What Is Hypnosis?

To many people the word hypnosis will often conjure up images of swinging fob watches and dramatic stage shows where people are compelled to behave in strange ways. Whilst very entertaining, the popular performance of stage hypnosis is very different to the essence of modern hypnosis and is mainly responsible for many misconceptions about hypnotism and hypnotherapy. (Waterfield 2004)

In order to understand modern hypnosis, it is necessary to look to the past in order to identify and trace its origins. Waterfield writes about examples from history thought to be an indication of early hypnosis in many different cultures, including ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, India and even Australia, but dismisses many of these as unrelated and unproven in many cases. Modern hypnosis in the Western Hemisphere is believed to have started with Franz Anton Mesmer. Born in Iznang, which is now part of Germany, in 1734, Mesmer studied philosophy, theology, music, maths and law before deciding on a medical career. He worked extensively in Vienna and as a result of influences by the mystic physician Paracelsus he began to develop ideas of an invisible fluid in the body which affected health. Initially, he used magnets to manipulate the fluid and 'magnetise' his patients. Healing sessions with individual patients progressed to group sessions and Mesmer came to believe the magnets were unnecessary and he moved away from their use to the use of his hands. Following reports that Mesmer cured a blind musician in 1977 and that she subsequently lost her ability to play the piano, Mesmer's methods were frowned upon and it is thought he moved to Paris hoping for his ideas to be better received.

Mesmer moved from using magnets to the construction of a tub filled with water with protruding iron rods. Patients would hold the rods in order to be cured. He also did something similar by magnetising a tree and symptoms were relieved by patients holding on to ropes attached to the tree. Mesmer believed his own body was the source of an ' animal' magnet, and the terms animal magnetism and mesmerism were born. An evaluation of his practices commissioned by King Louis XVI did not support Mesmer's beliefs so he left the city and made little contribution for the remainder of his life. Despite this, animal magnetism continued to be employed in Germany and in 1814 Abbe Faria put forth the idea that animal magnetism and its successes were nothing to do with fluids but related to suggestions used by the practitioners to influence the patients. This is supported by the work of Solomon Asch and Stanley Milgram on the subject of conformity. In his book Obedience to authority Milgram describes a series of experiments where 'students' were asked a series of questions and volunteer 'teachers' were instructed to administer progressive electric shocks when questions were answered incorrectly. Over 60% of the 'teachers' were prepared to administer dangerous doses of electricity in response to demands made on them.

After Mesmer's death in 1815 Armand de Puyseger took his work one step further and discovered that the spoken word and direct commands could easily induce a trance. He also discovered that patients could be operated upon without pain or anaesthesia when hypnotised. This technique was used many times in the future by several surgeons including Drs.Recamier, Cloquet, Elliotson, Parker and Esdaile. Another doctor, James Braid reported of being able to enable a patient to reach a trance state by fixating on an object. He called his discovery hypnotism.

By the 1870s, two schools of hypnosis existed in France with one run by Dr. Jean Martin Charcot and the other by Doctors Benheim and Liebalt. Around the same time, Sigmund Freud became interested in hypnosis and visited the clinics of Benheim and Leibalt to learn their techniques and he was the first to recognise the unconscious mind as important in psychological disorders, but he later turned his attentions to psychoanalysis and free association, becoming disillusioned by hypnosis. The therapy of psychoanalysis grew in popularity during the first half of the 20th century and with this rise, hypnotherapy became less popular. This situation reversed in the 1950s as new research found new uses and positive benefits for using hypnosis as a therapy.

Milton Erickson was a psychotherapist who used to hypnosis in his work. Born in 1932, he was reportedly able to quickly build rapport with his clients and his hypnotic methods are considered to be important in the development of modern hypnosis as it is known today.

Hypnosis can be described as a state of mind involving focused attention that is facilitated by the therapist using specific techniques in order to relax the mind and body, slow down the brain waves and then planting suggestions for change in relation to some aspect of the person being hypnotised. The brain has 4 main types of brain wave : Alpha, Beta, Delta and Theta. Each of these waves operate at different frequencies. Our level of consciousness and awareness is related to different brain wave patterns. The most common waves seen in hypnosis are alpha and theta and these enable the therapist to reach the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind stores all information that we are not aware of in our conscious minds: life experiences, all memories, beliefs, belief systems, skills, images and so on. It can also be likened to an autopilot - automatically carrying out essential tasks while we concentrate on other things. The subconscious is also responsible for triggering feelings and emotions in different situations we face. The subconscious mind does not reason or apply logic, it just accepts whatever it is told, shown or experiences.

The patient is more susceptible to suggestion when in these slower brain wave states and it is this suggestion