What is Hypno-Psychotherapy
Unlike the majority of comparable therapies, hypno
psychotherapy measures its history not in years or decades but
centuries. Therefore, if the provenance of a therapy is to be
determined by its longevity, hypno psychotherapy has stood the test
of time.
Throughout much of that history, the discipline has
been hampered by the absence of a single theory to explain the
medium through which it works - hypnosis. The usually acknowledged
forerunner of modern hypno psychotherapy, Franz Anton Mesmer
(1734-1815), believed in the existence of a universal fluid -
animal magnetism - an imbalance of which in the human body caused
illness.
He, and others trained by him, sought to control the
distribution of this fluid, restoring balance, and health, to those
who sought his help. Mesmer was careful to confirm whether any
given presenting problem were organic or functional, and worked
with the latter, functional psychosomatic illnesses. (This same
caution is observed by competent practitioners today.) Mesmer was
convinced that a cure might only be achieved when a patient
experienced a crisis, typified by convulsions and related
phenomena. In 1784, a Royal Commission in France, where Mesmer was
then resident, decided against the existence of magnetic fluid. The
Commission attributed Mesmer's undoubted successes to his
manipulation of a patient's imagination; that is, by
suggestion.
In an age not familiar with the power of suggestion
alone, outside of a religious context, the significance of the
Commission's findings was overlooked. But if there were no
universal fluid, with nothing physical being transmitted between
Mesmerist and subject, related phenomena must be psychological in
origin. The blind regained their sight, for instance, through the
power of imagination and suggestion, rather than animal magnetism.
Since Mesmer would not allow his theory to be displaced by such a
concept, and the Commission discounted it, the emergence of modern
psychology and hypno psychotherapy was postponed. Discredited by
the findings of the Commission and other enquiries, and the bizarre
nature in which he chose to conduct therapy sessions, Mesmer
eventually returned to his native Austria.
These events, along with the convulsions of the
French Revolution, Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic Europe, scattered
Mesmer's followers throughout Europe and abroad. Attempts to carry
forward Mesmer's medical applications met with considerable
opposition. British doctors who advocated the use of Mesmerism, for
instance, made little progress because of the attitude of the
medical and scientific establishments. John Elliotson (1791-1868)
was obliged to resign his post as Professor of Surgery at
University College, London. James Braid (1795-1860), who
substituted the word "Hypnotism" * for Mesmerism, was refused
permission to read a paper on the subject to the British
Association for the Advancement of Science.
James Esdaile (1808-1859), who performed over 300
major surgical operations in India using hypnosis as the
anaesthetic, was denied access to the medical press to publish his
findings. (* From Hypnos, Ancient Greek god of sleep, since Braid
thought a form of sleep was involved. The name persists, though the
sleep theory has been discarded.)
The often legitimate suspicions aroused by the
extravagant claims and behaviour of mesmerists and hypnotists -
some of whom exploited, and exploit, related phenomena for
"entertainment" - relegated the legitimate applications of hypnosis
to the fringe of respectability. The advent of chemical
anaesthetics and growth of the drugs industry impeded the study and
use of hypnosis in medicine. In much the same way as chemical
agents had served to displace hypnosis in the practice of medicine,
so Freudian psychoanalysis tended to displace it in psychotherapy.
Despite sporadic revivals of interest, such as after and during the
First and Second World Wars when short term psychotherapy was
needed, its present popularity is comparatively
recent.
Mesmer's student, de Puysegur (1751-1825), had
quietly relegated the importance of the crisis in favour of the
trance-like state typical of his therapeutic practice. Modern
therapy, too, recognises the significance of the trance and, when
we speak of somebody being "mesmerised", we do not suppose that
person to be convulsed. Although emotion may be released - most
particularly when the technique of hypno-analysis is used, based on
the Freudian view that repressed material may be recovered from the
unconscious mind - it is a sense of calm detachment, rather than
crisis, which typifies the great majority of hypnotherapy
sessions.
A typical modern hypno psychotherapy session, influenced by
research and refinement in numerous countries since Mesmer's day,
comprises induction, treatment strategy, and termination. In the
induction, the therapist may, for example, speak slowly to the
subject about the subject's becoming imaginatively involved in an
experience of focussed awareness, whilst peripheral distractions
fade - hence the subject may, with eyes closed, concentrate upon
the progressive relaxation of his/her muscles to the exclusion of
external events and stimuli. A good subject, well-motivated,
optimistic about the therapy and confident in the therapist
(criteria in which he/she may be educated in and out of hypnosis)
is then ready to engage in any therapy intended to change
inappropriate behaviour, thought or feeling. This means that
virtually all, if not all, psychological techniques may be
delivered via the medium of hypnosis. Because imaginative
involvement, selective attention, and suspension of the critical
process are all characteristic of the hypnotic state, hypno
psychotherapy may often be the treatment of choice. The subject may
move forward or backward in time, rehearse coping techniques, learn
to correct types of thinking and feeling prejudicial to emotional
well-being, and behaviour prejudicial to physical health, confront,
but not exaggerate, life's problems whilst reappraising its
potential, develop the ability to use self-hypnosis and perform
"homework" tasks emphasising modern hypno psychotherapy's stress
upon a subject's active involvement in the desired therapeutic
outcome. At the termination, cues for subsequent positive thoughts,
feelings or behaviour (post-hypnotic suggestions) may be introduced
or re-iterated. Finally, the subject is gently returned from what
has been described as an altered state of consciousness - the
hypnotic state - to the everyday state of consciousness with its
diffuse and distracting stimuli. Now discussion takes place
(possibly an extension of dialogue whilst the subject was in
hypnosis) and the hypnotic experience is examined in order to
inform and enhance future therapy sessions i.e. the therapist
defers to the source of expertise and control which lies not with
the therapist, but with the subject.
Given a comfortable environment, a sympathetic and
empathetic therapist who inspires confidence, and the subject's
optimism about a realistic outcome, that outcome may be achieved.
Because hypnosis is so fundamental, and universal, even if not
recognised as such, it should not be withdrawn from the public
domain, either in terms of training or availability as therapy.
Rather, we should be aiming to widen such training and
availability. Whilst hypnosis can stand alone as a form of therapy
or form an adjunct to any other profession, it should become the
property of no single profession.
Virtually any book on the subject deals with the
numerous theories of hypnosis. Essentially, the debate centres upon
whether or not hypnosis is a special state. "State" theorists might
argue that the subject's appearance and subjective reports of the
hypnotic experience alone would support their theory. "Non-state"
theorists might argue that hypnotic behaviour is the result of
motivation, attitude and expectancy resulting in the subject's
willingness to follow the therapist's suggestions. Perhaps the
outcome will be some sort of compromise: 'Hypnosis is an altered
state of consciousness, the achievement of which is greatly
influenced by factors such as the subject's motivation, attitude
and expectancy promoting a willingness to follow the therapist's
suggestions'.
Shaun Brookhouse has been practising hypnotherapy
professionally since 1989. Call 0161 881 1677 if you have
any questions or email enquiries@hypno-manchester.co.uk
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