History of Hypnosis
3’000 BC
Egyptians, Mayas, the Greeks, Celtic druids Hindu fakirs and African witch doctors have all used hypnotic principles.
Using dancing rhythmic drumming, chanting relaxation, suggestion, belief and expectancy they would create altered states of consciousness.
1628-1666
An Irishman by the name of Valentine Greatrakes was known as “the Great Irish Stroker” for his ability to heal people by laying his hands on them and passing magnets over their bodies.
1734-1815
Dr. Franz Mesmer Austrian was very successful at treating patients using what he called “animal magnetism” he would pass load stones (magnets) over someone’s body and they would miraculously recover from there problems.
One day he forgot his load stone so decided to use a stick and found he had the same effect so he made the misconception that the magnetism can from the moon and was channelled through his body.
He would “magnetise” water, trees, and other objects so that he could heal people with out being present.
He was so successful that he was taking a lot of business from the other doctors in France so the other doctors got a commission to investigate what he was doing.
The commission was made up of four famous people a chemist Lavoisier, Benjamin Franklin, and a medical doctor who was an expert in pain control named Joseph Ignace Guillotine.
There conclusion was that if people got better its all in there imagination.
1795-1860
James Braid was a Scottish doctor who saw a stage hypnosis show and decided to investigate how someone could be hypnotised. He first came to the conclusion that it was a special kind of sleep and named it hypnosis after the Greek god hypnos.
The word hypnosis means nervous sleep because braid believed hypnosis was the sleep of the nervous system.
After more study he realised it was not a form of sleep but was a focused state and tried to change it to mono ideism which means focusing on one idea but by then the name hypnosis had become popular so it stuck.
1791-1868
Dr. John Elliotson was the invented the stethoscope and also experimented with hypnosis
He used hypnosis for many medical operations and gave demonstration to other doctors.
1805-1859
Dr. James Esdaile performed more operations than anyone even today using hypnosis as an anaesthetic while working in India, including amputation, removing large tumours
At the time mortality rates averaged 50% in 161 operations esdailes was 5%.
1825-1893
The neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot moved hypnosis from doctors to mental health professionals
He was famous for using a pendulum to hypnotise people and also developed the idea of different level of hypnosis although he also made some mistakes.
1857-1926
Emile Coué developed certain laws of the mind after a lot of study of hypnosis.
He also developed a system of self suggestion using these laws of the mind.
The Law of Concentrated Attention
Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realize itself.
The Law of Reversed Effect
The harder one tries to do something, the less chance one has of success.
The Law of Dominant Effect
A strong emotion/suggestion tends to replace a weaker one.
1884-1952
Clark Leonard Hull made a huge leap is hypnosis after conduction numerous scientific experiments into hypnosis and suggestion.
He Proved hypnosis has no relation to sleep or relaxation by hypnotising someone on a stationary cycle.
1900-1967
Dave Elman created a direct four minute induction that is probably one of the most famous inductions available.
1901-1980
Milton Erickson developed many ideas and techniques in hypnosis that were very different from what was commonly practiced.
His style, commonly referred to as Ericksonian Hypnosis, has greatly influenced many modern schools of hypnosis.
Erickson started is carrier using direct suggestions and after a lot of experience became indirect.
He believed the client has all the resource they need he would use metaphors and indirect suggestions as well as combining many different styles of psychology.
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