Hypnosis has existed in many cultures around the world for hundreds of years. Practices ranging from traditional witch doctors in southern Africa, shamans in Siberia, South Korea, and Japan, to the traditional medical practices of Native Americans all involve inducing a hypnotic state to treat ailments.
Later on, this psychological hypnosis method made its way to Europe and North America, known as the modern Western version of hypnosis, with its origins dating back to the late 18th century. In 1775, the German doctor Franz Mesmer popularized the theory of animal magnetism, believing in an invisible magnetic fluid flowing within the human body affecting our health and behavior. This theory gained attention in the 19th century and a new term emerged: hypnosis.
A series of distinguished physicians developed theories about the essence of hypnosis, distinguishing hypnosis from its origin, known as Mesmerism. One of the most famous figures in contemporary Western psychotherapy was Sigmund Freud, who based on the case studies of certain patients, such as the analysis of “Anna O,” made significant contributions to psychoanalysis.
After centuries of development, hypnotherapy is now widely used in various settings to help improve people’s lives and mental well-being.
In psychological counseling, the following are four common methods of hypnosis:
Suggestion Therapy
Suggestion therapy involves providing positive suggestions to visitors in a hypnotic state, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.
For example, a hypnotherapist can help someone with claustrophobia through suggestion therapy. By having the visitor close their eyes, relax, and imagine being in a safe, comfortable place.
Immerse yourself in an open space, free from fear, and then, with this sense of safety, imagine approaching an elevator. By learning to positively imagine entering the elevator without fear, this person gradually becomes able to do so in reality. Throughout this process, the visitor gradually replaces their previous negative thoughts about the elevator with feelings of “safety” and “relaxation.”
This therapy relies on the individual’s ability to respond to the hypnotherapist’s suggestions and guidance and is commonly used to stop unwanted or unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, gambling, nail-biting, overeating, and is also beneficial for people with chronic pain.
Additionally, this method can help visitors “uncover” the psychological root of their problems or symptoms. Feelings or memories related to trauma are often “hidden” in a person’s unconscious mind, to the extent that the person may not remember (at the conscious level) the trauma they have experienced.
Regression Analysis
Regression analysis involves creating a suitable scenario where a visitor can travel back to their childhood through imagination and narrate a story or experience from a specific period of their childhood. Recalling early memories or suppressed memories can often help individuals overcome emotional obstacles.
The main goal of regression analysis is to identify the underlying causes of an individual’s distress.
Regression analysis can delve “deep” into the subconscious, retrieving repressed memories or past traumas. Hence, this method is also known as “retrospective therapy.”
Reframing
Reframing is usually done metaphorically and can change a visitor’s perspective on a certain experience. For example, with a visitor who wants to lose weight and spends all day indoors playing video games, you can have them describe the process of “leveling up” in the game – what they did, how long it took, how strong the character was at the beginning. Then, by comparing with the game, “reconstruct” the weight loss process in the visitor’s mind.
In the book ‘Uncommon Therapy,’ author Jay Haley describes a child visitor of Milton Erickson, a boy brought to counseling by his parents due to bedwetting.
Once alone with the child, Milton angrily started loudly complaining about the boy’s parents. As the child was unexpectedly drawn to the doctor’s roaring, he also began to criticize his parents.
Finally, Milton expressed his preference not to address the boy’s bedwetting problem and shifted the discussion to the boy’s interest in archery and the muscle coordination it requires.
Through a prolonged hypnotic conversation, Milton was able to indirectly provide advice to the boy, helping him develop control over his muscles, including his bladder muscle.
Milton’s unconventional intervention was successful. He first used the boy’s anger to form an alliance to “fight against” his parents, then used the alliance to teach the boy what he wanted to learn, running parallel to solving his problem.
Betty Erickson’s “3-2-1” Technique
Betty Erickson, Milton Erickson’s wife, developed a self-hypnosis method known as the “3-2-1” technique.
Start by jotting down three things you can see, hear, and feel in the room from the moment you open your eyes.
For example: you might see a painting on the wall, a table, and a clock; you might hear birds chirping outside the window, the buzzing of the refrigerator, and the ticking of the clock; you might feel the pressure of the chair on your back, the sensation of your feet on the floor, and the warmth of the sunlight coming through the window.
Repeat this process, focusing on two items from each sensation, and then one item (hence the name 3-2-1).
Then, close your eyes and start again, imagining three items from each sensation in your mind. Start the countdown again. Once you reach the last item, you will enter a trance state.
For therapists, the purpose of learning hypnosis is not to become a “hypnotherapist” but to better integrate hypnosis with psychological interventions to serve visitors.
As Yapko puts it, “The clinical hypnosis orientation is essentially to organize your therapeutic communicative efforts in a specific way that best suits the individual’s needs, selectively using language and behavior to obtain valuable outcomes.”
People may have concerns about hypnosis, which is entirely normal. Of particular concern is who conducts the hypnosis in the counseling room.
Hypnosis itself is harmless, but insufficiently trained or inexperienced hypnotherapists may inadvertently harm the person being hypnotized by misjudging the individual’s motivations, providing wrong guidance, imposing counterproductive viewpoints, or simply wasting the person’s time and money…
Hypnosis often allows the individual to access long-unnoticed memories and feelings, which can bring intense pain. Well-trained hypnotherapists can effectively address these issues. However, inexperienced or inadequately trained hypnotherapists may inadvertently harm visitors while addressing these issues, even though their intentions may be good.
As mentioned above, we experience hypnotic states multiple times a day, and many psychological and pathological issues are formed in a hypnotic state. Therefore, it is best that they be healed in a hypnotic state as well.
