[Optional Read]

Evolution Of Hypnosis 

The origins of hypnosis date back thousands of years, with ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Indians, Chinese, Persians, and Sumerians all having extensive knowledge and practice of hypnosis, altered states of consciousness, and parapsychology. It served as a therapeutic tool, offering potential cures for a wide range of physical and emotional ailments and disorders.

In fact, the history of hypnosis stretches back beyond recorded history itself. Some cave paintings, believed to be prehistoric, depict priests in what appears to be a trance state, along with geometric designs representing visions experienced in altered levels of consciousness. These ancient artworks hint at the existence of hypnotic practices even in those distant times.

While there were traces of hypnosis used by the Druids in ancient Britain and Gaul, the modern development and introduction of hypnosis can be attributed to Islamic scientists during the Middle Ages. Between the 9th and 14th centuries, a flourishing of civilizations in the Mediterranean and Middle East rejuvenated ancient knowledge from Greece, Egypt, and Eastern civilizations. During this revival, a deep understanding of human psychology emerged, leading to the use of therapeutic processes like analysis, altered states of consciousness, and hypnosis to alleviate emotional distress and suffering. These practices preceded what we now know as psychotherapy and hypnotherapy by several centuries.

From the 15th and 16th centuries onward, physicians from various nations further developed and refined the concept of hypnosis and its applications. Although this knowledge spread across Europe and the British Isles, it mostly remained within the realm of scientists, physicians, and universities, failing to capture the attention of the less educated masses. It wasn’t until the 18th century, when Western explorers encountered hypnotism in the Middle East and Far East, that hypnosis was “reintroduced” to the West.

In the 18th century, Dr. Frantz Anton Mesmer, an Austrian physician, played a pivotal role in the development of hypnosis. Mesmer was a charismatic and sometimes controversial figure who used magnets and metal frames to perform “passes” over patients, aiming to remove blockages in the body’s magnetic forces (now referred to as “life energy”) and induce a trance-like state. However, he discovered that he could achieve equally successful results by simply passing his hands over the patient for extended periods. This method, named “animal magnetism,” gained recognition.

While Mesmer achieved notable successes, his work was met with ridicule and rejection from the medical community. His healing sessions, held publicly before medical practitioners, often turned into theatrical performances, drawing excessive showmanship that led to skepticism about his results. Additionally, some of his medical colleagues may have harbored jealousy due to his unconventional methods.

Despite the controversy surrounding Mesmer, his name became immortalized in our vocabulary through the verb “mesmerize,” which means to capture someone’s attention to the exclusion of everything else and create a trance state, essentially referring to hypnotizing a person. Furthermore, his method became known as mesmerism.

After Mesmer’s death in 1815, one of his disciples, Armand de Puysegur, carried on his work and advanced it further. Puysegur discovered that spoken words and direct commands induced trance states more quickly and effectively than the “mesmeric passes.” He even found that people could undergo painless surgical procedures while in a trance. Surgeons such as Dr. Recamier in France and Dr. Elliotson in England utilized this technique, and Dr. James Esdaile, an English physician, surpassed them all by performing a remarkable number of operations using hypnosis or mesmerism—over 300 major operations and a thousand minor ones.

However, the discovery of chloroform as an anesthetic overshadowed the use of mesmerism

in surgery, as the injection of chloroform proved faster and more practical than inducing a trance state.

The next significant development in the history of hypnosis came from Dr. James Braid, a Scottish optometrist. By chance, he discovered that fixating on an object could induce a trance state without the need for mesmeric passes advocated by Mesmer. In 1841, Braid published his findings, rejecting Mesmer’s work and mistakenly naming his discovery “hypnotism,” derived from the Greek word “hypnos” meaning “sleep.” Although hypnosis is not sleep, the misnomer stuck, and mesmerism became hypnotism.

By the 1870s, two schools of hypnosis emerged in France: one led by Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot in Paris and the other by Dr. Hippolyte Bernheim and Dr. Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault in Nancy. These schools made further progress in refining the concept of hypnosis, but not without heated debates and disagreements. Charcot argued that hypnosis could only result from physical or neurological stimulation, while the Nancy school believed that hypnosis was a natural state accessible to everyone through free will. The present-day use of hypnosis aligns with the latter belief.

Around 1891, the British Medical Association drafted a resolution in favor of using hypnosis in medicine, but it took 64 years until 1955 for it to gain approval. Despite this delay, most advancements in therapeutic hypnosis during the 20th century occurred in the United States. In 1958, the American Medical Association also recognized the therapeutic value of hypnosis.

Numerous therapists, researchers, and scientists have made significant contributions to the field of hypnosis, with two prominent figures of the 20th century being Milton H. Erickson and Dr. William J. Bryan Jr. Erickson, a psychotherapist, extensively utilized hypnosis in his work, displaying keen observational skills and establishing rapid rapport with his clients. He employed metaphors, imagery, confusing statements, surprise, and humor as therapeutic tools. Erickson’s hypnotic methods, known today as Ericksonian hypnosis, added a new dimension to modern hypnotherapy.

Dr. William J. Bryan Jr., the first full-time medical practitioner of hypnosis in the United States, founded the American Institute of Hypnosis. In the 1970s, Richard Bandler, an information scientist, and John Grinder, a linguistic professor, created Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a technique for self-improvement and harnessing inner resources. Although not directly related to hypnosis, many of NLP’s techniques can be used alongside hypnosis or as aids to hypnotic therapy. NLP leverages our neurology, thinking patterns, linguistic expression, and behavioral patterns to facilitate personal development.

Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, there was an abundance of self-help and positive thinking therapies, some openly incorporating hypnosis while others utilizing it more covertly. Technological advancements such as television, cassette recorders and tapes, video tapes, and the widespread availability of information through the internet have made hypnosis, from hypnotherapy to stage hypnotism, more widely known, accessible, and popular.