Hypnotism
Defined to Understand Human Behavior
Hypnosis may then be defined as: "An emotionally charged system
of beliefs that suspends our attention for a time, allowing the creation
of different behaviors, beliefs and/or attitudes. These new ideas will
remain until another trance of emotionally charged energy interrupts and
suspends our attention with another system of beliefs, creating new behaviors,
beliefs and attitudes which create a different perspective."
Spencer
Think about it for a moment. Emotionally charged ideas. Emotions are those
feelings we have that if left unbridled, will conquer us. Our emotions
can be reached through relaxation, fear, guilt, love, hate, boredom, etc.
These feelings create a state of heightened awareness that can liberate
us with healthy life styles or paralyze us into unwanted behaviors. Emotions
work through ideas that we call suggestions. A suggestion can be anything
in our environment that gets our attention. Once our attention is caught
by suggestion, then our imagination formulates ideas that we react to.
This is called behavior. Behavior is the expression of energy.
All
things consist of energy which can not be created or destroyed, only transformed.
Think about when you watch a movie and laugh or cry. You are responding
to your perception of the suggested idea. When you see a fight, you may
become frightened or angry, based upon your internal cues. The golden
arches may suggest a Big Mac Attack. Advertisements of all kinds promise
to make you look or feel a certain way if you use their products. These
are ideas which are based upon hypnotic suggestions. Remember, whenever
you are persuaded by an emotion, you can be certain that hypnosis is involved!
A
Brief History
The practice of hypnosis is most often traced back to an Austrian physician
named Franz Mesmer (1734-1815). From him comes the term "mesmerism". Mesmer
discovered that individuals could be "cured" from many diseases by having
them hold onto "magnetized" rods and suggesting to them they would be
healed. This worked well until around 1782 when an entourage which included
Benjamin Franklin was sent to investigate this miracle worker and determined
that if the people get better it was by their own imagination. So mesmerism
lost its great following until it reappeared in a revised form with a
new term, hypnosis, derived from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep by a man
named Dr. James Braid in 1841. Dr. Braid used a "fixed gaze" to produce
a "sleeplike" state. From that time we find such names as Professor Jean
Charcot, who in 1878 began experiments and revitalized hypnotism. This
was done at the School of the Salpetriere in Paris. The School of Nancy
in French Lorraine also emerged with Dr. Liebeault as its chief investigator.
Hypnotism also had its early advocates in surgery. In 1846 Dr. James Esdaile
was one who performed many operations using hypnosis alone. Perhaps the
most famous of these early "mind explorers" was Sigmund Freud(1856-1939),
who learned hypnosis from Charcot and others. He then studied with a man
named Josef Breuer who co-authored a paper called Studies in Hysteria
in which the famous Anna O. case was presented. Together they showed how
hysterical symptoms were actually repressed memories and could be unlocked
with hypnosis. Eventually Freud developed free association because he
was uncomfortable with the intimate nature of hypnotism.
Hypnotism Today
Around 1945 a man by the name of Milton Erickson began to incorporate
hypnosis into his MD Psychiatric practice and hypnotherapy began to gain
a reputation as a viable form of treatment. Today Erickson's teachings
have developed into NLP or Ericksonian hypnosis.
In 1958 hypnosis was finally accepted by the American Medical Association.
Another early pioneer of hypnosis was Dave Elman who developed the 3-minute
induction.
During the turn of the century the stage hypnotist began to appear around
the world amazing audiences with his hypnotic abilities. This brings us
to the creative use of hypnotism by today's practitioners.
Every major city in America and most countries will have their share of
hypnotherapists. One look in the phone book and you will find a variety
of uses for hypnosis: smoking cessation, weight loss, stress control,
elimination of fears and phobias, sports motivation, confidence building,
regression therapy, test anxiety, better concentration, sleep disorders,
pain control, inner child healing and almost any area you can imagine.
I've had clients who have come to me to relearn a foreign language they
haven't used in 20 years and walk out of my office speaking their second
language fluently! A few years back I was working with a local police
department to help a woman who had been kidnapped and raped to successfully
retrieve the license plate number of her two abductors. (the outcome however
is best left to Hollywood producers. Call me!)
Religious
Aspects of Hypnotism
Throughout history hypnotism as it is now understood, has been used by
all cultures in one form or another. Most religions consider lies immoral
and truths moral. An individual whose character is founded upon lies would
be considered moral if one could change their way of thinking and acting
and accept truth for what it is. This premise is the foundation for behavior
modification. This is also a building block of religion. A man name Phineas
Quimby, an early follower of magnetism was sought out by a woman named
Mary Baker who found relief from Quimby's techniques. They worked together
after that until disagreements led her to begin the Church of Christ with
revised magnetic and hypnotic techniques learned from Quimby. The history
of many modern day American churches can be traced back to the founders
dabbling with hypnotic techniques. Go figure.
What is interesting for me is to attend different churches and philosophical
groups and such and watch the hypnotic principles each group will use
in order to influence and change peoples minds to their way of thinking.
I am not saying this is wrong, but it is interesting to notice. But such
has been the case of what I call hypnotism from the beginning!
Hypnosis
Training
The uses of hypnotism are limited only by ones imagination. Today there
are dozens of professional hypnosis organizations which are dedicated
to the study and understanding of hypnotism. On one hand we have the professional
community of psychologists and doctors who limit their membership to their
associates. We also have the students of professional hypnotherapy who
have studied at schools of hypnotism and have learned their craft well.
They are called Certified Hypnotherapists.
Not all schools are created equal. Certification is a title that can be
bestowed by any person or group organization. Most are self-serving and
directed by one person. If you have questions about any specific group
just ask!
Most
certified hypnotherapists will have more precise training in the art and
science
of hypnotism/hypnotherapy than their friends in the psychological community.
That is why more and more academic professionals are receiving advanced
training in hypnosis in specialized schools. Any competent hypnotherapist,
certified or not, from whichever branch they stem, should have a minimum
300 hours of training. That's "hands-on" training. Anything
less that should be suspect. Every professional or lay practitioner of
hypnotism and or hypnotherapy today should also have an extensive library
of hypnosis books, hypnosis tapes, hypnosis videos and such.
Hypnosis
Entertainment
The use of hypnotism in entertainment
has gained wide appeal. As a stage hypnotists also, I perform continuously
around the world amazing audiences with the spellbinding effects of hypnotism!
In fact much praise it owed to the stage hypnotist for keeping the fascinating
use of hypnosis alive in the minds of the masses for the Clinical Practitioner
to continue on.
Now you are ready to learn more about How
to Hypnotize Anyone, Anytime!
