The Hypnotic experience is different and unique for each person who achieves it.  The state of Hypnosis ranges on a continuum from light to medium to deep.  These are not hard, exact divisions; however the basic characteristics of each level can be described.

People experiencing Light Hypnosis are separated from cares and pressures, calm and relaxed.  The person has reduced muscular tension, heart rate and blood pressure are lowered.  There may be a pleasant, detached self-assurance with an over-riding sense of inner tranquility.

Medium Hypnosis, the subjects can feel disjointed from their bodies, with altered bodily perceptions.  Concentration is hyperacute; time perception is altered.  There is a sense of being inner-centered.  People can usually turn bodily sensations up or down at will; hence, surgery can be performed at this level.  Amnesia and age regression are possible, as are positive and negative hallucinations.

When the subject is in a Deep State of Hypnosis, they experience an intensified degree of the characteristics of light and medium states.  In addition, profound muscle relaxation and lowered blood pressure are present.  Profound emotional experiences of oneness and peace are also possible.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD
HYPNOSIS SUBJECT?

As was mentioned on the previous page, all normally intelligent people, desirous of doing so, can be Hypnotized.  However, there are certain personality traits that can serve as indicators of the ease with which a person can be Hypnotized.

These key aspects of personality include the following:

• Mental Openness & Flexibility:  This is the first and most important prerequisite for successful use of Hypnosis.  It requires that you be willing to let go of preconceived ideas about Hypnosis and allow it to work for you.  That's right:  only you can stand in your own way when Hypnosis is involved!

• Intelligence:  The best Hypnosis subjects are curious, adaptable and astute.  They are seekers, wanting to add new skills to their abilities and learning experiences.  Does this mean that if you are ultraconservative and rigid in your thinking that you cannot be Hypnotized?  Not at all.  However, Hypnosis would draw on your abilities to be interested, imaginative and questioning.

• Concentration:  Another strong sign of Hypnosis success is your ability to focus your mind -- your mental energy -- purposefully and at will.  This ability to concentrate intently allows distractions to be incidental and permits you to easily cooperate with the suggestions given by your Hypnotist.

• Motivation:  Your strong desire to want to change your life and create inner change -- and to do so with Hypnosis -- is a strong predictor of your success as a Hypnotic subject.  Merely wanting to experience Hypnosis and learn self-Hypnosis is a sufficiently strong incentive for successful induction.

• Cooperation:  Cooperation indicates a general inclination in most activities to enjoy working with others and with yourself, to take direction and work together to attain a beneficial goal.  This personality trait is often indicative of successful Hypnosis induction.

• Miscellaneous Traits:  Other indicators of being a good Hypnotic subject include skill in fantasizing and daydreaming; becoming "lost" or "spacing out" when watching television, reading a book, driving on a long, boring highway, or listening to music; engaging in such Hypnotic activities as meditating or jogging.

THE USES OF HYPNOSIS

As has been previously pointed out, Hypnosis is not an independent science or art.  It is a technique useful in the context of medical, surgical, psychological and dental treatment.

It is used to control acute and chronic pain as in childbirth, skin transplants, headaches, back pain, dental procedures and the treatment of burns.  Other medical applications include treatment of some skin disorders, asthma, allergies, bedwetting, insomnia and sexual dysfunctions such as premature ejaculation, impotence, frigidity and inhibited desire.  It is also used to deal with the anxiety connected with medical, surgical and dental procedures and to speed healing.

In psychological therapy, Hypnosis is used to facilitate treatment of depression, anger, guilt, worry, anxiety and other neurotic symptoms.  It is particularly useful in the treatment of phobias and functional memory disorders.  The ability of Hypnosis to facilitate deep relaxation has made it beneficial in treatment of stress disorders. Hypnosis has also been successful in the treatment of disorders of control such as weight management, stopping nicotine use, chemical dependency, nail-biting, stuttering, gagging and pulling out hair.

Hypnosis has been used to create more skill and comfort in everyday circumstances. Examples include improving memory and concentration, study habits, sales-ability, sports performance, public speaking, passing examinations, and communication skills such as assertive responding.

    THE HISTORY OF HYPNOSIS

Where and when did Hypnosis begin?  Has it always enjoyed such a prestigious reputation as it has today?

IN THE BEGINNING ...

Hypnosis has enjoyed a checkered past regarding its relative acceptance or rejection over the years. The origins of Hypnosis extend back to the ancient temples of Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine  In the temples, advice and reassurance were uttered by priests to sleeping patients; the patients interpreted this as the gods speaking to them in their dreams.

From this very distant past, anthropologists and archaeologists have documented numerous cases of primitive civilizations using Hypnotic phenomena to cure illness, to incite energy for warfare and ecstasy for religious celebrations. It made its appearance in the Native American coming-of-age ritual of vision quest. It also is included in the cultures of many areas in which young people learned their people's history through Hypnotic rituals of rhythmic chanting and memorization.

MEDICAL HYPNOSIS SINCE THE 1700s

 In more-recent times, attention has been focused on medical Hypnosis. Medical Hypnosis is the utilization of the Hypnotic state to accomplish beneficial results where medical procedures, treatment and healing are concerned. At this point in its development, Hypnosis began a gradual transition from the realm of mystical phenomenon ... a transition that would take Hypnosis to acceptance in scientifically-oriented areas of research.

Leading names in the developmental field of medical Hypnosis include the following:

• Anton Mesmer (1734-1815): the first person in modern times to devise a system with standards for inducing trance. This system was termed "animal magnetism." Mesmer hypothesized that the force of animal magnetism had to do with the movement of the sun, planets and stars. He believed that this animal magnetism was passed into the subject by use of magnets which he rubbed on the bodies of afflicted persons. Demand for his treatment grew and grew.
  

• Armand, Marquis de Puysegur (1757-1828): a former student of Mesmer, continued experimenting with the induction of trance. Among his discoveries was the marked influence on trance brought about by the interaction between subject and Hypnotist. He also discovered the phenomenon of "waking trance."In "waking trance,"those Hypnotized can talk and engage in other activities while continuing in the state of Hypnosis.
  

• James Braid (1795-1860): a Scottish surgeon and physician, was interested in the medical applications of Hypnosis. He created the technique of eye fixation. In 1843, he coined the term "neurohypnosis" (from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep), for the event that had been formerly-termed by Mesmer as "animal magnetism."
  

• James Esdaile (1808-1895): a Scottish surgeon, serving a tour in India. He performed over three hundred surgeries with no other anesthetic than Hypnosis. This included radical operations, such as tumor removal. At that time, mortality rate for similar operations was 50%; Esdaile's mortality rate averaged 5%!

The introduction of chloroform and, a little later, ether about this time in history signaled the decline in interest in using "Mesmerism" as anesthesia. These new chemical procedures could be used by every surgeon, on everyone patient, were less time-consuming and required little-to-no knowledge of human psychology.

IN THE LATE 1880s

Interest in Hypnosis was again revived in France in the late 1880s.  Its history continues, including the following advocates:

• Jean-Martin Charcot(1825-1893): a French psychiatrist, neurologist and professor of pathology. Charcot used Hypnosis extensively to treat numerous medical complaints. Unfortunately, he believed that a person had to be mentally ill in order to be Hypnotized. Among his famous students was Sigmund Freud.
  

• A. Liebeault (1823-1904): a rural French physician, who practiced Hypnosis for 20 years. He was widely acclaimed by his patients.
  

• Hippolyte Bernheim (1840-1919): a famous French psychotherapist, co-founder with Liebeault of the Nancy School, which became strongly influential in French psychiatry for many years.  A great number of physicians studied here, learning the secrets of Hypnosis for themselves. Once again, Hypnosis became a respected, reputable treatment modality.
  

• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): a neurologist and well-known psychiatrist, student of Charcot. Freud used Hypnosis to achieve cures which, even to him, seemed like miracles. However, Freud gradually drifted away from Hypnosis, feeling it was cumbersome and too authoritarian. He felt at a loss when he could not explain information patients presented to him under Hypnosis. His collaboration with fellow neurologist and Hypnotist, Josef Breuer (1842-1925) introduced Freud to a technique developed by Breuer to help patients, "the cathartic method." Freud began to use this method in therapy -- both with and without Hypnosis -- gradually developing from it his method of free association. Discoveries made by Freud through his utilization of Hypnosis include both the mechanism of repression and the fact that catharsis of repressed ideas brought at least improvement in patient's conditions.

As a result of Freud's turning from Hypnosis in favor of free association, interest in the Hypnotic phenomenon waned once again.  Experimentation in Hypnosis was once again revived during the first World War. Hypnosis was used to help combat "war neuroses." Since this also revived interest in the Hypnotic phenomenon for entertainment, the medical profession once again ignored, or at least were skeptical of, Hypnosis's practical applications.

INTO THE 1920s

Interest in Hypnosis continued to be re-energized in the United States in the 1920s. Proponents of this movement include:

• William James:  a psychologist.  James was interested in Hypnosis because it seemed to involve alterations in conscious awareness.  He authored a chapter on Hypnosis in his famous Principles of Psychology (1890).
  

• P. C. Young:  a psychologist.  Young reported the first systematic experimental work on Hypnosis in his doctoral dissertation completed at Harvard in 1923.
  

• Clark Hull:  an experimental and learning psychologist.  Hull reported extensive experiments in Hypnosis, initiated at the University of Wisconsin in the 1920s and continued at Yale into the 1930s.
  

• Milton Erickson:  a renowned psychiatrist.  Erickson conducted clinical and experimental studies which stimulated interest in Hypnosis among other psychotherapists.

AND, FURTHER, INTO THE PRESENT ...

In England, Hans Eysenck studied Hypnosis and suggestibility as part of his classic explorations of personality structure.

Back in the United States, E. R. Hilgard opened the Stanford laboratory of Hypnosis in 1957.  This proved to be a critical factor in making Hypnosis a legitimate domain of investigation.  Hilgard authored Hypnotic Susceptibility, published in 1965.  In it, he demonstrated that Hypnotic ability could be assessed by a standard 12-item scale.

MODERN DAY ACCEPTABILITY

In 1955, the British Medical Association (BMA) formally endorsed the practice of teaching Hypnosis in medical schools. They approved it as a recognized form of medical practice.

This was followed in 1958 by the American Psychological Association forming a specialty in Hypnosis. This professional association established a certifying board of examiners in both clinical and experimental Hypnosis.

At a formal meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1959, Hypnosis was granted "official status" of an "adjunctive tool" in medicine. As such, it completed the professional acceptance of Hypnosis and raised it to a new level. Adding to this, in 1961, the AMA recommended that medical professionals receive 144 hours of training in hypnotherapy.

Hypnosis has, thus, been established as a legitimate subject of scientific inquiry.  Research studies have abounded.  Hypnosis is now a thriving topic for both experimentation and clinical application.  A growing number of physicians and surgeons employ the therapeutic effects of Hypnosis with their patients in the areas of pain management, pre-and post-operative anesthesia, relaxation and control of blood flow.

Added to this, Hypnosis has become represented by numerous professional organizations.  In addition, leading national and international journals have been established for publishing Hypnosis research.