What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is very far from the image sometimes portrayed by TV and stage performances. Hypnosis is a natural process which generates a wonderful feeling of calm and well-being as well as a state of heightened awareness. During this time it is possible to harness the power of the subconscious mind in order to help many symptoms and conditions. People are totally in control of their own mind and can converse normally.

Being in control

Many people ask if they will be in control of their own minds when experiencing hypnosis. It is important to realise that hypnosis is a natural phenomenon and one which occurs several times a day. How many times have you driven, cycled or walked along a familiar route before you were suddenly aware that some distance has been covered without you realising it? Or you may find yourself in the middle of a “day dreaming state” whilst reading a newspaper or book. These are examples of the state of hypnosis.

We all have exactly the same experience between sleeping and waking first thing in the morning (and last thing at night). People in hypnosis not only experience a wonderful feeling of relaxed receptivity but also a heightened awareness of everything going on around them. It is during this relaxed state that one is able to take on board positive suggestions for the better. A person in hypnosis will only accept these positive suggestions for beneficial reasons and would reject anything that is likely to be of any harm to them or anything which is deemed to be unreasonable. One is totally in control of one’s own mind at all times. As to the feeling of heightened awareness – the person in hypnosis would be the first to hear any external noises coming from outside the room, well in advance of those in normal consciousness.

So why is it that so many people have such concerns about being “in control” when discussing hypnosis and hypnotherapy? I believe this to be because of the image portrayed by Stage Hypnosis.

A Step Back In Time

Stage Hypnosis, quite apart from the name, has nothing whatsoever to do with hypnotherapy as we practice it today. It is different in details of content, delivery, intention and effect. While stage hypnosis is about entertainment and showmanship, hypnotherapy is purely concerned with healing and positive change.

The first public demonstrations of hypnosis for entertainment began with the scientist Abbe de Faria in Paris in 1813. At this time the whole process was known as “Mesmerism” – a term named after the flamboyant physician and philosopher Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer developed what he termed “animal magnetism” which sought to correct an imbalance of a magnetic fluid in the body through the use of magnets. This imbalance was thought by Mesmer to have led to nervous conditions and he made use of what we now term hypnotic suggestions to bring about a catharsis. Unfortunately for him, the French Royal Commission later discredited his methods although he seemed to be genuinely concerned to find a cure for his patients.

Following de Faria’s performances of Mesmerism for entertainment purposes, stage hypnosis became all the rage throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century. One French Mesmerist, Lafontaine, seemed to be content merely to put his subjects in a trance as a way of pleasing the audience but as we will see, there is much more to a stage show these days.  The Scottish surgeon James Braid ( a significant contributor to the respectability of hypnosis as a healing tool) is said to have attended shows given by Lafontaine and although regarding the methods to be somewhat suspect he went on to rename the process as “hypnosis” taken from the Greek word meaning sleep.

During the 1900s stage hypnosis became more popular and sophisticated in both Britain and America and to the present day has provided a lucrative living for its’ exponents throughout the world in theatres and on television.

So How Does It Work?

As we have seen, this concern about hypnosis is usually based on what people will have seen on television and the manipulation of subjects by the stage hypnotist. There is generally a misunderstanding about the process of hypnosis and it certainly seems as though the people on stage are in the power and control of the stage hypnotist. However, it is important to realise that these people are carefully chosen beforehand for several reasons.

Firstly, they will be chosen because of their obvious exhibitionist tendencies. They will often be accompanied by a group of friends who will encourage them to “act out” on stage. Once they are on stage they won’t want to back down and will willingly go along with the hypnotist’s instructions however silly or humiliating they might be. So, people normally go to stage shows in groups, there is a high sense of expectation and predictability about the show – the group may well have had a couple of drinks and even elected the more extrovert of them to volunteer.

Secondly, the subjects will be chosen because of their “suggestibility”. The hypnotist will have a series of helpers scattered around the theatre to observe the audience when she or he invites people to go through a series of suggestibility tests. The hand clasp test is the one most commonly used where each person is invited to link their own hands firmly together. After some time they will be told to imagine that it is impossible to move them apart and that they will feel they are glued together. Stage hypnotists have different ways of interpreting this test but one way is to choose those who ostentatiously pull their hands apart to demonstrate that they “cannot be hypnotised”. These will be the most extrovert audience members and will be invited on stage to take part in the show. Once on stage they will be encouraged to behave outrageously and in many different scenarios. They will also be urged to say they have forgotten all that has happened. It is worth pointing out that those in real hypnosis would remember everything in this heightened state of awareness. In addition to this a person in real hypnosis would be unable to dance around or act out scenarios because of the super relaxed condition which hypnosis induces.

Hypnosis and Healing

Hypnosis and the use of suggestion for healing purposes evolved over many, many years and existed as far back as Ancient Egyptian and Roman times. In Ancient Greece the Aesculapius Healing Temples were very popular where the priests would murmur positive suggestions to those in the specially appointed “sleeping” rooms.

Following Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 -1815), his student Marquis de Puyesgar (1751 – 1825), continued with his ideas with an emphasis and further research into somnambulism as well as the receptivity of patients to positive suggestions.

James Braid (1795 – 1860), as we have already seen, changed the name from Mesmerism to Hypnosis. This may have been a cause of regret because although the term is borrowed from the Greek word ( hypnos –“to sleep”) and may superficially resemble a sleep-like state, this is as far as the definition goes.

Another significant contributor in the history of hypnosis was James Esdaile (1808 -1859). He performed many hundreds of operations in India before the discovery of ether and chloroform in 1853. Before this, Esdaile successfully used hypnosis as the only anaesthetic.

Jean-Martin Charcot (1825 – 1893)was a neurologist at the Saltpetriere Hospice Clinic. Although well known for his brilliance and success in various aspects of medicine, believed that hypnosis called only be experienced by what he termed “hysterics”. His definition seemed to have been that of an induced epileptic type of seizure. These theories were, of course, later disproved.

Other significant figures included Josef Breuer (1842 – 1925), Pierre Janet (1859 -1947) and  Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1931) who invented “free association”- later to be used in Hypnoanalysis –but was not a real contributor to the development of hypnosis.

Emil Coue (1857 – 1926) was the first person to realise that praising a medicine to his patients would substantially improve its’ efficacy. He seemed to realise by this that the power of suggestion, coupled with the power of the imagination, could improve people’s lives enormously for the better. By the same token he believed that illnesses were, for the most part, caused by negative thinking. He coined the phrase “every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better”. Coue believed that wherever there is a conflict between the imagination and the will, the imagination always proves to be strongest.

More modern day advances have come with figures such as Milton Erikson (1901 – 1980) , an extremely innovative and creative therapist who is considered by many to be the father of modern–day hypnotherapy.

The Hypnotherapy Control Board was founded by Neil French who went on to form what is now known as the International Association of Pure Hypnoanalysts.

I use hypnosis at my clinic in Oxford as a tool to assist in two forms of therapy, suggestion therapy and hypnoanalytical therapy. Please don't hesitate to contact me for more information.