Hypnosis: A Brief History (Too Bad Freud Fumbled)

Hypnotist Dr. Bryan Knight

by Dr. Bryan Knight

Hypnosis has been used in one form or another (e.g., the sleep temples of Ancient Egypt and Greece) for thousands of years.

There may be mention of hypnosis in the Bible (Genesis 2:21, 1 Samuel 26:12, Job 4:13, 33:15, Acts 10:10), but its modern use dates from the Viennese doctor, Franz Anton Mesmer, in the late 1700s.

Hypnosis History – Mesmer

Mesmer built upon the folklore and wisdom of the past while not being afraid of experimentation and learning by doing. Although the public’s appreciation was vast, the medical establishment, because of its vested interests, was outraged. Mesmer rarely used words. He relied on passing magnets around a distressed person, and later, on simply making passes with his hands.

His clients expected to experience relief from their problems by entering a convulsive state after which they would feel released and calmed. It is not clear if Mesmer was acquainted with the medical antecedents to his work.

Hypnosis History – Father Maximilian Hell

Mesmer did acknowledge the spiritual root, which was the healing work of a Jesuit priest, Father Maximilian Hell. In 1774 Mesmer for the first time witnessed animal magnetism when he watched the priest apply magnets to the bodies of persons suffering from various ailments. An early medical influence may have been the fifteenth-century book by physician Thomas Fienus.

Hypnosis History – Dr Thomas Fienus

Dr Fienus understood that there are two ways a person’s imagination can be fired up: from within himself, and through the influence of someone else. When the imagination of a sick person is stirred by a doctor his illness can be cured because the patient’s imagination combines with his belief in the curative powers of the physician.

The public in France, especially the upper classes, adored Mesmer. They accepted his claim that there was some kind of invisible force (which he subsequently referred to as a fluid, though it remained invisible) which travelled from the magnetizer to the person seeking a cure for whatever ailed her. Most magnetizers were men and most patients were women.

Hypnosis History – Masonic concepts

Mesmer built on ancient Masonic concepts of illness being evidence within the individual of an imbalance of a universal fluid. The induction of convulsive attacks, or crises, created a healthy redistribution of the fluid. He believed the process was physiological but as invisible as electricity and magnetism — subjects of great interest to scientists of that era.

His “scientific” explanation for the creation of healing convulsions, in contrast to the faith cures of contemporary exorcists, has earned Mesmer the credit for founding dynamic psychiatry. At first Mesmer used to magnetize objects which his patients could then touch (or in the case of “magnetized” water, drink or pour over themselves).

Large gatherings were held in which people would all be connected by a rope to a magnetized tree, or share an 18th century version of a hot tub. Later, Mesmer found that simple “passes” of his hands were sufficient to put patients into a trance. Whatever the means, patients usually went into convulsive hysterical motion following which they felt relieved and refreshed.

Once he had dispensed with actual magnets, “There was no talking during the treatment, so there were no direct verbal injunctions. However, these were implicit in the hypnotist’s attitude. The passes, the music, the setting; the atmosphere round the tub (“baquet”), were factors which were indirectly to increase the effect of suggestion, but also contributed in producing a kind of sensory deprivation which induced an alteration of the state of consciousness, gradually ending in the ‘crisis.’ Mesmer’s patients did not all have attacks. Some showed, rather, a sort of lethargy, while still being able to walk, talk, etc.In other words, they were hypnotized.” (Chertok, 1981, p.91).

Hypnosis History – Marquis de Puysegur

The practice of “animal magnetism” was forever altered when the Marquis de Puysegur, a disciple of Mesmer, focused his attention on what happened to people in what we would call deep hypnosis and which he named magnetic somnambulism. He observed that when someone was in this state their symptoms and behaviour could be influenced by what the “magnetizer” said.

According to French psychiatrist Leon Chertok, Puysegur developed the following principles, all of which have stood the test of time and still guide most hypnotists today:

– Convulsions were not necessary; words were sufficient – The magnetist had to listen to the person seeking relief – Often the client had to re-experience painful feelings – The sessions had to be of regular frequency and duration – The magnetist had to be neutral and patient – Symptoms might return temporarily.

“While he was in deep magnetic sleep, [the client] was asked to establish his own diagnosis . . . and the form of his treatment . . . He was also asked to predict the development of his treatment: when he would recover, when the attacks would occur, etc. Thus was produced a kind of psychodrama in which the patient caused the magnetist to play a part in a series of successive catharses.” (Chertok, 1981, p.93).

Hypnosis History – French Royal Commision

The French Royal Commission of 1784 into animal magnetism dismissed the cures they observed by explaining them away as caused by the imaginations of the subjects. The Commission overlooked the same important facts as do many of hypnosis’ critics today. A modern doctor explains: “Unfortunately no report was made of the positive results of Mesmer’s work or of the psychological implications of the illnesses and the results of his treatment. Unfortunately, too, the Commission also failed to comprehend that the cures were genuine enough even if there appeared to be no physical or organic origin to the illness.” (Waxman, 1984, p.6).

If imagination can be that powerful surely it should be dignified, not disgraced.

Hypnosis History – Sigmund Freud

A century later Sigmund Freud had helped to push hypnosis out of the limelight with his invention of psychoanalysis. There is, however, an intimate connection between hypnosis and psychoanalysis:

– Hypnosis theory and practice anticipated much of psychoanalysis. – Hypnotic procedures were adopted by the founder of psychoanalysis. – The practice of psychoanalysis induces hypnosis.

Hypnosis History – Freud’s use of hypnosis

Freud sought to escape the hypnotism label for his work; he began to use free association with no apparent awareness of that technique’s basic similarity — with its couch, relaxation, closed eyes, occasional touch on the client’s forehead — to the formal hypnosis he had renounced.

Not that Freud underestimated the power of hypnotic hypnosis. He used it for years. He translated books written by the leading practitioners of his day (Charcot and Bernheim). But Freud met with some discouragements, such as difficulty in hypnotizing many patients, and lack of long-lasting changes in those he did hypnotize.

Hypnosis History – Freud’s view of the subconscious

Perhaps another of the reasons for Freud’s failure was his bleak view of the subconscious. He claimed it is a cesspool of aggressive and sexual impulses. Today’s hypnotists are more likely to view the subconscious as a neutral well of memory. Many even take the opposite view to Freud: for them the subconscious is a potent source of good.

Like his contemporaries, Freud failed to realize that the client, not the hypnotist, is in control of his or her use and “depth” of hypnosis.

Hypnosis History – Freud’s error

Freud grossly misunderstood the nature of hypnosis. And he held a warped view of love. He claimed: “From being in love to hypnosis is evidently only a short step . . . There is the same humble subjection, the same compliance, the same absence of criticism toward the hypnotist just as toward the love object.” (Kline, 1958, p.27). Freud’s error, shared by most people of that era, was to place the client (usually a woman!) in a weak, dependent role.

Hypnosis History – hypnosis vs psycholanalysis

As psychoanalysis grew in popularity, hypnosis fell out of favour for decades. Its use as an anasthetic was quickly superseded by chemical methods. Today, so light is the hypnotic trance in psychoanalysis “that many traditional psychoanalysts respond with indignation when it is suggested that their patients are in continually varying states of trance as they free associate on the couch” (Rossi, 1988, p.49).

Indignation is hardly called for because — in or out of hypnosis session — people frequently lapse naturally into a hypnotic state. According to Rossi, hypnosis is triggered anytime a person is remembering a sequence of events. Such a recall process is a crucial part of many current hypnotic methods. Thus many hypnotists who claim no expertise with hypnosis unwittingly use it in their work.

Hypnosis History – Stage hypnotists

Stage hypnotists kept the art alive. Several of them began to use hypnosis off-stage to help people, for example, to overcome shyness or stuttering, to change bad habits such as smoking or nail biting.

Hypnosis History – Scientific research

Meanwhile, research into hypnosis both in the West and in Russia continued within the walls of universities. These scientific findings confirmed and amplified the knowledge about hypnosis that had been gained in the past and confirmed contemporaneously by courageous clinical practitioners.

Hypnosis History – the 1950s

In the 1950s both the British and the American Medical Associations acknowledged the value of hypnosis as a tool for healing. Despite this, only a minority of doctors practised hypnosis.

Hypnosis History – New respectability of hypnosis

The new respectability of hypnosis in scientific and medical circles was matched by exciting developments in hypnosis offices. Spurred on by the example of geniuses such as Milton Erickson more and more psychologists and other professionals endorsed hypnosis and created innovative techniques for its use with troubled clients.

The 21st century thirst by clients, insurance companies and psychotherapists for short-term, cost-effective methods makes hypnosis an attractive alternative.

References

Chertok, Leon (1981). Sense and Nonsense in Psychotherapy. Oxford:Pergamon Press. Kline, Milton V. (1958). Freud and Hypnosis. New York: The Julian Press. Rossi, Ernest L., and Cheek, David B. (1988).Mind-Body Therapy: Ideodynamic Healing in Hypnosis. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Waxman, David (1984). Hypnosis: A Guide for Patients and Practitioners. London: Unwin Paperbacks.


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