Hypnosis is as old as mankind itself. Even among the most ancient peoples there had been men accredited with magical healing powers. Whether such “magic” actually exists of course is open to debate, but insofar as these men used direct commands or suggestions it can be strongly argued that what was practised essentially was quintessentially hypnosis in some form or other.

The first instances of hypnosis can be traced back to Ancient Egypt where heirogryphics suggested the existence of “sleep temples” where “priests” would heal the afflicted.

Throughout the ages there has always been the “laying on of hands”, where incantations brought about a trance-like state in the people being “healed”.

In more modern times however, the mystery of such practices gave way to the more plausible explanations. One of the first hypnotic healing practices came with Anton Mesmer, from whom the word “mermerise” is derived. In the late 18th century Mesmer ran healing salons in Vienna - then Paris - where, rather like the ancient healers, he encouraged clients to enter a trance-like state to “charge” or “re-charge” themselves with what he called “animal magnetism” from magnetic rods immersed in a tub of water, called a “baquet”, complete with iron filings and glass. (Incidentally the word “animal” in this context refers to “anima” which is Latin for “soul” rather than four- legged creatures). Mesmer had a flair for drama: he would appear in flowing coloured robes and his healing room would be lit in as awe-inspiring a manner and filled with coloured smoke. Again whatever the explanations for his phenomenon Mesmer was able to produce good results that substantiated his claims of cures.

It was James Braid, an Aberdonian in the 19th century, who was largely credited with the de-mystifying of hypnosis. Apart from proposing more down-to-earth explanations for the phenomenon of hypnotic healing, Braid in 1842 coined the term “hypnotism” after Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. However as he progressed in his practice and research he found that hypnosis was not a sleep state at all, and so tried to re-term it “mono-ideism” (mono - single, ideo – idea) which would more accurately suggest the nature of a single thing persisting in the mind of the person who was being hypnotised. Not surprisingly the word did not catch on, since “hypnosis” was a lot easier to say.
A few years on, a surgeon called James Esdaile, working in the Punjab region of India, found that he could desensitise his patients against pain through the use of hypnosis. Using “mesmerism” Esdaile was able to carry out and document thousands of operations, some including major amputations. What Esdaile did and achieved was not merely as experimental exercises. The Punjab was a pretty difficult place to bring medical supplies and thus the practice of what is now known as “hypno-anaesthesia” was indeed much more a necessity.

[Meanwhile in England another surgeon called Elliotson was doing much the same thing. However a medical council of the time ruled that what Elliotson did was “unethical” and demanded his resignation from his professorial post.]

Simultaneously, in France, hypnotherapy was gathering pace. Two doctors, Theodore Liebault, a country doctor, and Leopold Bernheim in Paris experimented with hypnosis in the treatment of mental conditions. Liebault in particular treated (often without charge) vast numbers of the peasants of the region of Nancy (pronounced “nongcie”). The two doctors became friends and effectively founded “The Nancy School”.

At the same time in Paris a renowned neurologist called Jean Charcot (“sharco”) was making headway treating hysterical illnesses with hypnosis. He found that by inducing hypnosis in his patients he could get them to manifest great emotional release to the point that hysterical symptoms, such as blindness, skin conditions etc disappeared altogether after the treatment.

Charcot’s work was to have an immense impact on the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, who studied hysteria under him. Freud was later to practise hypnotism in his own clinic in Vienna. However, because of an unfortunate and embarrassing incident involving an overthankful female patient who, coming out of hypnosis, threw her arms round his neck when his butler happened to enter at the same time, Freud abandoned hypnosis and developed his own model of psychotherapy which he called “psychoanalysis”. However some scholars argue that the difference between the two lies only in their names. In essence it can be argued that psychoanalysis is an example of full-awake or conscious hypnosis.

One of the most influential figures in the 20th Century came in the form of an American hypnotist called Dave Elman, and the term “hypnotherapy” in essence may have been attributed to him and his 1961 book, which was called simply “Hypnotherapy”. Elman started his career as a stage hypnotist and was extremely effective in instant hypnosis techniques. He was also a pioneer into the cognitive aspects of psychosomatic problems, and as such was arguably among the first great hypnotherapists to fully acknowledge that the cure lies in the mind of the client/patient rather than in the voice or hands of the hypnotherapist.

Another American, a psychiatrist called Milton Erickson (not Erik Erikson, who was a psychologist) developed his individualised model of hypnotherapy. Erickson never put his works into print because he believed that how he practised suited only himself and would not necessary be replicated effectively by another hypnotherapist. Each hypnotherapist would have to find his or her own style of hypnotherapy. He also contended that every individual patient of his received an individual treatment and no two persons even with virtually identical problems were treated the same. Such was the unreplicable nature of his individualist approach.

However Erikson’s teachings inspire a great wealth of study in his wake. It also sparked off the Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) movement. Today there are people who use NLP not just for therapeutic purposes but also as a way of life, constantly turning potential disasters into opportunities. It is also used effectively in commerce where managers and sales staff develop sophisticated mind sets geared relentlessly towards success and goal-achievement. NLP is gradually being filtered into educational settings. The “suggestology” or “suggestopedy” approach of the Bulgarian teacher Georgi Lozanov, used in the learning of foreign languages, may be seen as a cross between NLP techniques and hypno-learning.

Another branch of hypnotherapy called hypno-healing is used to treat physical problems which sometimes do not have a mental or psychological basis. Hypno-healing draws heavily on creative imagination techniques and is a testimony of the power of creative visualisation. In recent years practitioners of hypno-healing have cross-fertilise the technique with NLP principles (among others) to produce some startling results in the treatment of physical conditions, such as IBS and other gastrointestinal problems, psoriaisis and mild scoliosis (deformation of the spine). It is also effective in accelerating healing.

Meanwhile the ‘medical model’ of hypnotherapy as pioneered by Charcot and Freud continues to be practised in cases of hysterical psychosomatics, anxiety, depression and obsessive/compulsiveness and other “heavier” problems. The “Carthartic model”, as this is sometimes called, features the use of hypnosis to access the deepest levels of emotions, release of which desensitises the patient towards future types of experiences that used to resonate with traumas of a similar order buried in the unconscious. The model evidences that after cartharsis (expulsion of emotion) the ex-patient is much less sensitive to such future experiences, and is far more able to form and develop satisfying relationships, among other benefits. In hypnoanalysis patients/clients learn to ultimately become their own therapists and to incorporate the techniques of hypnoanalysis into their everyday lives.

Not every hypnotherapist practises hypnoanalysis, which is a very specialised and extremely complex technique. Hypnoanalysis continues to be strengthened today by new theories emerging from research and practice in the psychodynamic or psychoanalytical schools of psychology. Some argue that’ hypnoanalysis’, as a pure technique, is distinct from ‘analytical hypnotherapy’, which is a variation of hypno-suggestion or hypno-persuasion incorporating hypnotic age-regression.
Hypnoanaesthesia too continues to be practised. In recent years a vasectomy operation was carried out in a Manchester clinic where the patient received no medication but hypno-anaesthesia instead. The surgeon who performed the operation expressed his surprise at not only the way the technique worked but also how the bleeding was considerably less.

Hypnoanalgaesia or hypnoanaethesia are also applied in childbirth cases, where hypnosis is used as an alternative for conventional anaesthetic medication. Indeed in childbirth, hypnotherapy is increasingly being used, sometimes in conjunction with other alternative/complementary approaches. For certain women this alternative to epidurals is not only preferable, but sometimes desirable.

Hypnotherapy has flourished in Britain because of the relative freedom of hypnotherapists to practise outside the strictures of conventional medical thinking. Hypnotherapists have thus been free to cross fertilise their techniques with skills learnt elsewhere from their prior training. It is therefore no longer adequate to know that someone is a hypnotherapist; rather it is more appropriate to find out more about how he/she practises it. In essence hypnotherapy in its individuality is a special kind of healthcare and psychotherapeutic practice.

CRAH caters for this broad spread of individualism, and has no doctrine of its own as to what constitutes its “mainstream” or accepted model. Many CRAH members will have been trained in the Ericksonian model of therapy as an initial base. More important to the Association’s philosophy is the premise that whatever the unique hypnotherapeutic approach of any one of its members, it should be effective in treating your problem and that it should be practised with a diligent duty of care.

Thus, the advice of CRAH for anyone contemplating hypnotherapy is to seek an initial information first without committing themselves. Many hypnotherapists offer such a consultation free of charge. It is also advisable, where possible, to see your GP first to eliminate in the first instance the probability that your problem may have a physiological source (such as pain / migraine). Even in these cases, hypnotherapy can often be of assistance allied to and in combination with established medical care. A good example of where hypnotherapy can help along with medical care is that of childbirth.