Hypnosis is a totally natural state of mind that we all experience almost every day. The state of hypnosis is a half way point between sleep and wake, and can be readily recognised when having a lie in on a Sunday morning; it is that very pleasant ‘dreamy-drowsy’ state of mind in which you just drift while feeling pleasantly relaxed.
It is also similar to the feeling when soaking in a warm bath or lying on a beach in the sun, when again you feel detached in a dream like state, knowing you could open your eyes whenever you wanted, but really can’t be bothered because the feeling is too comfortable! Hypnosis is a state of mind conducive to deep physical and mental relaxation, and unlike drugs it is not addictive.
All hypnosis is self hypnosis; the hypnotherapist is simply helping you to reach the state of hypnosis. This also underlines a key point; a client must want to reach this state, as it is not possible to be hypnotised against your will (despite what you may have seen on TV!). Once again, this highlights why hypnosis works.
FAQs
Q: Will I hear what you’re saying?
A: Yes, you will always be aware of my voice and what I am saying
Q; Can anyone be hypnotised?
A: Almost everyone can, providing they wish to be hypnotised, and they understand the instructions they are given.
Q: Can I be made to do anything against my will during hypnosis?
A: No, most certainly not. Hypnosis is very much a consent state and if any suggestions were made that conflict with your personal code, then you simply wouldn’t comply with the suggestion.
Q: Is there anything mystical about hypnosis?
A: No, hypnosis is a totally natural state of mind.
History of Hypnosis
Although the term ‘hypnosis’ was not coined until 1842 by James Braid, there is significant evidence of trance routines being used to treat and cure ailments almost since before recorded history. Many different civilisations – Egyptians, Greeks, early Hindu – have recorded examples of sleep or dream temples, where visitors were treated whilst in trance, including pictures in Egyptian history depicting sleepers, with ‘therapists’ making hypnotic passes over them. One of the earliest pieces of evidence of hypnotic practice was found in the Ebers Papyrus, which described Egyptian medical practices before 1552BC. In this, a treatment was detailed where a ‘physician’ placed his hands on a patient’s head, made strange remedial utterances, which resulted in a cure.
There is early Hindu evidence from around 1500 BC that describes the regular use of hypnotic practices. The ancient Sanskrit science of the Indian people, the book of the Law of Manu, details different levels of graduated sleep-like states – “Sleep-Walking”, “Dream-Sleep”, “Ecstasy-Sleep”, which are similar to inductions, in which individuals were placed before suggestions being made. There is additional evidence of use of hypnotic trance like procedures used by the Persian Magi from several thousand years ago up to the present day.
The Greeks used sleep temples called Shrines of Healing where the sick were given curative suggestion while in an induced sleep. These sleep temples spread in popularity from Egypt into Greece and Asia Minor, and were widely used for treatment of many ailments. Hippocrates was known to have discussed the phenomenon, saying "the affliction suffered by the body, the soul sees quite well with the eyes shut."
The Romans ‘borrowed’ many things from the Greeks, including healing by trance, during the rise of their Empire. Men of great learning were imported from Greece as slaves, and to teach Roman young in their households. The Romans also used sleep and incubation temples throughout the Empire, many dedicated to the god of Apollo. Even in the UK, the remains of a sleep temple can be found at a Roman archaeological site at Lydney in Gloucestershire, which was excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1928.
In May 1734 Franz Anton Mesmer was born. Mesmer went on to become one of the early pioneers of what became known as ‘magnetism’, treatments which were the forerunner of modern hypnotic techniques. Mesmer found he could cure people of diseases without medicine or surgery, and he believed he had a magnetic force which could regulate the flow of magnetic fluids in people to produce cures. In many cases his cures were successful and this method of healing came to be known as Mesmerism. This began a significant interest in and growth of hypnotic related practices.
In 1842 a Scottish doctor named James Braid published a book called Neurhypnology or the Study of Nervous Sleep. He invented the word neurhypnosis from which the word hypnosis originated. Hypnos is the Greek word for sleep.
Hypnosis was used by field doctors in the American Civil War, where the first extensive medical application of hypnosis was witnessed. Although hypnosis seemed to be very effective in the field, the introduction of general chemical anaesthetics of ether and chloroform proved much easier for the war's medical community to use chemical anaesthesia than hypnosis.
Pioneers of hypnosis into the 20th century include Emil Coue, Clark Leonard Hull, Milton Erickson, Dave Elman, and Harry Arons, all of whom have helped to raise the profile of hypnosis across the globe.
Hypnosis Today…..and Tomorrow
Hypnosis is now widely used now in 21st century medicine, dentistry and psychotherapy. It is used as a part of the treatment of psychiatric and psychological disorders, as well as a range of other topics, including:
• phobias, such as flying, spiders, birds, and so on
• allergies
• aniety and stress management
• depression
• sports and athletic performance
• excessive self-consciousness
• smoking cessation
• obesity and weight control
• sleep disorders
It is also being more widely used as pain relief for surgery and anaesthesiology, pain, burns, nausea and vomiting, and childbirth.
Hypnosis is also used in law by a number of police and associated agencies. For example, in the US, the FBI use hypnosis to aid memory and rehabilitate criminals. One of the most famous examples is a kidnapping case in Chowchilla, California. Under hypnotic induction, a school bus driver recalled a license number that led the police to the abductors of a school bus full of children. Hypnosis was then additionally also used as psychotherapy for some of the traumatised children. Some police departments in the US have appointed their own official hypnotists. The New York City police hypnotist has won national acclaim in solving difficult criminal cases. Today hospitals, psychiatric clinics, jails, courtrooms, sports, and schools all use hypnosis.
Here in the UK GPs are sending their patients to a hypnotist for habit control – to stop smoking, weight control, stress reduction, and so on – as a first choice. This was unheard of 20 years ago, as patients were more likely only referred to a hypnotist as a last resort. There is no reason to consider that this is likely to change in the future.
Hypnosis is now further used extensively in dental and medical anxiety and anaesthesia, even in obstetrics. It is also used for pain management, including pain associated with cancer. It is widely considered that medicine will come to accept and fully embrace hypnotherapy as a standard method of practice, and will probably become the real bridge between many alternative therapies.
It is widely believed that the next decade will see increased attention to the mind/body relationship and how hypnosis can be most effectively employed in this area. One of the most interesting areas of current research is in psychoneuroimmunology, which the study of the interaction of behavioural, neural, and endocrine (hormone) factors and the functioning of the immune system. The use of hypnoanesthesia for surgery would be ideal in Third World and developing countries, and there are significant studies that show hypnosis of surgical patients decreases hospital time, and decreases the need for pain medication; patients simply heal faster. As yet, it is not definitively known if it is because they don't have the synthetic anaesthetic chemicals in their body or whether they are just healing faster. There are all kinds of potential applications for diabetes, blood pressure, cancer, and it is hoped the near future brings the hypnosis and medical professions closer together in working in these areas. A lot of chronic conditions that the medical profession sometimes struggles with, e.g. irritable bowel syndrome and a lot of digestive problems are already beginning to be shown as very susceptible to hypnotic treatments.