. [1]

e. Joe Griffin

Joe Griffin defines hypnosis, based upon his dream research, as

"any artificial means of accessing the REM state". All hypnotic

phenomena including amnesia, anaesthesia, analgesia, arm

levitation, body illusions, ideomotor responses, catalepsy, age

regression, post hypnotic responses, time distortion, dissociation,



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and hallucination are properties of the REM state which he

identifies as the natural programming state of the brain. [2]

f. Richard Bandler

Co-founder of Neuro-Linguistic-Programming, Richard Bandler is

the world's best and renowned hypnotist after training with Milton

Erikkson (of which there was notable dislike between them).

Richard Bandler is most famed for his work at removing phobias

within 2 minutes and the handshake interupt, a trance induction

which uses the subconscious process of a handshake to induce a

deep trance and proclaims to have never found a single person to

be unhypnotisable.

g. Alpha- and Theta-state theories

Through data collected by Electroencephalography (EEGs), four

major brain-wave patterns—frequency of electrical impulses firing

from the brain—have been identified. The Beta state

(alert/working) is defined as 14–32 cycles per second (CPS), the

Alpha

state (relaxed/reflecting) as the 7–14 CPS, the Theta state (drowsy)

as 4–7 CPS, and the Delta state (sleeping/dreaming/deep sleep) asapproximately 3–5 CPS.

One physiological definition of hypnosis states that the brainwave

level necessary to work on issues such as stopping smoking,

weight management, reduction of phobias, sports improvement,

etc., is the alpha state. The alpha state is commonly associated with



31

closing one's eyes, relaxation, and daydreaming...

Another physiological definition states that the theta state is

required for therapeutic change. The theta state is associated withhypnosis for surgery, hypnoanesthesia and hypnoanalgesia, which

occur more readily in the theta and delta states. It should be noted

that hypnoanalgesia of the skin is a common test for

somnambulism. Arm and body catalepsy are one of a few tests

done to determine readiness for these surgical applications.

However, it is important to reflect upon the fact that both arm and

body catalepsy can be induced in normal non-hypnotised subjects.

Indeed, arm catalepsy is a standard stage-hypnotists test of

susceptibility. Moreover, normal, non-hypnotised subjects can be

found in any of these states of cortical arousal without also

displaying any of the behaviour, traits or the enhanced

suggestibility associated with being hypnotised.



32

3) Theories

A scientific theory attempts to describe and explain the behaviour

of a natural or social phenomenon, following the principles of the

scientific method. Good theories produce testable hypotheses

which can be supported or refuted by experimental data. There are

unfortunately many vague and untestable theories of hypnosis

which continue to circulate, but high quality research is still published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Some theories of hypnosis attempt to describe hypnotic

phenomenon in terms of brain activity while others concentrate

more on the phenomenological experience. In either case, a

fundamental distinction is between 'state' and 'non-state' theories of

hypnosis. State theorists believe that an altered state of

consciousness is a core part of hypnosis, whereas non-state

theoriests believe that more mundane psychological processess

such as focussed attention and expectation are sufficient to explain

hypnotic phenomena. The precise definition of what constitutes an

altered state of consciousness is a matter of some debate. Although

many people who are hypnotised describe their experience as

'altered' it is difficult to use these terms in the absence of a prior

definition.

a. Dissociation and neodissociation theories

Pierre Janet originally developed the idea of dissociation, literally a



33

splitting-off of some components of consciousness, as a result of

his work with hysterical patients. He believed that hypnosis was an

example of dissociation: areas of an individual's behavioral controlare split off from ordinary awareness. In this case, hypnosis would

remove some control from the conscious mind and the individual

will respond with autonomic, reflexive behavior. Weitzenhoffer

describes hypnosis via this theory as "dissociation of awareness

from the majority of sensory and even strictly neural events taking

place."[3]

Ernest Hilgard developed Janet's ideas and published his

neodissociation theory in 1977. His theory, a classic 'state' theory,

postulated an executive ego (essentially a central executive system

in today's cognitive psychological terms) which became

dissociated from sub-components via an 'amnesic barrier'.

Suggestions from a hypnotist could produce alterations in

perception and behaviour, which were explainable in terms of

these dissociated sub-systems. Hilgard's ideas were influenced by

his discovery of the 'hidden observer' phenomenon, a process by

which different components of consciousness were investigated(other researchers, notably Spanos, believed the hidden observer to

be an experimental artifact).

b. Social constructionism / Role-playing theory

This theory suggests that individuals are playing a role and

allowing the hypnotist to create a reality for them. This



34

relationship depends on how much rapport has been established

between the hypnotist and the subject (see Hawthorne effect,

Pygmalion effect, and the Placebo effect).Generally, under hypnosis people become more receptive to

suggestion, causing changes in the way they feel, think, and

behave. Some psychologists (such as Sarbin and Spanos) have

suggested that hypnosis is a social construct, so well-known that

strong social expectations are played out by subjects, who believe

they are in a state of hypnosis, behaving in a way that they imagine

a hypnotized person would behave. Much experimental work has

demonstrated that the experiences of hypnotized subjects can be

dramatically shaped by expectations and social nuances. This view

is often misunderstood: it does not discount the claim that

hypnotized individuals are truly experiencing suggested effects,

just that the mechanism by which this has taken place has in part

been socially constructed and is not necessarily reliant on the idea

of an altered state of consciousness

Barber theorizes that hypnosis is not a state or a trance and is not

produced as the result of suggestions. He suggests that hypnosis is based on a number of overlapping variables, but, primarily, that

interpersonal relationships allow the operator to restructure

perceptions and conceptions of the subject. He theorizes that this

occurs because the subject is relatively inattentive to the

environment and, because of this misdirection of attention, the

subject is willing to think as the hypnotist wants them to think.[4]



35

Nicholas Spanos hypothesized that the behaviors associated with

hypnosis are acted out knowingly by the person. He believes that

all acts that are performed are done under the complete control of the hypnotized person. Spanos stood against Hilgard’s belief that

hypnosis is another state of consciousness. Spanos worked for

almost ten years on this theory completing sixteen experiments to

reveal that many of the actions performed under hypnosis can be

simply explained as something other than hypnosis. Spanos alleged

that there are two reasons that cause people to misconstrue their

state of consciousness as hypnosis. One of the reasons being that

people believe that their behavior is caused by an external source

instead of the self. The second is related to the way hypnotic rituals

are performed. The hypnotist says certain things which are first

interpreted as voluntary and then later on in the procedure as

involuntary. An example being “relax the muscles in your legs”

and then later “your legs feel limp and heavy.” Spanos argues that

the hypnotist asks each person two connected requests. The first

directly asking the subject to do something and the second being

for the subject to infer the request as an involuntary one. Somehypnosis participants follow the first request and realize they are

performing the task voluntarily while others do not respond at all.

Still others follow both requests and therefore deemed great

hypnosis subjects. Using another study, Spanos demonstrates that

how people control their hypnotic experience by acting how they

believe they are supposed to act during a hypnosis session. The



36

study was performed on two groups of people. One group was

given a lecture which included a segment on how arm rigidity was

spontaneous during hypnosis and the second group did not. When both groups were hypnotized the group who was informed of the

arm rigidity actually had arm rigidity during the session. A second

study used by Spanos involved evaluating the analgesia effect in

hypnotic and non-hypnotic individuals. The study performed the

experiment on two groups of people and the only difference

between the groups is that one group was told they were going to

be hypnotized. Each participant was asked to put his or her hand in

a bucket of ice and hold it there as long as possible. After

removing their arm they were asked to rate their perceived pain.

While awake those individuals who were expecting hypnosis had a

much higher pain rating than those who were not expecting. All

participants were hypnotized and then were asked to put their arm

in the bucket of ice once more. The people who were not expecting

hypnosis had about the same rating of perceived pain as their

corresponding awake trial. The expecting participants had a much

lower rating then their corresponding awake trial. Spanos claimedthat this was due to the subjects wanting to be viewed as a great

hypnotic subject. Spanos’ findings were not to prove that the

hypnotic state did not exist at all but to prove that the behaviors

exhibited by those individuals are due to “highly motivated”

individuals. (Hock R. R. (2005). Forty studies that changed

psychology: explorations into history of psychological research.



37

Upper Saddle River: Pearson.)

c. Neuropsychological theory of hypnosis

Neuropsychological theories of hypnosis attempt to explainhypnotic phenomenon in terms of alterations in brain activity.

Gruzelier, based on large amounts of EEG research,

proposed that hypnosis is characterised by a shift in brain activity

from anterior (front) to posterior (back).

d. Hypnosis as a state of hysteriaCharcot postulated that hypnosis was a symptom of hysteria and

that only those people experiencing hysteria were believed to be

hypnotizable.[5] Although those exhibiting hysteria seem to be

more suggestible, normal individuals are, indeed, hypnotizable

which calls this theory into question.

e. Hypnosis as a conditioned process leading to sleep

Ivan Pavlov believed that hypnosis was a "partial sleep". He

observed that the various degrees of hypnosis didn't significantly

differ physiologically from the waking state and hypnosis

depended on insignificant changes of environmental stimuli.

Pavlov also suggested that lower brain stem mechanisms were

involved in hypnotic conditioning.[6]

Some modern well-known hypnotherapists subscribe to this

theory, since in hypnosis, the subject typically appears to be asleep

because of eye closure that is typically part of the induction

procedure. However, there is quite a bit of literature on blood



38

pressure, reflexes, physiochemical and EEG studies which

indicates that hypnosis more closely resembles complete

wakefulness.[citation needed ]f. Hyper–suggestibility theory

Currently a more popular theory, it states the subject's attention is

narrowed by certain techniques used by the hypnotist. As attention

is narrowed, the hypnotist's words eventually take over the inner

voice of the subject. From this theory comes the implication that

only gullible or weak-minded people are suggestible. Some people,

however, find the narrowing of attention to be desirable. Milton H.

Erickson was said to have told his subjects, "... and my voice will

go with you," meaning that Erickson's voice would be a

comforting presence in the face of adversity and trouble.

g. Informational theory

This theory applies the concept of the brain-as-computer model. In

electronic systems, a system adjusts its feedback networks to

increase the signal-to-noise ratio for optimum functioning, called a

"steady state". Increasing the receptability of a receptor enables

messages to be more clearly received from a transmitter primarily by trying to reduce the interference (noise) as much as possible.

Thus, the object of the hypnotist is to use techniques to reduce the

interference and increase the receptability of specific messages

(suggestions).



39

4) Research on Hypnosis

Much research has been conducted into the nature and effects of

hypnosis and suggestion, and hypnosis continues to be a popular

(if somewhat peripheral) tool in contemporary psychological

research. A number of different strands of hypnosis research are

apparent: that which examines the 'state' of hypnosis itself, that

which examines the effects and properties of suggestions in andout of hypnosis, and that which uses hypnotic suggestion as a tool

to research other areas of psychological functioning.

With the advent of recent brain imaging techniques (MRI, although

also EEG and PET) there has been a resurgence of interest in the

relationship between hypnosis and brain function. Any human

experience is reflected in some way in the brain—seeing colors or

motion is underscored by activity in the visual cortex, feeling fear

is mediated by activity in the amygdala—and so hypnosis and

suggestion are expected to have observable effects upon brain

function. An important issue for researchers conducting brain

imaging is to separate the effects of hypnosis and suggestion—

knowing that a suggestion given during hypnosis affects brain area

X does not just tell us about hypnosis, it tells us about the effects

of the suggestion too. To account for this, experiments need to

include a non-hypnotic-response-to-suggestion condition—only

this way can the specific effects of hypnosis be examined.



40

A number of brain-imaging studies have been conducted which

have used hypnosis, a selection are given below:

For example, one controlled scientific experiment postulates thathypnosis may change conscious experience in a way not possible

when people are not "hypnotized", at least in "highly hypnotizable"

people. In this experiment, color perception was changed by

hypnosis in "highly hypnotizable" people as determined by

positron emission tomography (PET) scans (Kosslyn et al., 2000).

(This research does not compare the effects of hypnosis on less

hypnotizable people and could therefore show little causal effect

due to the lack of a control group.)

Another research example, employing event-related fMRI and

EEG coherence measures, compared certain specific neural activity

"during Stroop task performance between participants of low and

high hypnotic susceptibility, at baseline and after hypnotic

induction". According to its authors, "the fMRI data revealed that

conflict-related ACC activity interacted with hypnosis and

hypnotic susceptibility, in that highly susceptible participants

displayed increased conflict-related neural activity in the hypnosiscondition compared to baseline, as well as with respect to subjects

with low susceptibility." (Egner et al 2005). Skeptics dispute the

significance of such findings, claiming that such changes cannot be

shown to be particular to the hypnotized state, and that any other

action such as daydreaming is also likely to alter brain activity in

some manner. The subject is still a matter of current research and



41

scientific debate.

There is a long tradition (over a century) of hypnosis research (the

majority of which not using brain imaging techniques) which hasallowed scientists to test key ideas in the debate. Hypnosis has

been shown to be an effective tool for pain relief, and when

combined adjunctively with other therapeutic techniques it has

been demonstrated to be a powerful tool (it is effective for weight

loss, IBS, anxiety conditions and many more—the data for

smoking cessation are more dubious).

Complex hybrid of social compliance

Current research points to the conclusion that what we term

hypnosis is in fact a complex hybrid of social compliance,

relaxation, and suggestibility that can account for many esoteric

behavioral manifestations.

Psychologists such as Robert Baker claims that what we call

hypnosis are actually a form of learned social behavior.

Some hypnotized subjects seem possessed, that is because

possession involves a similar socio-cognitive context, a similar

role-playing arrangement and rapport. Deep down, however,hypnotism, hysteria, and demonic possession share the common

ground of being social constructs engineered mainly by

enthusiastic therapists, showmen, and priests on the one side, and

suggestible, imaginative, willing, fantasy-prone players with deep

emotional needs or abilities on the other. The hypnotist and subject

learn what is expected of their roles and reinforce each other by



42

their performances. The hypnotist provides the suggestions and the

subject responds to the suggestions. The rest of the behavior—the

hypnotist’s repetition of sounds or gestures, his soft, relaxingvoice, etc., and the trance-like pose or sleep-like repose of the

subject, etc.—are just window dressing, part of the drama that

makes hypnosis seem mysterious. When one strips away these

dramatic dressings what is left is something quite ordinary, even if

extraordinarily useful: a self-induced, “psyched-up” state of

suggestibility.



43

5) Hypnosis Methodologies and Effects

a. General methods

The act of inducing a hypnotic state is referred to as an induction

procedure. There is no current consensus on what the requirements

are for an induction procedure to be

effective; while some practitioners use simple calming verbal

techniques, others use complex triggers, including mechanicaldevices.[7]

Many experienced hypnotists claim that they can hypnotize almost

anyone. They also claim it is a myth that people with strong will

power cannot be hypnotized, as they claim these generally make

the best participants. This is based on the idea that those who are

most intelligent are also the most creative and as such they will

make strong associations with the structure of language used by

the hypnotist and by the visual or auditory representations inside of

their mind. On the other hand, there is a common claim that no one

can really be hypnotized against his or her will.[8] The counter-

claim given by many hypnotists is that while you cannot make

someone do anything against their will, you can change what it is

that they wish to do.

Many religious and cultural rituals contain many similarities with

techniques used for hypnotic induction and induce similar states in

their participants. [citation needed ]



44

b. General effects

1. Focused attention

This school of thought holds that hypnosis as a state is very similar to other states of extreme concentration, where a person becomes

oblivious to his or her surroundings while lost in thought. Often

suggested as an example is when a driver suddenly finds himself

much further down the road without any memory of driving the

intervening distance (highway hypnosis), when a person is

watching television and focuses so intently on the program that he

ceases to be aware of the sides of the screen, or when a person is

thinking on another subject while reading, then realizes that he has

read several pages without consciously doing so or taking in any of

the content.

The act of hypnotizing, is, in effect, the act of manually inducing a

similar state

2. Suggestibility

Psychologists have produced controversial studies that seem to

show a strong correlation between the ease of putting someone in astate of hypnosis and their level of suggestibility. Some of these

studies have produced the Harvard scale, Stanford scale,

and eye-roll test; all of which are supposed to predict how easily a

person can be put in a hypnotized state.

Hypnosis has further been described as "The suspension of the



45

critical factor" which expands on the idea of "increased

suggestibility". A person who claims to be hypnotized may accept

statements as true that he or she would normally reject.For example, when told "you have forgotten your name," the

subject in a normal state would react with disbelief, but under

hypnosis people have claimed that they have, indeed, forgotten

their own names.

It often appears as if the hypnotized participant accepts the

authority of the hypnotist over his or her own experience. When

asked after the conclusion of such a session, some participants

appear to be genuinely unable to recall the incident, while others

say that they had known the hypnotist was wrong but at the time it

had seemed easier just to go along with his instructions. (Richard

Feynman describes this in his memoir Surely You're Joking, Mr.

Feynman! as his own experience under hypnosis.) The mechanism

of this effect is however disputed: Some hypnotists would claim

that this showed the difference between a deep and a shallow

hypnotic trance, while skeptics would question the validity of this

conclusion, citing that such effects can be duplicated in other circumstances where an agent holds authority, such as the Milgram

experiment, and suggest that unreliability in results discredits a

scientific theory of hypnosis.

3. Judgment

Some believe that hypnosis can affect the subject's judgment and



46

therefore could potentially cause them harm. In the hand of a

"professional" seeking to promote the subject's welfare, those of

this opinion believe, hypnosis can produce profound effects and bea complement to treatment. Some of those who believe in hypnosis

believe that in most cases one can resist hypnosis if one is aware of

it. However, some of those who hold this belief also believe in

brainwashing and/or mind control and believe that when

hypnotism takes place in the context of these, resisting hypnosis is

far more difficult. These beliefs are not generally based on

scientific evidence, as there is no scientific consensus on whether

mind control even exists, let alone whether it is more difficult to

resist hypnotism in the context of this unverified theoretical

construct.

4. Abreaction

Some psychologists and other mental health professionals are

concerned that practitioners of hypnosis might evoke intense

emotions in their clients that they are untrained to handle. These

abreactions might occur when spontaneously or purposefully

recalling traumatic events or, some believe, spontaneous mental breakdowns.



47

6) Hypnosis applications

a. Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is a term to describe the use of hypnosis in a

therapeutic context. Many hypnotherapists refer to their practice as

"clinical work." Hypnotherapy can either be used as an addition to

the work of licensed physicians or psychologists, or it can be used

in a stand-alone environment where the hypnotherapist in questionusually owns his or her own business. The majority of certified

hypnotherapists (C.Hts in the US, Diploma. Hyp in the UK) today

earn a large portion of their money through the cessation of

smoking (often in a single session) and the aid of weight loss

(body sculpting). Some of the so called 'incurable' diseases have

shown to be treatable with the mind-body (such as cancer,

diabetes, and arthritis).[citation needed ] Some of the treatments

practiced by hypnotherapists, in particular so-called regression,

have been viewed with skepticism.

The American Medical Association and the American

Psychological Association have both cautioned against the use of

repressed memory therapy in dealing with cases of alleged

childhood trauma, stating that "it is impossible, without other

corroborative evidence, to distinguish a true memory from a false

one"[2], and so the procedure is "fraught with problems of

potential misapplication"[3]. This is why Forensic Hypnosis is not



48

widely used in many countries' legal systems.

b. Clinical hypnosis

The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis is an organization that"promotes greater acceptance of hypnosis as a clinical tool with

broad applications". Hypnosis is applied to a great range of both

physical and psychological ailments, rather than being restricted to

purely psychological phenomena. The society was founded by

Milton Erickson, a doctor who attempted to put hypnosis on a firm

therapeutic backing in the 1950s.

Milton H. Erickson was opposed to non-board-licensed healthcare

professionals performing therapeutic hypnotism, which has since

caused difficulty for certified laymen willing to practice. In the

United States, certified lay hypnotists are now said to perform

"non-therapeutic issue-resolution hypnotism", rather than

"hypnotherapy". [4]

Recently, there are reports that efforts to reduce obesity with

hypnosis (when used in combination with cognitive behavioral

therapy, exercise, and a low-fat diet) may be effective. [5].

Milton Erickson's technique of hypnosis was later called theEricksonian technique

c. Self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis (or autosuggestion) hypnosis in which a person

hypnotizes himself or herself without the assistance of another

person to serve as the hypnotist—is a staple of hypnotherapy-



49

related self-help programs. It is most often used to help the self-

hypnotist stay on a diet, overcome smoking or some other

addiction, or to generally boost the hypnotized person's self-esteem. It is rarely used for the more complex or controversial uses

of hypnotism, which require the hypnotist to monitor the

hypnotized person's reactions and responses and respond

accordingly. Most people who practice self-hypnosis require a

focus in order to become fully hypnotized; there are many

computer programs on the market that can ostensibly help in this

area, though few, if any, have been scientifically proven to aid self-

hypnosis.

Some people use devices known as mind machines to help them go

into self-hypnosis more readily. A mind machine consists of

glasses with different colored flashing LEDs on the inside, and

headphones. The LEDs stimulate the visual channel while the

headphones stimulate the audio channel with similar or slightly

different frequencies designed to produce a certain mental state. A

common occurrence is the use of binaural beats in the audio which

is said to produce hypnosis more readily.d. Dental application

The use of hypnosis in dentistry has a long history. Dealing with

hypnodontia—the use of hypnosis in dentistry—has attested to the

increasing sophistication of hypnotic procedures to deal with the

special problems of the dental patient. Besides smoothing out



50

dental procedures by way of its generalized anti-anxiety effects, it

can increase overall patient comfort, make the dental experience

acceptable and bearable, decrease resistance to future intervention,and through posthypnotic suggestions, encourage more rapid

recovery.

e. Obstetric application (painless childbirth)

The practice of hypnotically assisted deliveries has a history of

over a century. Falling into disfavor due to competition from

chemical anesthesia, hypnosis has seen a revival in the last two

decades. One important reason for this comeback is the realization

that

hypnosis may find usefulness not only in obstetric analgesia or

anesthesia, but also in all phases of giving birth from pregnancy to

postpartum recovery.

f. Forensic application

Scientific knowledge of hypnosis applied to Legal problems is

called forensic hypnosis. Courts prior to 1968 consistently

excluded post-hypnotic testimony on the grounds that it was

unreliable and apt to influence a jury unduly. Now hypnosis practice is growing stronger and still admissible in courtroom

testimonies as long as the stringent criteria and guidelines are met.

American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code specifies Crime done

by hypnotic Suggestion & Witness evidence in court after

Hypnotic suggestion are not valued. In the U.S., Oregon, Texas,



51

Indiana, Nevada, and California states have separate hypnotic

investigation acts. Nevada courts accept hypnotically refreshed

statements as evidence for judgment. Russia generally useshypnosis in criminal investigations.

g. Mass application

Influencing the crowds of common longings and yearnings by a

demagogue is called mass hypnosis. Generally mass hypnosis is

applied to religious sessions. Many forms of music and dance can

be used to create religious trance.

h. Stage application

In stage hypnosis, a hypnotist carefully chooses volunteers from

the audience, puts them into a trance using hypnosis and then

plants suggestions for them to perform. The critical factor in all

stage hypnosis shows is the choice of enthusiastic and credulous

individuals. Various techniques exist for discerning whether an

individual is a likely candidate for a hypnosis stage act. Often, the

sheer willingness of audience members to volunteer is a sign that

they will "go along with" the hypnotist's suggestions during the

show, whether or not they ever really become hypnotised in thefirst place. For example, the volunteers may be made to believe

they are drunk, aliens speaking a strange alien language, naked or

seeing others naked, 6-year-old children, ballet dancers etc. Such

suggestions are designed to be temporary, lasting the duration of

the show. Stage hypnosis is a unique performance in that it



52

involves "real" people from the audience responding in a variety of

ways, making no two shows the same. There has been debate over

the years as to whether some degree of fraud or collusion may beinvolved in some stage hypnosis acts.

Regarding the phenomenon of stage hypnotism, Jon Connelly,

Ph.D., a therapeutic hypnotist, writes:

How does the stage hypnotist create the illusion of "taking over"

his subject's minds? It appears they are helpless to refuse whatever

he directs them to do under his power and control.

How is this accomplished? It begins with the hypnotist asking for

volunteers from an audience already entranced enough with the

idea of stage hypnosis that they chose to make attending the show

their priority. Naturally, they all have expectations about what

they will witness.

The audience is made up of three categories of attendees. The first

is prepared, and actually hoping to come up on stage to be

subjects despite knowing they will be doing silly things in front of

everyone else. The second category is comprised of those who

want to prove they can't be hypnotized. These folks are likely tovolunteer but only to prove the hypnotist wrong. Finally, the third

group is simply interested in watching the show.

The first thing the hypnotist does is to ask for volunteers. On the

crowded stage, he "tests" their willingness to cooperate by

directing them to do something and he observes their reactions.

Anyone not cooperating is eliminated. Seeing others dismissed,



53

enhances the willingness of the remaining volunteers to cooperate

even more fully.

The task of finding the most cooperative and dramatic volunteers

is accomplished as the hypnotist asks those on stage to do even

stranger things and eliminates those whose performance isn't up to

par. Soon a small number of volunteers remain. These people are

willing to dramatically engage in almost anything the hypnotist

suggests. The audience has enjoyed the screening process on

another level, believing the hypnotist has caused the subjects to

become more and more entranced with hypnosis.

The hypnotist tells the small group of remaining subjects to relax

even more into the role of "hypnotized person" he created for

them. There is little difference between a good hypnotic subject

and a good actor. The context and the understanding each has of

why they are doing what they are doing, is the main difference.

They both voluntarily throw themselves into the role created for

them since both are stage performers.

The stage hypnotist is like a casting director for a movie. The

casting director selects people who can vividly imagine and act onwhat is written in the script as if it was real. These are the same

qualities that would make someone a good hypnotic subject. Both

the hypnotist and the film director create the scene and encourage

the subject or actor into imagining their role to the extent that it

can become real to them. They are often described as "absorbed"

in the role. Actors know their job is to fool the audience into



54

experiencing the role as real also. The hypnosis subject imagines

her role so vividly, it is experienced as real. On some level, both

the actor and the hypnotized subject know what is happening.

Neither is being "controlled."

In stage hypnosis, audience members confuse what is really

cooperation with control over the subject's mind. But it is an

illusion.

i. Indirect application

In addition to direct application of hypnosis (that is, treatment of

conditions by means of hypnosis), there is also indirect application,

wherein hypnosis is used to facilitate another procedure. Some

people seem more able to display 'enhanced functioning', such as

the suppression of pain, under hypnosis.

One of the major initial applications of hypnotism was the

suppression of pain during medical procedures; this was

supplanted (in the late 19th century) by the development of more

reliable chemical anesthetics.

Some studies suggest that while hypnosis may possess these

qualities, they are not exclusive to hypnosis, that it is often thedrama and fantasizing that produces the behavior.

j. Objective Signs of the Hypnotic State: Breuer's

Absent Pupillary Reflex Sign

For those who discount the trance state completely, this is an

objective sign, and is the opposite of the normal physiological



55

response. When the subject/patient/client is in 'deep' hypnosis

she/he is asked to stay in hypnosis and open their eyes. The pupils

are usually dilated. When a penlight is shone into the eyes the pupils will usually stay dilated or react poorly (the normal non-

hypnotic response being contraction). What is meant by 'deep

hypnosis' is debatable as is the terminology used for that state

(somnamulistic, Esdaile, Ultradepth, etc.). This is a brief test and

will not take away from therapy. (Dr. William Breuer popularized

this test in University lectures to his students after conducting a

research project that involved professionals in multiple sites from

three countries.) Historically, one particularly early mention of the

absent pupillary reflex sign is found in what is deemed one of the

more archaic and esoteric books of hypnosis literature called

'Hypnotism' by Carl Sextus, which stated that when people are

asked to open their eyes while remaining in deep trance and then

when a light is shone into their eyes, their pupils won't contract. He

further stated that one could use any suggestion the hypnotist

wishes to keep them in hypnosis, but at this point in the trance to

not use any suggestions relating to their eyes, visual focus, light or the pupils' dilation and contraction.

This information has been published in Dr. Breuer's Book,

"Physically Focused Hypnotherapy (-A Practical Guide for

Professionals to Treating Physical Conditions in Everyday

Practice)" ISBN: 0-9711185-0-7.



56

7) Professional associations and

governmental authorities

Several types of organizations exist to further the professionalism

and regulation of practicing hypnotists. For example, professional

associations typically offer opportunities for collegial exchanges

and professional development in general and/or specialized areas

of hypnosis. They also may establish codes of conduct and

standards for various certification programs. They may offer such

certification programs directly or approve third-party programs.

Organizations not affiliated with any professional association may

offer their own certificates as well.

Governmental authorities, such as state licensing agencies, mayestablish minimum requirements for credentials that must be

earned before one may practice hypnosis within their jurisdiction.

Such credentials typically are called certificates or licenses. Some

noteworthy examples of professional associations and

governmental authorities that offer certification, licensure or

statutes that regulate hypnosis follow.



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8) Popular culture

The notion of hypnotism has elicited many presentations in

popular culture. Intrinsically, the notion that people are susceptible

to commands outside their conscious control can be an effective

way of representing the notion of the fallible narrator. Many works

of fiction, such as movies, television programs, and comic books

portray hypnotism as a form of total mind control, however most

authorities agree that this is an exaggeration.a. Hypnosis and the judiciary system

Hypnotism can be used to:

• Recollect knowledge

• Take command of a subject

• Implant suggestions that the subject will obey while free of the

hypnotic trance.

In addition, it has been expanded to the notion of remembering

"past lives", that is, previous reincarnations of the subject, in such

movies as Dead Again.

Recollection of knowledge via hypnosis has been used in many

cases, but its effectiveness is disputed. Proponents claim that

recovered memories have aided in the solving of many crimes,

often corroborating with physical evidence which would have been

impossible to obtain otherwise. Skeptics suggest that such

successes are a function of simple chance, pointing to cases where

its use on victims of rape or attempted murder to help them jog



58

their memory in identifying an accused has caused sentences to be

doled out to the wrong person. This is because the hypnotist might

make suggestions that are more likely to be remembered as "truth".Most experts recommend that the practice be used at most like a lie

detector, to glean more information, and never as the smoking gun.

Hypnosis has proven beneficial, but not in expected ways. During

the Hillside Strangler trial, Kenneth Bianchi claimed a split

personality carried out the crimes of which he was

accused. Hypnosis was used extensively to prove that a second

personality existed. However, due to faults in Bianchi's facade,

which went contrary to what normally happens during hypnosis, it

was proved that no other personalities existed and his insanity

defense was discredited.



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9) References

a. Footnotes

1. Dave Elman, Hypnotherapy, Westwood Publishing Company,

1984 ISBN 0930298047 (page 26).

2. Joe Griffin & Ivan Tyrrell, Human Givens: A new approach to

emotional health and clear thinking , HG Publishing Ltd, 2004

ISBN 1899398317 (page 64).3. Weitzenhoffer, A.M.: Hypnotism - An Objective Study in

Suggestibility. New York, Wiley, 1953.

4. Barber, T.X.: The concept of hypnosis. The American Journal of

Psychology, 45: 115, 1958.

5. Charcot, J. M.: Lectures on Diseases of the Nervous System.

London, New Sydenham Society, 1889.

6. Pavlov, I. P.: Experimental Psychology. New York,

Philosophical Library, 1957.

7. ^ Michael Robinson's Self-Hypnosis Learning or Licensed

Online Counseling, page 45)

8. Liébeault, Le sommeil provoqué (Paris, 1889)

b. Books

• Hypnosis for the Seriously Curious, by Kenneth Bowers. NY: W.

W. Norton (1993).

• Hypnosis and Suggestion in the Treatment of Pain: A Clinical

Guide, by Joseph Barber. NY: Norton (1996).



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• Mind control, Research by G. Wagstaff, Dept. of Psychology,

University of Liverpool

• Hypnosis, Compliance and Belief by G. Wagstaff, (1981).• The Highly Hypnotizable Person, Michael Heap, Richard J.

Brown & David A. Oakley, (2004), Routledge

• Better and Better Every Day, Emile Coue, (1960).

• Uncommon Therapy, Jay Haley (about the psychotherapeutic

intervention techniques of Milton Erickson)

• Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism, Georgia Byng

• Open to suggestion. The uses and abuses of hypnosis. Robert

Temple, 1989, ISBN 1-85030-710-4

• They Call It Hypnosis.Baker, Robert A. (Buffalo, N.Y.:

Prometheus Books, 1990).

• Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis William S. Kroger, M.D.,

1977, ISBN 0-397-50377-6

• Hypnosis With Friends and Lovers Freda Morris, 1979, ISBN

0062506005

• Secret, Don't Tell: The Encyclopedia of Hypnotism by Carla

Emery ISBN 0965993035 [6]• The Art of Hypnotherapy by C. Roy Hunter ISBN 0-7872-7068-7



61

10) Web sites links

• The Synergy of Hypnosis and Analytical therapy - Harry

Cannon FNRAH, Harley Street, London, UK • Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis• International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis• American Society of Clinical Hypnosis• American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis• Hypnosis Studied With fMRI and PET brain scansdigest of several scientific articles• Hypnosis, from the Skeptic's dictionary, skeptical

review of the veracity of hypnosis.• Hypnosis, from Howstuffworks.com• is hypnosis useful spiritually?• Principles of PsychologyWilliam James' viewpoint of Hypnotism• Hypnotherapy FAQS• A collection of articles about hypnosis• Emile Coue's book on Autosuggestion

a. Professional associations links

• The (British) National Register of Advanced Hypnotherapists• http://www.hypnosiseire.com Institute of ClinicalHypnotherapy Psychotherapy• American Alliance of Hypnotists• American Board of Clinical Hypnotherapy• The Hypnosis Network Promotes transparency and strict educational requirements in

the creation of hypnosis audio programs• American Board of Medical Hypnosis• American Council of Hypnotist Examiners• American Hypnosis Board for Clinical Social Work • American Psychological Association, Division 30

Psychological Hypnosis

http://www.hypnoanalyst.com/

http://www.sceh.us/

http://ijceh.educ.wsu.edu/

http://www.asch.net/

http://www.asch.net/ajch.htm

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/002344.html

http://skepdic.com/hypnosis.html


http://www.spirithome.com/hypnosis.html

http://www.neurolinguistic.com/pnl/scannedebooks/williamjames/

http://www.hypnotherapyfaqs.com/

http://www.hypnosis101.com/tips.htm

http://www.psychomaster.com/books/emile

http://www.nrah.co.uk/

http://www.hypnosiseire.com/

http://www.americanallianceofhypnotists.org/

http://www.americanboardofclinicalhypnotherapy.com/

http://www.hypnosisnetwork.com/

http://www.abmedhyp.org/

http://www.hypnotistexaminers.org/

http://lankton.com/dahb/

http://www.apa.org/divisions/div30

http://www.apa.org/divisions/div30

http://lankton.com/dahb/

http://www.hypnotistexaminers.org/

http://www.abmedhyp.org/

http://www.hypnosisnetwork.com/

http://www.americanboardofclinicalhypnotherapy.com/

http://www.americanallianceofhypnotists.org/

http://www.hypnosiseire.com/

http://www.nrah.co.uk/

http://www.psychomaster.com/books/emile

http://www.hypnosis101.com/tips.htm

http://www.hypnotherapyfaqs.com/

http://www.neurolinguistic.com/pnl/scannedebooks/williamjames/

http://www.spirithome.com/hypnosis.html



http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/002344.html

http://www.asch.net/ajch.htm

http://www.asch.net/

http://ijceh.educ.wsu.edu/

http://www.sceh.us/

http://www.hypnoanalyst.com/



62

"Brings together psychologists and other professionalsinterested in scientific and applied hypnosis."• American Psychotherapy and Medical Hypnosis Association

• Australian Society of Hypnosis "The society of medical andassociated professionals• British Association of Therapeutical Hypnotists• Council of Professional Hypnosis Organizations(International)• General Hypnotherapy Register Largest (UK) umbrella body• General Hypnotherapy Standards Council

(UK) Overseeing the GHR.• National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists(USA)• National Guild of Hypnotists(USA)• Professional Board of Hypnotherapy(Canada)• Professional Hypnotherapy Practitioners Association

Professional Hypnotherapy Practitioners Association (UK)• Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis(USA)• Institute of Clinical Hypnosis and Counseling(India)• International Federation of Integrative Depth Psychology inTherapy and Research of Hypnosis – hypnose(Germany)• International Registry of Professional Hypnotherapists• International Hypnosis Association

b. Governmental authorities links

• California statute(Enter Chapter "820", Year "2002")• Florida statute

http://apmha.com/

http://www.ozhypnosis.com.au/

http://www.bathh.co.uk/

http://www.hypnosishalloffame.com/copho.htm

http://www.general-hypnotherapy-register.com/

http://www.ghsc.co.uk/

http://www.natboard.com/

http://www.ngh.net/

http://www.hypnosiscanada.com/

http://www.phpa-online.org/

http://www.sceh.us/

http://www.hypnotradition.com/

http://www.i-gth.de/

http://hypnosis.org/

http://www.hypnosiscredentials.com/

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/statute.html

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0485/titl0485.htm

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0485/titl0485.htm

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/statute.html

http://www.hypnosiscredentials.com/

http://hypnosis.org/

http://www.i-gth.de/

http://www.hypnotradition.com/

http://www.sceh.us/

http://www.phpa-online.org/

http://www.hypnosiscanada.com/

http://www.ngh.net/

http://www.natboard.com/

http://www.ghsc.co.uk/

http://www.general-hypnotherapy-register.com/

http://www.hypnosishalloffame.com/copho.htm

http://www.bathh.co.uk/

http://www.ozhypnosis.com.au/

http://apmha.com/



• Indiana Hypnotist Committee• http://www.hypnotherapists.org.uk/training/training_hpd.asp

c. Historical sites links

• The Hypnosis Museum of Historical Equipment &Methodology

http://www.in.gov/pla/bandc/ihc/index.html

http://www.angelfire.com/pr/hypno

http://www.angelfire.com/pr/hypno

http://www.in.gov/pla/bandc/ihc/index.html

hypnosis by wikipedia

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