The Mind-Body Connection
The mind and body function as one. Both are so intimately connected that it is not possible to have a disturbance of mind or body alone. For example a bodily pain may cause us to feel depressed. In turn mental anguish may cause nausea; feeling sick with worry. This is often referred to as the mind-body connection. In fact there are several connections between the mind and the body. There is the connection of nerve fibres we call the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. And there is the chemical connection through hormones and other substances carried in the blood. We can learn to influence these connections and in doing so to improve our health and well-being. One good way of doing this is by using hypnosis.
What Is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a particular state of mind during which time we become very focused on our innermost self and can ignore things going on outside of us. The conscious reasoning part of our mind becomes less active allowing us to experience new thoughts and feelings. We usually feel very relaxed and often have a sense of floating. Many people describe the experience as like being absorbed in a good book and becoming really involved in the story-line. During a hypnotic session one will fully be aware of what is being said by the hypnotist and will be able to respond by gesture or speaking. As each one of us is unique, each person's experience of hypnosis is slightly different.
Hypnosis is a process during which an individual, usually with the aid of another, allows himself/herself to become more suggestible. An individual can experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behaviour. Hypnosis is generally established by an induction procedure. Although there are many different hypnotic inductions, they are based on imaginative involvement with focused attention and concentration.
Hypnosis is a naturally occurring phenomenon. We go in and out of hypnosis constantly, while watching an interesting program on television, reading a book, driving a car, or day dreaming, just to name a few. People who appear to be low in hypnotizability often can improve their response to suggestions with training and practice. If an individual is unable to use all of their hypnotic ability during a testing session, it might appear that (s)he is a poor subject, but with improved rapport, and allayed fears, (s)he is able to improve his/her ability. Most clinical uses of hypnosis have been designed for the average individual, and a deep state of trance is not usually needed for most clinical treatment. (APMHA Board of Directors, American Psychotherapy and Medical Hypnosis Association, January 2000)
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis. The word “hypnosis” (from Greek hypnos, “sleep) is an abbreviation of James Braid’s (1843) term “neuro-hypnotism”, meaning “sleep of the nervous system”.
A person who is hypnotized displays certain unusual characteristics and propensities, compared with a non-hypnotized subject, most notably hyper-suggestibility, which some authorities have considered a sine qua non of hypnosis. For example, Clark L. Hull, probably the first major empirical researcher in the field, wrote, “if a subject after submitting to the hypnotic procedure shows no genuine increase in susceptibility to any suggestions whatever, there seems no point in calling him hypnotised” (Hull, Hypnotism and Suggestion, 1933:392)
Hypnotherapy is often applied in order to modify a subject’s behaviour, emotional content, and attitudes, as well as a wide range of conditions including dysfunctional habits, anxiety, stress-related illness, pain management, and personal development.
Hypnotism versus Mesmerism
Hypnosis is often confused with confused with Mesmerism, its historical precursor. As Hans Eyesenck writes,
“The terms ‘mesmerise’ and ‘hypnotise’ have become quite synonymous, and most people think of Mesmer as the father of hypnosis, or at least as its discoverer and first conscious exponent. Oddly enough, the truth appears to be that while hypnotic phenomena had been known for many thousands of years, Mesmer did not, in fact, hypnotise his subjects at all. It is something of a mystery why popular belief should have firmly credited him with a discovery which in fact was made by others”. Eysenck, sense and Nonsense in Psychology, 1957: 30-31).
Franz Anton Mesmer held that trance and healing were the result of the channelling of a mysterious “occult” force called “animal magnetism”. In the mid Eighteenth Century, this became the basis of a very large and popular school of thought termed Mesmerism. However, in 1843, James Braid proposed the theory of hypnotism as a radical alternative, in opposition to Mesmerism. Braid argued that the occult qualities of Mesmerism were illusory and that its effects were due to a combination of “nervous fatigue” and verbal suggestion. A biter war of words developed between Braid and the leading exponents of Mesmerism.
In their original committee report on hypnotherapy, the British Medical Association (BMA), likewise, made a point of condemning the occult theories of Mesmerism and sharply distinguishing them from hypnotism.
The Committee, having completed such investigation of hypnotism as time permitted, has to report that they have satisfied themselves of the genuineness of the hypnotic state. No phenomena which have come under their observation, however, lend support to the theory of ‘animal magnetism’ (Report on Hypnotism’ British Medical Journal 1892).
Nevertheless, as Eysenck complains, the confusion of Mesmerism and hypnotism continued to be perpetuated by popular fiction, the media, and its portrayal in comedy stage hypnosis shows. Basically, whereas Mesmerism is a supernatural theory, hypnotism attempted to explain the same phenomena in more established scientific terms, by reference to psychology and physiology. As Braid puts it, it is a scientific and ‘psycho-physiological’ (mind-body) discipline.
Also, in the 19th century, Sigmund Freud used hypnosis for a time until he came up with his psychoanalytic technique. He did not lose his belief in hypnosis; rather he saw his own technique as a more developed branch of the practice.
In the 20th century, Milton Erickson became a more consensus ‘father of modern hypnotherapy’ than his predecessors. His method takes into account the personal experiences, thought processing style, and frame of reference when formulating a treatment plan. Treatment involves helping the subject reframe their perception of events and their evaluation of those events and other interactions. His work also focuses extensively on accessing the subconscious thought processes, as well as observation of non-verbal communication patterns. Many variations have been made on his work to date; however, his basic theories are still the cornerstone of modern hypnotherapy.
During the 1960s, Erickson was responsible for popularising an entirely new branch of hypnotherapy, which we now call Ericksonian hypnotherapy, characterized by, amongst other things, indirect suggestions, confusion techniques, and double blinds.
The popularity of Erickson’s techniques has since led to the development of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), which has in turn found use in modern-day sales, advertising, and corporate training. However, NLP has been criticized by many eminent hypnotists as a distortion of Erickson’s work.
