A Synopsis of Hypnosis's Past

There is proof of hypnotic-like occurrences in numerous ancient societies. When the author of Genesis claims that God put Adam "into a deep sleep" so that He might remove his rib and construct Eve, it is clear that he is familiar with the anesthetic potential of hypnosis. According to other historical accounts, the Delphic Oracle and ancient Egyptian rituals both included hypnosis (Hughes and Rothovius, 1996). The history of hypnosis as we know it now began in the late 1700s, when a French physician named Anton Mesmer rekindled interest in the subject.

Franz Anton Mesmer was born in Vienna in 1734 and died in 1815. Hypnosis is credited to Mesmer as its founder. He is known for coining the term "mesmerism," which described the method of putting someone into a trance by repeatedly passing his hands or magnets over them. He used the animal magnetism (psychic and electromagnetic forces) of the subject. Despite his tremendous success in healing a number of illnesses, the medical establishment ultimately disregarded him. The medical establishment of the day was upset by his accomplishments, so they arranged for an official French government investigation committee. Benjamin Franklin, who was the American ambassador to France at the time, and Joseph Guillotine, a French surgeon who invented a reliable tool for physically severing the mind from the body, were both members of this group.

James Braid, an English physician who lived from 1795 to 1860, first rejected mesmerism (as it had come to be known) but later developed an interest in it. He claimed that suggestions, not animal magnetism, were what caused cures. In order to induce relaxation, he created the eye fixation technique (also known as Braidism), which he named hypnosis (after the Greek sleep deity Hypnos) since he believed the phenomenon to be a sort of sleep. Later, after realizing his mistake, he attempted to change the word to monoeidism, which refers to the impact of a single idea, but the previous name stayed. French neurologist Jean Marie Charcot, who lived from 1825 to 1893, disagreed with the Nancy School of Hypnotism and claimed that hypnosis was merely a symptom of hysteria.

Between Charcot and the Nancy group (Liebault and Bernheim), there was a ferocious competition. He reintroduced Mesmer's Animal Magnetism hypothesis and distinguished between lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism as the three stages of trance.

1845-1947 The use of hypnosis was initially frowned upon by French neurologist and psychologist Pierre Janet, who later came to appreciate its calming benefits and ability to aid in healing. One of the few people who showed interest in hypnosis throughout the psychoanalytical rage was Janet.

1849-1936 Russian psychologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov actually spent more time studying the digestive system. He is most recognized for creating the theory behind the conditioned reflex, often known as stimulus response theory. He trained hungry dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, which they had previously connected with the sight of food, in his famous experiment. In 1904, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his research on gastric secretions. Despite having nothing to do with hypnosis, his Stimulus Response Theory is a key concept in connecting and anchoring behaviors, especially in NLP.


Hypnosis

Emile Coue, a doctor who created the Laws of Suggestion, lived from 1857 to 1926. He also advises patients to tell themselves, 20–30 times a night before bed, "Everyday in every way, I am getting better and better." Additionally, he found that offering encouraging words together with a prescription for medication worked better than just a drug prescription. His belief that hypnosis and the hypnotic state reduced the effectiveness of suggestion led him to eventually give up on the idea of hypnosis in favor of only employing suggestion.

The Laws of Suggestion of Coue

The Rule of Focused Attention

The phrase "Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realise itself" means that the idea will eventually come to realization.

inverse action theory

The likelihood of success decreases the harder one attempts something.

Prevailing effect, or
"A stronger emotion typically takes the place of a weaker one."
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) visited Nancy to study with Liebault and Bernheim before continuing his studies with Charcot. However, Freud did not use hypnosis in his therapeutic work because he believed he could not sufficiently hypnotize patients, believed that the cures were only transitory, and believed that hypnosis stripped patients of their defenses. Freud's parental demeanor was thought to make him a bad hypnotist. However, his patients frequently fell into trance, and he frequently made unconscious non-verbal inductions by putting his palm on their heads to denote the doctor's dominant and patient's subservient positions. Hypnosis was largely disregarded after his early rejection of it in favor of psychoanalysis.

1875-1961 A student and colleague of Freud's, Carl Jung rejected the psychoanalytical perspective and pursued his own interests. He created the ideas of archetypes and the collective unconscious. Although he did not actively practice hypnosis, he urged his patients to change negative memories by actively using their imaginations. In his healing work, he frequently made use of the idea of the inner guide. He thought that techniques like the I Ching and astrology might be used to access the inner consciousness. The traditional medical establishment dismissed him as a mystic. But even now, healers continue to actively embrace many of his concepts and philosophies.

1932-1974 Psychotherapist and psychiatrist Milton Erickson invented the technique of indirect suggestion in hypnosis. He is revered as the founding figure of contemporary hypnotherapy. He employed both verbal and nonverbal pacing strategies, such as metaphor, confusion, and many more, to get around the conscious mind. He had a colorful personality and had a significant impact on how modern hypnotherapy is used and is recognized by the AMA. His work served as the foundation for Bandler and Grinder's Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), along with that of Satir and Perls.

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