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History of Hypnosis
According to some scholars hypnotism draws its simplest beginnings from various forms of ancient meditations and other spiritual practices. One such link to hypnotism can be found in ancient India (Hindus) where it seems that they often used hypnotic suggestions to attempt to cure people of certain aliments as well as in ancient Egypt and Greece. Hypnotic-like inductions were used to place the individual in a sleep-like state.
Later you find that Hypnotism evolved out of a sometimes skeptical reaction to the much earlier work of magnetists and Mesmerists. A few such notables are as follows: Paracelsus (1493-1541), Valentine Greatrakes (1628-1666), Johann Joseph Gassner (1727-1779)
Dr. Franz Mesmer (1734-1815): a physician from Austria, started investigating an effect he called "animal magnetism" or "mesmerism" (the latter name still remaining popular today).
Dr. James Esdaile (1805-1859): reported on 345 major operations performed using mesmeric sleep as the sole anesthetic in British India. The development of chemical anesthetics soon saw the replacement of hypnotism in this role.
19th Century
James Braid ( ? - 1860): coined the term "hypnotism" in his unpublished Practical Essay on the Curative Agency of Neuro-Hypnotism (1842) as an abbreviation for "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "nervous sleep".
Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893): endorsed hypnotism for the treatment of hysteria.
20th Century
Johannes Schultz: adapted the theories of Abbe Faria and Emile Coué and identifying certain parallels to techniques in yoga and meditation. He called his system of self-hypnosis Autogenic training.
Sigmund Freud: Hypnosis, which at the end of the 19th century had become a popular phenomenon, in particular due to Charcot's public hypnotism sessions, was crucial in the invention of psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud, a student of Charcot.
Platanov and Pavlov: Russian medicine has had extensive experience with obstetric hypnosis. Platanov, in the 1920s, became well known for his hypno-obstetric successes. Impressed by this approach, Stalin later set up a nationwide program headed by Velvoski, who originally combined hypnosis with Pavlov techniques but eventually used the latter almost exclusively.
20th Century Wars: The use of hypnosis in the treatment of neuroses flourished in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Hypnosis techniques were merged with psychiatry and was especially useful in the treatment of what is known today as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Clark Leonard Hull (1884-1952): The modern study of hypnotism is usually considered to have begun in the 1920s with Clark Leonard Hull at Yale University. An experimental psychologist, his work Hypnosis and Suggestibility (1933) was a rigorous study of the phenomenon, using statistical and experimental analysis. Hull's studies emphatically demonstrated once and for all that hypnosis had no connection with sleep ("hypnosis is not sleep, . it has no special relationship to sleep, and the whole concept of sleep when applied to hypnosis obscures the situation").
Andrew Salter (1914-1996): Salter introduced to American therapy the Pavlovian method of contradicting, opposing, and attacking beliefs. In the conditioned reflex, he has found what he saw as the essence of hypnosis. He thus gave a rebirth to hypnotism by combining it with classical conditioning. Ivan Pavlov had himself induced an altered state in pigeons, that he referred to as "Cortical Inhibition", which some later theorists believe to be some form of hypnotic state.
British Medical Association, 1955: On April 23, 1955, the British Medical Association (BMA) approved the use of hypnosis in the areas of psychoneuroses and hypnoanesthesia in pain management in childbirth and surgery. At this time, the BMA also advised all physicians and medical students to receive fundamental training in hypnosis.
Pope's approval of hypnosis: The Roman Catholic Church had questioned hypnotism until the mid-20th century when, in 1956, Pope Pius XII gave his approval of hypnosis. He stated that the use of hypnosis by health care professionals for diagnosis and treatment is permitted. In an address from the Vatican on hypnosis in childbirth, the Pope gave these guidelines: Hypnotism is a serious matter, and not something to be dabbled in. In its scientific use, the precautions dictated by both science and morality are to be followed. Under the aspect of anesthesia, it is governed by the same principles as other forms of anesthesia.
American Medical Association: In 1958, the American Medical Association approved a report on the medical uses of hypnosis.
American Psychological Association: In 1960 (Two years after AMA approval), the American Psychological Association endorsed hypnosis as a branch of psychology.
Milton Erickson (1901-1980): 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.
Harry Arons: In 1967, Harry Arons, a self-taught professional hypnotist, wrote a textbook, Hypnosis in Criminal Investigation, dedicated to the application of hypnosis in the judicial system. Chapters include such applications such as memory, age regression, induction techniques and confabulation. Arons also traveled the country training law enforcement agencies. His teaching created national acceptance in the legal community and increased positive awareness to the practice of hypnosis for trial applications.
Dave Elman (1900-1967) helped to promote the medical use of hypnosis in the 1960s. Elman's definition of hypnosis is still used today among some professional hypnotherapists. Although Elman had no medical training, he is known for having trained the most physicians and psychotherapists in America, in the use of hypnotism. He is also known for introducing rapid inductions to the field of hypnotism. One method of induction which he introduced more than fifty years ago is still one of the favored inductions used by many of today's practitioners. He placed great stress on what he termed "the Esdaile state" or the "hypnotic coma", which, according to Elman, had not been deliberately induced since Scottish surgeon James Esdaile last attained it. This was an unfortunate and historically inaccurate choice of terminology on Elman's part. Esdaile never used what we now call hypnosis even on a single occasion; he used something loosely resembling mesmerism (also known as animal magnetism).
U.S.A. Definition for Hypnotherapist: The Department of Labor - Directory of Occupational Titles (D.O.T. 079.157.010) supplies the following definition: "Hypnotherapist -- Induces hypnotic state in client to increase motivation or alter behavior pattern through hypnosis. Consults with client to determine the nature of problem. Prepares client to enter hypnotic states by explaining how hypnosis works and what client will experience. Tests subject to determine degrees of physical and emotional suggestibility. Induces hypnotic state in client using individualized methods and techniques of hypnosis based on interpretation of test results and analysis of client's problem. May train client in self-hypnosis conditioning.
UK National Occupational Standards (2002): National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Hypnotherapy was published in 2002 by Skills for Health, the Government's Sector Skills Council for the UK health industry. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority started conferring optional certificates and diplomas in international level through National Awarding Bodies by assessing learning outcomes of training /accrediting prior experiential learning.
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