What is the history of hypnosis? A detailed history of hypnosis. Dr. James Braid, a British Doctor, coined the term Hypnosis - a Greek word meaning sleep, to describe someone in a hypnotic state. However,...
Dr. James Braid, a British Doctor, coined the term Hypnosis - a Greek word meaning sleep, to describe someone in a hypnotic state. However, after realizing the levels of consciousness, Dr. Braid made many attempts to change the coined phrase since the clients really were not asleep but in a deep relaxing state.
The root of hypnosis goes back years before this, to a man name Franz Mesmer. An Austrian doctor who developed the theory of "Animal Magnetism" (- imbalances of fluid, requiring alignment) after watching a Jesuit Priest in Paris named Father Hell. The Priest would tap the heads of the patients with an iron crucifix and they would appear to be cured. In the 1700's a commission was appointed that included Benjamin Franklin. They concluded that Mesmer was a fraud, stating "All cures are based on imagination." But today, the viewpoint of that commission has been proven FALSE. The power of the mind is now being recognized and even studied beyond what was once expected.
A professor of surgery at the University College in London, John Elliotson (1791-1868), who invented the stethoscope, used only hypnosis for painless surgery. James Esdalie (1808-1859) lived in India and performed surgery with only hypnosis as the anesthesia, setting the record held even today, where hypnosis is the only anesthesia used for eye surgery. Jean Chatcot (1825-1893) and Hippolyte Bernheim (1837-1919) were well known neurologists who's collaboration led to the development of the Nancy School, which utilized suggestions and has done massive research using hypnosis.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who studied under Chatcot and Bernheim, used hypnosis for a while and then started to use Free Association. Hypnosis had a great injustice caused by Freud, where he tried to discredit the technique until he was very old. Freud said that hypnosis was a good method, but he was NO GOOD at it. Even though at the end of his life he tried to set the record straight so to speak, his actions set hypnosis back 70 or so years.
Emile Coue (1857-1926) was the writer of the most famous positive suggestion of recorded history, "Everyday in every way, I'm getting better and better". Many well known groups use this affirmation. The most famous man that really has put hypnosis back on the map and is known today as the Father of Hypnosis is Milton Erickson, M.D (1901-1980). Erickson, at the age of 14, was paralyzed by polio; he discovered self-hypnosis and used it to overcome the illness. Once recovered, Erickson used his life to help others learn how to use hypnosis. The majority of hypnotists today are trained by the teachings of Dr. Erickson, who changed the face of hypnosis forever.
I hope this brief look into the history of hypnosis educates and brings information to people, and allows hypnosis to assist in their life.
