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‘Hypnos’
is the Greek word for sleep, although the state of hypnosis is very
different from sleep, and references to hypnosis can be found going
all the way back to ancient Greece and Egypt. Both cultures used
hypnosis to aid problems.
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Austrian
physician, Franz Mesmer (1734 - 1815), from whose name the word
'mesmerism' is derived, is credited with reviving the use of
hypnotism in modern times. Although a brilliant man, Mesmer was
criticised by his peers who no doubt found his methods of inducing
hypnosis rather strange and certainly longwinded. For hours on end
Mesmer would make his subjects stand still while he swept his arms
over their body. While this probably did little by itself, Mesmer
also used suggestion and told his subjects that something
extraordinary would happen to them. His success led to jealousy on
the part of his colleagues and then his eventual public humiliation. |
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A
number
of other pioneers since Mesmer have experimented with different
techniques. James Braid, an eye doctor in Scotland (1795-1860)
pioneered the method of using eye fixation on light as a means of
inducing trance and also the swinging watch that may people still
associate with hypnosis. Braid is responsible for renaming
Mesmerism, suggesting that it become known as hypnotism. He tried to
convince the medical establishment of his findings, but they laughed
at him and declared that pain was character-building. So hypnosis
became, and remains to this day, an 'alternative' form of medicine.
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The work of
Frenchman, Emile Coué (1857 - 1926), moved away from conventional
approaches and pioneered the use of auto-suggestion. He is most
famous for the phrase, 'Day by day in every way I am getting better
and better.' Coué believed that he did not heal people himself but
helped them heal themselves. He understood the importance of the
subject's participation in hypnosis, and was a forerunner of those
modern practitioners who claim, 'there is no such thing as hypnosis,
only self-hypnosis’.
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In more
recent times, the recognised leading authority on clinical hypnosis
was Milton H. Erickson, MD (1901-80), a psychotherapist. As a
teenager he contracted polio and paralysed. It was while paralysed
that he noticed that what people said and what they did were often
very different. He healed through metaphor, surprise, confusion and
humour, as well as hypnosis. A master of 'indirect hypnosis', he was
able to put a person into a trance without even mentioning the word
hypnosis. |
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Over the
years hypnosis has gained respectability within the medical
profession. In 1955 the British Medical Association sanctioned its
use by its members. Although hypnosis and medicine are not the same,
they are now acknowledged as being related, many GPs and Consultants
either use Hypnotherapy themselves, where time and funding allow, or
recommend it to their patients. and it is only a matter of time
before hypnosis becomes a mainstream practice, as acceptable to the
general public as a visit to the dentist.
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