Woking Hypnotherapy-Surrey Hypnotherapy-Surrey Hypnosis-Knaphill

In this section I will present a brief outline of the history of hypnosis.
Unfortunately there is not enough time to go into detail here, however I have attempted to identify some key figures and events in its development.

The word hypnosis originates from the Greek word for sleep, in Greek mythology Hypnos was the son of Nyx the night goddess. Hypnosis as we know it today has had a long and chequered history. However our present understanding has it’s origins in the work of Dr Franz Anton Mesmer who attributed the wonderful cures and effects he achieved to an invisible magnetic fluid which he called animal magnetism. In the Seventeen hundreds his explanation of how he achieved his remarkable cures seems to have split opinion. There were those who were convinced of his amazing new discovery of animal magnetism and those who dismissed it as pure quackery.

However, Mesmer developed something of a following, and although his ideas appealed to a great many of the general public and indeed some other physicians, his theories were also widely mocked.

Whichever view you take, it is clear that Mesmer was achieving some interesting, beneficial and often miraculous changes in his patients. The term to mesmerise has of course now become part of our everyday language.

In the eighteen hundreds a surgeon Dr John Elliotson became interested in animal magnetism and began to experiment and his London hospital. Despite extensive investigation animal magnetism was to extreme for the medical establishment of the time and none of his papers were published.

It was also in the eighteen hundreds that it fell to another doctor, James Braid to give us the term hypnosis. He used the term to describe what we now know to occur as a result of inducing an altered state of awareness. Braid was not comfortable with the mesmerists explanation of magnetic fluids and developed his own theories based on neurological changes brought about by eye movement and the medium of suggestion. Braids name for the phenomena has stuck and we now his terminology of hypnosis to describe the induction of a trance. It is perhaps partially due to Braid’s more scientific approach, that he had a little more success than Mesmer in introducing his ideas to the medical community.

In the later years of the nineteenth century hypnosis in England had fallen into disrepute, however in France one or two enlightened doctors had picked up some of James Braids medical texts on hypnosis.

One was the leading French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot the other Hippolyte Bernhiem. The two doctors had very differing views about the uses for, and the effectiveness of hypnosis, but both researched it, taught it and demonstrated it. The two schools became rivals one based in Paris under Charcot and the other in Nancy guided by the philosophy of Bernheim. History reveals that it is the Nancy school that prevailed and many of the ideas first developed there still influence research and practice today, but it is important to recognise that both schools contributed in a major way to our present knowledge. The work of Dr Emile Coue has also left it’s mark, and his ideas of suggestion still influence us today.

Another important figure in our brief study is Sigmund Freud the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud visited the Paris school in 1885 to study under Chracot. Here he witnessed demonstrations of hypnotic inductions, and reached the conclusion that physical symptoms could develop as the result of an idea. Dr Freud now took this theory a stage further, if symptoms could develop as a result of an idea or ideas, then they could also be removed by ideas. In 1889 Freud visits the Nancy school accompanied by one of his patients to further explore the beneficial effects of hypnosis.

On returning to Vienna, Freud begins to use hypnosis to treat his patients. And later in 1892 translates Bernheim’s studies in hypnotism and suggestion. However he later abandons hypnotic techniques and replaces them with his evolving system of psychoanalysis.

Historically this is now viewed as a major blow to the evolution, development and practice of hypnosis, and again hypnosis gradually falls into disrepute, as many in the psychological community find it less appealing than the growing field of psychoanalysis.

Despite its setbacks the practice of hypnosis continued, albeit in the background of medical and psychological research or simply as a form of entertainment . It appears to have regained some ground in the second world war, being used to by doctors to alleiviate post traumatic stress. This resulted in something of a revival of interest both in serious research and the clinical practice of hypnosis.

American hypnotist Dave Elman taught hundreds of Doctors and Dentists his rapid induction techniques. In fact he only taught medical personal, and his approach of using hypnosis to pinpoint the cause of symptoms echoes Freudian philosophy.

By 1955 the British Medical Association had approved hypnotherapy as a valid medical treatment.

From the mid to late twentieth century hypnosis as a serious therapy experienced not just a revival but a revolution as part of the humanistic movement in psychology.

Today the practice of hypnotherapy has a growing acceptance in the medical community, as it’s beneficial impact on patients health and general well being are more widely recognised. With Hypnotherapy now being considered as a possible method for treating certain psychological problems. The American psychiatrist Dr Milton Erickson developed new and creative ways of using hypnosis to help his patients.

Hypnosis has also made great inroads in the world of personal development, as people realise that they can enhance their personal performance by using simple hypnotic techniques.

Along with suggestion therapy Hypno-analysis has also evolved as a powerful influence tool in psychotherapy. Here the therapists use the hypnotic state to uncover hidden causes of distress and psychological discomfort. Self hypnosis is now widely used by individuals to improve their health and fitness and relieve physical and psychological stress.

Today hypnosis is well on the way to becoming accepted as a safe method of maintaining and improving our well being.

The early pioneers of suggestion and hypnosis were mainly medical doctors. They sought a rational explanation for the many remarkable phenomena that we now attribute to hypnosis.

Over the years many new theories have been put forward, many of the early suggestion techniques have stood the test of time. And in the 21st century there is an increasing interest in the simple and direct power of hypnosis to bring about personal change.

It seems that such pioneers as Neurologist Hippolyte Bernhiem, Doctor Leibault, Charles Boudin and Emile Coue were essentially correct in their assumptions about the mind and the power of suggestion.

Howard Davies 2002

Validated Practitioner
General Hypnotherapy Standards Council

Howard Davies NRH DHP CCH C.Ht GHR.REG SQHP
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