The history of hypnosis, part 2
Recent history: From haunting and magnetism to suggestion.
You could say that the recent history of hypnosis begins with our neighbor, the Austrian doctor Franz Mesmer (1734-1815), who was the first to pass naturalistically interpretation of hypnosis and thereby eliminated the touch of the occult. He developed the theory of "animal magnetism" (mesmerism), where natural but otherwise invisible energy is activated when magnets are "waved" around the subject.
The next pioneer was a Scottish surgeon James Braid (1795-1860), who found that he could "command" the patient to close his eyes and fall into a deep trance without all the preparations that Mesmer did. He concluded that the results are not caused by the magnetic fluid, but primarily by the suggestion that acted on the subject, whose suggestibility was artificially elevated (increased).
Braid coined the term hypnosis from the Greek word "hypnos" meaning sleep. When he later discovered that hypnosis was not a sleep state, he tried to rename the state "monoideism", but it was too late. The term hypnosis has been accepted by a wider audience, including scientists.
He has achieved a remarkable shift in the world of hypnosis James Esdaila, chief surgeon of the prison in Calcutta (India), in the second half of the 19th century. Esdail learned in the then poor conditions (disastrous hygiene and living conditions) with an extremely low mortality rate through 1000 surgical operations. At that time, he used exclusively hypnosis for anesthesia.
Few have not heard of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, but few people know that he discovered the first seeds of his theory about the unconscious precisely with the help of hypnosis. He later abandoned hypnosis and developed a technique of free association and structure that he called psychoanalysis. Before his death, he declared: "If I had known as much about hypnosis in my past as I know today, I would have devoted myself more to hypnosis and less to psychoanalysis."
V World War I there was a chronic shortage of air on the front lines. Fortunately, there were also individuals in the front ranks who knew hypnosis and began to use it for anesthetization.
The need for rapid treatment of war neuroses between the First and Second World Wars has created a huge interest in hypnotherapy. There was a fusion of hypnotic techniques with psychiatry, which was a very important advance.
In the United States, hypnotherapy was accepted as a medical method of treatment in 1958. However, the British Medical Association had previously recognized hypnosis in psychiatry and surgery.
In modern times, the light of hypnosis and psychotherapy shone with a man who is said to be responsible for the accelerated development of psychotherapy, namely Milton H. Erickson (1901-1980). Erickson was a master of communication and a pioneer of family therapy and solution-focused brief therapy. He kept therapy short by concentrating on the person's personal resources and strengths at a time when the rest of the profession was obsessed with long-term therapy. Hypnosis was a fundamental part of his work, from which developed a new, indirect form of hypnosis, now known as "Erickson hypnosis", which dominates hypnotic therapy.
Milton Erickson was the first to describe the important role of hypnosis in psychotherapy. He developed a hypnotic communication style in which the client is no longer passive (as with Freud), but actively collaborates with the therapist. Erickson advocated that every therapeutic relationship begins with the "use" and unconditional acceptance of the client's thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and beliefs. Erickson calls this the principle of utilization, which involves fully accepting everything that is happening to the client, and only then attempting to use, move, or change that experience.
Despite the many obstacles it faced, hypnosis is now fully recognized and used by many scientists. Although it was long considered controversial, today it is considered an effective therapeutic technique.
All serious medical, psychological and psychotherapeutic organizations both in America and Europe have recently accepted hypnosis as an effective therapeutic method. Yapko (2003).
Hypnosis has proven to be a valuable tool in medicine and psychotherapy. In some Scandinavian countries, thousands of surgical operations have been performed under hypnotic anesthesia in recent years. Hypnosis can be an important adjunct to almost any form of psychotherapy, and it has become so even for those disorders for which it was initially discouraged, e.g. in psychiatric cases and treatment of depression.
In one way or another, hypnosis has always been a part of the human experience. From the hypnotic action of witch doctors and shamans, through an invisible magnetic fluid to recognizing the power of words, focus and intention, hypnosis has shaken off mysticism and become a globally recognized method.
The recent history of hypnosis has enriched us with many insights into this fascinating practice. A scientific approach to hypnosis has revealed its physiological and neurological bases and established it as a recognized therapeutic tool for treating a variety of problems.
We can expect further development of hypnosis in various directions. Scientific research is likely to continue to reveal new aspects of this phenomenon, which will contribute to a better understanding of its use in a therapeutic context and elsewhere.
In addition, we can expect further development and adaptation of therapeutic approaches that include hypnosis, so that they will be more effective and adapted to the individual needs of clients. Hypnosis could also find new applications outside the therapeutic framework, for example in improving learning, memory, creativity or sports performance.
The future of hypnosis is therefore bright, full of possibilities for further progress and use for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole.