CAROL DENICKER, MEMBER BOARD CERTIFIED HYPNOTIST NGH INSTRUCTOR, ADJUNCT FACULTY MEMBER PRESIDENT, LI-NGH CERTIFIED HYPNOBIRTHING® EDUCATOR 
USUI AND KARUNA REIKI MASTER/TEACHER |
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), an Austrian physician, is widely acknowledged as the 'Father of Hypnosis'. He believed that there was a quasi-magnetic fluid in the very air we breathe and that the body's' nerves somehow absorbed this fluid. As a doctor, his main concern was how to effectively treat his patients, and he considered disease to be caused via a blockage of the circulation of this magnetic fluid in the blood and the nervous system. Curing disease would, in his view, involve correcting the circulation of this liquid.
Initially, he used a magnet,
and later his hand, which was passed over the diseased body in an attempt
to unblock the magnetic flow. The hand (and later the eyes) was believed
to unblock the fluid by increasing its amount and flow as his hand passed
over the affected area. The term 'animal magnetism' was born, and the procedure
referred to as Mesmerism.
The Marquis de Puysegur (1751-1825),
a pupil of Mesmer's, used 'animal magnetism' on a young peasant who entered
into a state of sleep while still being able to communicate with Puysegur
and respond to his suggestions. When the peasant 'awoke' he could remember
nothing of what had occurred. Puysegur thought that the will of the person
and the operators' actions were important factors in the success or failure
of the 'magnetism', in other words psychological influences were extremely
important in the whole process.
John Elliotson (1791-1868), an English physician holding a chair at University College London was disbarred from the medical profession as a direct result of his demonstrations of animal magnetism.
James Esdaile (1808-1859), a surgeon was operating on his patients using 'mesmeric sleep' as his anesthetic of choice in the 1840s. The medical profession was therefore divided on its opinion of the usefulness of mesmerism. Although allusions are constantly made to Esdaile being a pioneer in the use of hypnosis for surgical anaesthesia in the era immediately prior to James Young Simpson's discovery of chloroform, it is unequivocally clear that Esdaile never used hypnosis at all; he always used mesmerism.
James Braid (1795-1860)
It wasn't until 1843 that the terms 'hypnotism' and 'hypnosis' were coined
by James Braid, a Scottish surgeon working in Manchester. He found
that some experimental subjects could go into a trance if they simply fixated
their eyes on a bright object, like a silver watch. He believed that some
sort of neurophysiological process was involved and that hypnosis was very
useful in disorders where no organic origin to the problem could be identified
(e.g. headaches, skin problems etc.) He showed that a single stimulus (e.g.
a word or an object) was enough to re-hypnotize his subjects. No-one knew
how the process of hypnosis 'worked', though there were several theories
put forward.
Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893)
A leading neurologist of his day and head of the neurological clinic at
the famous Saltpetiere in Paris, used hypnosis to treat hysterics. He concluded
that hypnosis was an induced seizure when his hysteric patients showed
epileptic-like symptoms when they were in a trance.
Hippolyte Bernheim (1837-1919)
A professor of medicine at the University of Nancy, he regarded hypnosis
as a special form of sleeping where the subject's attention is focused
upon the suggestions made by the hypnotist. He therefore emphasized the
psychological nature of the process of hypnosis.
Clark L. Hull (1884-1952) By the 1920s, hypnosis became the focus of experimental investigation by psychologists who demystified hypnosis saying that it was essentially a normal part of human nature (1933). The important factor was the subject's imagination - some people were more responsive or "suggestible" than others to hypnosis.
Milton H. Erickson (1902 - 1980) Erickson has done more than any other individual this century to change the way in which hypnotherapy is practiced. During his lifetime, he became famous for his amazing 'miracle cures'. Since his death he has become a legend.
Milton Erickson's Life and Background: Within his own life, Milton Erickson had many personal disabilities to contend with, which he often stressed helped him become proficient at practical problem solving for his clients.
His 'problems' began early. Born into a poor farming community in Nevada, Erickson didn’t speak until he was four. Later, he was found to have severe dyslexia, to be profoundly tone deaf and color blind. At the age of seventeen, he was paralyzed for a year by a bout of polio so bad that his doctor was convinced he would die.
Despite his handicaps (or perhaps because of them), Milton Erickson went on to qualify as a medical doctor and psychiatrist. In the following years he became the World’s greatest practitioner of therapeutic hypnosis and one of the most effective psychotherapists ever.
It was perhaps Erickson's farming background which caused him to approach psychotherapy in such a practical way. Anyone who is interested in relieving human misery and developing human potential will benefit greatly from reading about and learning from this remarkable man.
Milton Erickson was a great researcher into the extent and limits of hypnosis as a tool for personal change. ‘Hypnotherapy - An Exploratory Casebook’ by Milton H Erickson and Ernest L. Rossi is a comprehensive and fascinating compendium of Erickson's cases, transcripts and ideas.
He influenced major thinkers like Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead, inspired the developers of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and laid the groundwork for innovators of brief therapy like Paul Watzlovitz, who wrote the influential book Change.
When Erickson was in his fifties he was struck by a second bout of polio that caused him a great deal of physical pain. Even this he was able to turn into a learning opportunity as he became highly effective at treating other people’s pain with hypnosis. He details many of his approaches to sensory alteration and pain control in ‘Hypnotic alteration of sensory, perceptual and psychological processes' by Milton Erickson. (The collected papers of Milton H Erickson Volume 2).
Despite severe illness in his old age, Milton Erickson continued to teach, demonstrate and practice his remarkable skills as a therapist, even when eventually confined to a wheelchair. He died at the age of seventy nine.
Reading his many case studies in such books as ‘Uncommon Therapy’ and the subtle metaphorical approaches of his storytelling in ‘My voice will go with you’ is like entering another dimension. One can read these books many times and still find unexpected elements buried within the entertaining prose.
Beyond 'The Cult'
Milton Erickson’s case studies
are legendary. As with many legends, cults have grown up around the man
and his life. There are numerous 'Ericksonian' schools and practitioners
all over the World and his reputation grows by the day.
When reading Milton Erickson’s words it is clear you are reading about people, not about ‘psychology’ or ‘science’. Despite his sophisticated and advanced understanding, his life long fascination with teaching healthier personal attitudes shines through.
The ‘Ericksonian 'handshake’
The legendary ‘Ericksonian
handshake’ whereby Erickson would send someone into deep trance works along
a basic human principle. It taps into the natural human 'reorientation
response', triggered by shock or surprise. This occurs with 'the handshake'
as a familiar social pattern is interrupted. It is described in ‘Haley
on Erickson’, another fantastic book.
Erickson’s true legacy
When we really absorb the
best books written about his working methods we can extrapolate ways of
working which go way beyond mere technique or dry theory.
Brief therapy, solution focused therapy, systemic family therapy, child psychology even sports performance training have all been influenced by Milton Erickson’s work and ideas.
Milton Erickson started out as a young psychiatrist back in the 1920’s and he was really a maverick. Because so many elements of his work contradicted standard psychological dogma it took him a while for him to become recognized as a leading clinician. It was only because his results were so consistently good that he rose to prominence.
Erickson was not interested in constructing an edifice of psychological theory and trying to get people to fit the theory. He looked to see what people were like first, then he worked with them as unique individuals.
He had a strong, flexible and
clever mind, grounded in a deep and unshakable common sense.
He was informal. He didn't
cloak himself in an aura of authority or of mystery as some hypnotists
tended to in those days. He didn't use fixed induction routines either.
Sessions often seemed to consist of little stories and jokes and down-to-earth
advice blended into a life-changing whole.
He was holistic. He did not focus attention purely on what was going on in the patient's mind and memory, but made himself aware of whatever existed in the patient's life outside the consulting-room and made active use of it as part of the process of change.
He was non-dogmatic. Consistent with his general flexibility. He taught by example, by analogies and metaphors and by condensed accounts of various cases. He never propounded any overall theory.
Unorthodox psychiatrist, congenial family doctor, ingenious strategic psychotherapist and master hypnotherapist, Milton Erickson’s influence has revolutionized western psychotherapy. Thanks largely to Erickson, hypnosis has shed its shackles of superstition and is now widely recognized as one of the most powerful tools for change.
Hypnosis
When Milton Erickson started
working as a psychiatrist the field was limited by certain accepted rigid
tenants. Hypnosis was widely seen as ‘the dark art’. Psychiatrists could
be struck off for using it, which lead Erickson teach it to other psychiatrists
in secret.
The role of the subconscious
In the early part of the last
century the subconscious/unconscious was seen as a 'seething hotbed' of
suppressed conflicts and complexes. The idea was that it had to be vanquished
by the rational conscious part. Erickson stressed the wisdom and intelligence
of the unconscious mind and did not view it as primarily a negative force.
He would talk of trusting the unconscious with many of life’s activities.
He didn’t seek ‘insight’ into the cause of a problem as necessarily the
main focus of therapy.
The use of brief therapy
At the beginning of Milton
Erickson’s career, therapy was often interminable. Change was expected
to happen very slowly and painfully. Erickson would often see a client
only once but still make lasting change happen for these individuals. Now
brief therapy is ‘all the rage’.
Solution focused therapy
Until relatively recently,
therapy was mainly focused on pathology rather than on the individual’s
inherent resources. Therapy was usually focused on the past, whereas
Erickson would focus on future solutions and seek to help develop the skills
that people might need in order to move on. See ‘The Seminars, Workshops
and Lectures’ of Milton H. Erickson volumes I through IV for amazing insights
into how he worked.
Lifting the symptom
It used to be assumed that
psychological problem behaviors were always symptoms of something much
deeper. The idea was that the mind worked exactly like the body. It was
seen as superficial to just treat the symptom and indeed many practitioners
had no idea how to lift a phobia or relieve the experience of depressions.
Milton Erickson maintained that a therapist’s duty was to first ease or remove the unpleasant psychological complaint. He said that if you could ‘lift the handle a lot could be done with the pot’. A small change has ‘knock on’ effects which lead into other areas. For example, the lifting of a phobia can lead to increased confidence in other areas. Erickson was directive and strategic in his therapy in a time where the therapist was supposed to be passive.
Family therapy
Another revolutionary approach
that now seems like common sense was Erickson's consideration of the effect
of other family members on therapy. He would view a person as part of a
wider system, not just as an isolated individual.
If he thought it necessary, he would get other family members involved in the therapy. This was blasphemy for many of his contemporaries. ‘Uncommon Therapy’ by Jay Haley illustrates Erickson’s unusual approaches with many unusual and fascinating case studies.
Many areas of modern psychotherapy
have much to be thankful to Milton Erickson. Solution for, to name a few:
solution focused brief therapy, family therapy, indirect hypnosis and rapport
building plus many other aspects of different therapeutic approaches.
Growing Support for Hypnosis
Support for the teaching of
the therapeutic use of hypnosis in medicine finally came in 1955 from the
British Medical Association, who was closely followed in 1958 by the American
Medical Association. Today, an International Society of Hypnosis coordinates
and assesses standards and practices of professional hypnotists across
the world. Hypnosis is currently used in dentistry, medicine and psychology
and has proved helpful if used in conjunction with more conventional treatments
and therapies.
Historically, the use of 'trances'
is much older than Mesmer's findings but it was this Austrian physician
who first brought the process to the attention of the medical community.
|
CAROL DENICKER, MEMBER BOARD CERTIFIED HYPNOTIST NGH INSTRUCTOR, ADJUNCT FACULTY MEMBER PRESIDENT, LI-NGH CERTIFIED HYPNOBIRTHING® EDUCATOR
USUI AND KARUNA REIKI MASTER/TEACHER |
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