History & Hypnosis

As far back as we can trace the history of the human race there has been some sort of hypnosis used and different forms of hypnotic healings reported. Many different forms and techniques have been employed as tools to motivate, relax, inspire and heal. In modern times it has been shown that hypnosis is, in fact, an extremely effective tool for influencing bodily functions and mental processes.

A skilful hypnotist can induce a state of such deep relaxation that he can focus a subject's attention in such a way that he can produce various changes in the chemistry and function of the human body. These changes are not limited to but can include the regulation of blood flow and bllod pressure, physical symtoms such as burn marks on the skin, clearning skin conditions such as belemishes and birth marks and even implant false memories, new urges and thoughts.

The modern form of hypnosis that we know of today is actually a derivative of mesmerism named after its creator Anton Mesmer. In the latter part of the 18th Century Mesmer claimed he could manipulate the energy system of anyone to induce a deep state of trance. He called these energies ‘animal magnetism' and said that by manipulating them you could achieve astounding results and physical phenomenon. It is reported that practitioners of mesmerism could merely look or point at a subject in order to make them go into an involuntarily deep trance immediately!

Due to its popularity in stage theatres and its apparent successes in healing Mesmerism was subject to a great amount of public scrutiny. Although there is evidence to suggest that it was successfully used to cure almost every disorder and illness known at the time very little else is known about the actual techniques. Due to intense public curiosity and governmental scrutiny an investigation was launched by the French Government, under Louise XVI, in 1784 to investigate Mesmer and his claims. This French commission, which had the American Benjamin Franklin as one of its members, concluded that there was no such thing as animal megnetism and it was therefore impossible to manipulate which meant that mesmerism was a fraud. However, they did not dispute the healings and concluded that the obvious therapeutic benefits of the techniques were due in some manner to the imagination and mental processes of the subjects. It was concluded that the affects that were witnessed were due entirely to the suggestions and the power of the subject's own mind.

Mesmerism and the techniques employed by its practioners are now almost completely lost and one can only hope that some secret organisation somewhere still has access to them but to us they are gone and relugated to the annals of history. However, mesmerism has left its legacy in the form of modern hypnosis. Due to the French Government's findings scientists who were interested in the therapeutic and mind altering capabilities of mesmerism decided to continue their research into it but felt they needed to create a new name for the phenomenon to avoid the negative connotations with the fraud allegations.

In Greek mythology Hypnos was the personification of sleep. Hypnos (sleep) and his twin Thanatos (death) were born of the goddess Nyx (night). Hypnos lived in a palace which was in a dark cave where the sun could never shine. At the entrance to his cave was a selection of hypnogogic plants that caused hallucinations and mind altering visions. Part of the Greek myth satated that through dreams Hypnos would visit and give offerings. Thus scientists had found a perfect representation of the phenomenon that they were studying and thus the term "hypnosis" was born

Probably the one person who brought hypnosis to that attention of the public the most was Sigmund Freud. He used hypnosis in the very early 20th Century to gain access to the unconscious parts of his patient's minds and delve deeper into the hidden aspects of their character, personalities and personal history. Although Freud stated in his later years that hypnosis was far too powerful a technique to be used safely it is now believed that his approach to the subject was amateurish. Modern techniques are now completely safe, tested and reliable. Freud actually complained that although one of his patients had healed herself through hypnosis he did not have enough control over her! It appears that Freud did not like the fact that subjects still have full control over themselves while in a hypnotic state and wanted to get all the credit for the healing.

The modern success and availability of hypnosis can be traced back to one man who was a pioneer in the field, Milton Erikson. The realitively new field of Neuro Linguistic Programming, better known as NLP, owes its development to Erikson. He developed the use of post hypnotic suggestions and clearly demonstarted just how effective they can be when used in trance. He is also responsible for demonstrating the power of using visual images while in trance.

His work showed that using hypnosis with his techniques of verbal statements and visualizations could produce profound results in healing and dramatic changes in mental processes. It was also Erickson who first promoted the use of indirect suggestion. This lead him to suggest to a subject that they might not be fully "aware that you feeling sleepy" or that their "eyes are getting heavy". This indirect use of suggestions was also developed in a very powerful post hypnotic technique for altering behaviours whereby he accessed the subconscious mind and mental processes of the subject without the subject being aware of it. Through parables and other techniques Erikson found he could effectively access and reprogram the subconscious mind without any interference from the conscious mind.

Erickson was definitely the father of modern hypnosis for he also developed a very wide variety of verbal and visual techniques that changed how the medical establishment viewed the role of the mind in healing and also strongly affected the fields of psychotherapy and how advertising was used in marketing. His techniques were based on his understanding of how the human mind processes verbal and visual input. He created interplays between words and discovered that if he used strategically placed pauses and tonalities, redirection and also misdirection or even words with double or multiple meanings he could cause confusion in the conscious mind and access the subconscious more quickly - which he found could also fully understand and implement what he wanted it to!

As you can see Hypnosis in its modern form has went through many changes and has been refined into a very powerful and beneficial tool for healing and self-change. I hope this short introduction to the subject has sparked your interest and maybe even your curiosity to give it a try!

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