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A
Brief History of Hypnosis
Hypnosis has been used
throughout thousand of years. In ancient Egypt, "sleep temples"
were used as early as 1000 BC. Here priests would "whisper" people
to "sleep" and suggest how they would be cured. These types of
temples were introduce in Greece somewhere around the fourth century
BC and into Roman culture about a hundred years later. These types
of temples flourished throughout the time of the Roman Empire.
Throughout the Middle
Ages hypnosis became acknowledge as everything from healing "laying
of the hands" to witchcraft and sorcery. It wasn't until the years
between 1760-1842 (the Mesmer period), when Franz Anton Mesmer
revitalized hypnosis with French royalty that hypnosis resurfaced.
Mesmer's flamboyant personality and outrageous lifestyle enraged an
austere group who set out to discredit him and later exiled him.
Later, an English physician,
James Braid, studied Mesmer's work with the sole purpose of
discrediting it once and for all. Instead, he became fascinated and
with the help of friends and family went on to prove many of
Mesmer's theories. Dr. Braid was the first to use the term
hypnosis.
In the 1800's Sigmund Freud
became interested in hypnosis. He used this process for only a
short period of time. There are suggestions to the fact, that most
experts agree that his free association techniques were merely
hypnosis in disguise.
In the early 1900's, Emili
Coue, introduce the theory of self-hypnosis. He believed that with
the re-enforcement of a positive statement, a person could improve
their mental state. "Everyday, in every way, I am getting better and
better." became the positive mantra of self-hypnosis.
Throughout the next fifty
years, hypnosis had little or not effect on the world. In World War
I, the Germans used it to control pain when they ran out of
anesthetics. During World War II and the Korean War, it once again
resurfaced as a way to control pain. By the 1950's, there was an
ever-increasing use of hypnosis by the medical community.
In 1958, the American Medical Association
formally approved hypnosis as a therapeutic modality.
Since that time, hypnosis has
had a steady progression in consideration and use as a therapeutic
modality in the medical and psychiatric communities. It is no
longer thought of as something esoteric.
The Myths and Fears
Attached to Hypnosis
Clark Hull, a renowned
researcher, once stated, "All sciences alike have descended from
magic and superstition, but none has been so slow as hypnosis in
shaking off the evil associations of it origins." Today many people
use hypnosis to help them make changes in their lives. There are
still some common myths and fears attached to hypnosis.
Myth
of the Weak Mind:
It is a
common thought that only those of a weak mind or gullible
personality can be hypnotized. In fact the opposite is quite true!
People of above average intelligence, those capable of high levels
of concentration and people who have an active and vivid imagination
are the best subjects for hypnosis.
Fear of Humiliation: This
is always the number one fear. People associate hypnosis with the
stage shows they have attended. They feel as if the hypnotist
has some sort of power over their minds. Nothing can be further
from the truth. The subject will not relate to any unacceptable
suggestions. In a stage show, have you noticed that the hypnotist
starts with the question, "Are you here to have some fun?" Those
who agree by nodding their heads are very good subjects for having
fun on stage. They are there to have fun, they know that the show
should be fun, and the fun of the show is to be entertaining to the
audience in the ways of silly antics. They will do anything fun or
silly on stage. Ask them to rob a bank, and the show is over. They
will either not respond or come out of hypnosis all together. You
are never humiliated in hypnosis. Only the suggestions acceptable
to your mind will be received. Anything not in line with your
acceptable consciousness will be rejected. So if quacking like a
duck is not what you care to do during your session, then you won't.
Fear of Being in Trance:
There are two collective ideas
that people associate with being in trance. First, there is the
word itself. In our collective conscious, there is the association
of the word "trance" with morbid or stupor-like conditions. The
word trance comes from Latin transire meaning to die. In
the Middle Ages the word transe meant great anxiety or fear
and transir was to die. You can see how the word trance
would continue to carry a fearful or morbid element. Today, there
are those who still fear being in trance. Or as some have referred,
"being under". Sounds a lot like being buried. In fact, you are
never "under". You are merely in a state of mind where acceptable
suggestions are readily received. There is nothing terrifying or
morbid about hypnosis.
Fear of Revealing Secrets:
This is another very common fear amongst people. That somehow
during the session they will choose to blurt out a deeply hidden,
embarrassing secret from their past, or the four digit code to their
ATM card. The truth of the matter is, you are not there to reveal
secrets and the hypnotist is not there to find them out. You are
there to work on improving your life and that is the work that will
be performed. The "power-over-you" is a very common misconception.
As if the hypnotist as all this power over you and you must obey
every command. If fact, the opposite. The subject has all the
"power" because it is with his/her conscious that the work is taking
place. Remember, you will only work, relate or accept what your
mind finds acceptable. So if you are not used to standing in the
middle of the grocery store, blurting out all your hidden secrets,
then your secrets will remain with you.
Fear of Losing Control:
We've all seen the movie where someone
has power over an innocent person and has them do all sorts of evil
or illegal acts. Congratulations, you have just seen Hollywood's
rendition of hypnosis. There are those who believe they will lose
control of their mind if hypnotized. Just as in the fact that you
will not reveal any secrets, you do not lose control of your mind.
Only suggestions acceptable to your consciousness are accepted. You
are always in control of the session, completely aware of your
surroundings and can make decisions. If a suggestion is present
that you would find objectionable in a fully conscious state, then
will find it objectionable in the session. The hypnotist cannot
make you do anything. The hypnotist only helps you achieve the goals
you have already set in your mind.
Fear of "Not Waking Up:
The fact of the matter is hypnosis is not sleep.
There are many ways that hypnosis feels and looks like sleep, but
the two states are very different psychologically and
physiologically. You are never asleep during the session. If you
are, then you just missed your session. You never can get "stuck" in
your session. There are times when subjects enjoy the feelings and
effects of the sessions, that they are reluctant to emerge. If for
any reason the subject does not want to emerge at the moment it is
suggested, he/she will do one of two things: (1) emerge on their own
in a very short time or (2) fall into a natural sleep and emerge
when they naturally awaken.
"I Wasn't Hypnotized. I
Heard Everything You Said"
I hope
so, you are paying for the session. One of the persistent ideas, is
that the client must be unconscious during the session. They cannot
seem to understand that hypnosis is not sleep. I like to ask
clients if they are hypnotized each night when they sleep. In fact,
they are not. When they awaken, they have not experienced hypnosis
or been hypnotized. So if they insist that they must be unconscious
or asleep in order to be hypnotized, then why are they not
experiencing hypnosis each and every night. Because the two states
of mind are unrelated. You are able to hear everything around you
in a session. Your mind is more focused and open during the session
than it is in a normal waking state. The "feeling" of sleep may
come from experiencing such a state of mind. It is relaxing and
something most people look forward to during their session. You
certainly hear, and I would want you to, all suggestions given
during the session.
So Then, What Is
Hypnosis?
Hypnosis refers to the state
or condition in which the client becomes highly responsive to
suggestions.
Pretty simple, isn't it?
Seems like there should be more to the definition after all the
myths and false ideas attached to hypnosis. There isn't. It is just
a space in time when you are giving yourself permission to be
responsive to suggestions in order to facilitate change. The changes
come from within you. You are already aware in your subconscious
mind of the very ideas, things and behaviors that are needed to
create change. Hypnosis helps to re-enforce them and bring them
forward in pure thought. Some clients like to think of this process
like a computer. In other words, the subconscious mind is a giant
storage bank of everything you have ever thought, felt or
experienced. It accepts this information without judgment or
pre-conceived ideas. However, there are times when we try to use
this information later and it has to pass through what is called the
Critical Factor and the Conscious Mind. This is where the
information can get twisted and judgmental. Resulting in a
distortion of the original fact or information. This leaves us in
unacceptable behavioral patterns, with fears or phobias, stressed or
experiencing feelings of low self-esteem or confidence. During your
session, we re-program the information, delete false ideas attached
to the information, re-configure the information. It's all the same
information that originally was received, but without anything
attached.
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