What Is Hypnosis

What Is Hypnosis? Describe the psychological and physical aspects of hypnosis and discuss the role of relaxation in Hypnotherapy. Before we can begin to discuss anything about hypnotherapy, it is important to discuss what hypnosis actually is. This essay aims to arrive at a definition of hypnosis by describing the psychological and physical aspects and looking at it use by hypnotherapists and the role of relaxation within this. The history of hypnosis dates back to the times of ancient Egypt and it has been quite a contentious history.From Mesmer to de Puysegur in the 1700’s; from the first use of the term hypnosis by Braid in 1840 to it’s use as an anaesthetic in surgery by Esdaile and Elliotson; from the work of Erikson (widely regarded to be the grandfather of modern hypnosis) to the present day, the debate continues and theorists are divided as to the true nature of hypnosis. These differences of opinion stem from difficulties in actually measuring hypnosis. Hypnosi s is a subjective experience and, as such, no two individuals who undergo the process will have exactly the same experience.Often requiring the use of psychological measures, it is, therefore, more difficult to measure reliably in comparison to physiological matters such as heart rate and blood pressure; although, technological advances in the use of EEG’s (electroencephalograms) and neuroimaging have been very useful. Hence, the nature of hypnosis has long been the subject of contentious debate between those who seek scientific experimental explanations of its various psychological and physical aspects and those hypnotherapists who seek to use it as a tool with which to help people.Even today, theorists are divided into two camps: State theorists who believe that the practice of hypnosis brings about an altered state of consciousness and non-state theorists who believe that the hypnotic state or trance is little different from everyday relaxation and that its effects are mer ely reactions to suggestions which would have occurred without the use of hypnotic induction, e. g. Spanos (1982). However, for the purpose of this essay, I will assume that the state theorists are correct and assert that hypnosis is an altered state of mind which occurs through the use of a set of techniques by the hypnotist.It can enhance a person’s concentration and responsiveness to suggestion in order to enable them to make desired and beneficial changes to their behaviours, feelings, thoughts and physiological state, thereby enhancing their lives. There are a number of complex psychological aspects involved in hypnosis. In 1951, Solomon Asch carried out a study of conformity whereby subjects were told that they were taking part in a study of visual perception with 6 other people. In fact, only one person in each group was the true subject of Asch’s experiment as the other 6 were aware of the true nature of the study.Each participant in turn (the subject being las t) was asked to say which line from a set of three was the same length as the line on the target card. The answers were obvious, but on hearing all the other participants give incorrect answers, in one out of three trials they gave the same incorrect answers. In the control group where the subjects were asked to write their answers in private, incorrect responses were rare. This experiment has been difficult to replicate more recently as modern culture has changed the way that people conform.The work of Milgram in 1963 showed that ordinary people (65% of subjects) were willing to follow the instructions of an authority figure even if this involved apparently causing harm to others i. e, punishing them with a shock of 450 volts for answering a question incorrectly. Such studies show that, as people, we tend to be more comfortable when we fit in, conform, or comply with the instructions of those in authority. As clients would generally be considered to have some level of rapport with their hypnotist it is reasonable to assume that some responses to suggestion could be explained in these terms.For example, if a hypnotist suggests that a clients arm feels so light that it may float into the air, the client may raise their arm because they feel that this is what is expected and they would feel uncomfortable if they did not conform with the perceived expectation of the hypnotist. It is important to understand this innate need to conform, which we all have, in terms of the people with whom we will work and always endeavour to treat people with respect and professionalism. There is also a possibility that some aspect of role-play may be involved on the part of the client i. , they may behave in a way that they believe a hypnotised person should behave. The concept of attribution may also have a part to play; i. e. does the subject attribute the experience they have had to having being hypnotised or do they attribute their experience to having been deeply relaxed and e ngrossed in their internal image? Other psychological aspects involved in hypnosis are the use of selective attention whereby the subject concentrates on a limited range of usually internal stimuli such as feelings and imagery and imagination here the subject is often instructed by the hypnotist to imagine a scene. The above section describes the psychological aspects of hypnosis, so what are the physical aspects? As mentioned above, the use of electroencephalogram’s (EEG) and neuroimaging with hypnotised subjects have been able to identify differences in brain functioning in hypnotised people. Askerinsky & Kleitman (1953) were able to show that hypnotised subjects were not in fact asleep as some early theories had suggested. Different levels of consciousness produce different levels of electrical activity within the brain.Beta Waves occur at a rate of 15 to 40 cycles per second and are present when our minds are engaged and focussed, perhaps in conversation or learning a new task. Alpha waves occur at a rate of 9 to 14 cycles per second and are present when we are engaged in some relaxed, creative or problem solving task and are accompanied by feelings of well-being. Alpha waves are not present when we are experiencing anger fear, high arousal levels or when we are in deep sleep but are present during light trance/hypnotic state.During this state, relaxation of the body may occur; breathing and pulse rate slow and an individual may appear to be day-dreaming as they direct their attention towards their imagination. Theta Waves occur at a rate of 4 to 8 cycles per second and are associated with our subconscious mind where our past experiences and memories are held. Freud was the first theorist to propose the presence of the unconscious mind. This is the area of our minds which deals with non-voluntary bodily functions, thus freeing up the rest of our minds for things which we actively need to think about.Theta waves may be present when we are day dreamin g, carrying out automatic well learned tasks such as driving and when we dream. They are associated with calmness and feelings of serenity and are present in medium and deep hypnotic states. During moderate and deep hypnotic states a person may lose awareness of their surroundings but gain an increased awareness of their internal functions (breathing/heart rate). Imagery becomes more intense and suggestions may be interpreted literally. Limbs may feel limp or stiff; attention narrows further and there may be loss of environmental awareness.Delta Waves occur at a rate of 1 to 4 cycles per second. These are the slowest waves which are present when are in our deepest state of rest when no other waves are present. When these waves are present we are in a state of sleep and possibly very deep hypnosis such as the Esdaile State used by the surgeon of the same name in order to anaesthetise patients for surgery. In addition other physical aspects of hypnosis include, feeling warm or cold an d tingling of the extremities. Subjects often feel sleepy and close their eyes and there can be a reduction in response to noise.Some people experience feeling strange or detached and dissociated from their body or surroundings and feelings of floating are common. These feelings vary from person to person and are dependent upon an individuals’ psychological predisposition and responses as described above. No two people will have exactly the same response to hypnosis and each experience is subjective. As we go through the different levels of consciousness our brain wave activity changes in a smoothly organised manner. For example, when relaxing into sleep we go from Beta to Alpha, to Theta and finally Delta waves predominate.The reverse happens as we awake. The waves which predominate during hypnosis are Alpha and Theta and it is these waves which provide a route to our subconscious. Relaxation has an important role to play in Hypnotherapy. Jacobson (1929) was the first to not e the helpfulness of consciously relaxing muscles to enable them to maintain a relaxed state and improve the health and wellbeing of his patients. Most hypnotic screeds include suggestions of relaxation which help the subject to physically relax to the degree that Alpha and Theta brain waves are produced.Suppressed memories may be brought to the surface when Theta waves are present and although this may be painful, it offers the client the opportunity to discuss and address any such issues with their hypnotherapist if they choose to do so. Such therapy can be helpful and aid healing if carried out with sensitivity. As a cautionary note, Mingay (1988) suggests that dissociated memories accessed under hypnosis may be at risk of contamination by fantasy or leading questions on the part of the hypnotherapist.Along with this deep, relaxation comes an increase in suggestibility, i. e. we tend to respond to suggestions made by the hypnotherapist more readily than we would generally. Heap ( 1996) argues that suggestion and trance are crucial to any definition of hypnosis. Whilst in a deeply relaxed hypnotic state, the Hypnotherapist is able to make suggestions which can help the subject to change their behaviours, feelings or thought patterns in a beneficial way. For example, if a client wishes to stop smoking, the hypnotherapist might suggest that they now choose to be a non-smoker.In fact, there are a number of ways in which a Hypnotherapist can utilise suggestion whilst a client is in a relaxed hypnotic state in order to produce beneficial effects. It can be used to produce anaesthesia in the body – the use of hypnosis for surgery has been mentioned above but there is ample evidence that hypnotic suggestion can influence physiological responses governed by the autonomic nervous system. Grabowska (1971) found that subjects were able to alter the blood flow in their forearms via hypnotic suggestion and Olness et el (1989) found that children were able to alter their concentrations of salivary immunoglobulin A.The use of Progressive Muscle Relaxation during hypnotic induction not only enables subjects to enter a hypnotic trance state and more readily accept beneficial suggestions but repeated use of PMR during Hypnotherapy can enable clients to be able to relax more readily in general and in situations where they may ordinarily become very stressed. Suggestions can be given which allow people to relax when needed as long as it is safe to do so and such techniques can be used to reduce general anxiety and stress, help improve sleep patterns and reduce phobic fear reactions to such things as public speaking and flying.In conclusion, hypnosis is not of itself a therapy. It is a state of mind which can be induced and its use in hypnotherapy can be described as a complex psychological interaction between the hypnotherapist and their client(s) during which the hypnotherapist uses the hypnotic screed, which often includes an element of PMR, to en able the client to relax encouraging the presence of Alpha and Theta brain waves and access to the subconscious.In this state, the clients’ concentration and responsiveness to suggestions made by the hypnotherapist increases, thereby enabling them to make desired, beneficial changes to their behaviours, feelings and thoughts and thus, enhancing their lives. References: Hadley, J. & Staudacher, C. 1996, Hypnosis for Change; 3rd edn; Canada, New Harbinger publications Heap, M. , & Dryden, W. , 1991, Hypnotherapy: A Handbook, OU Press What is hypnosis? The earliest known description of hypnosis dates back more than 6000 years ago to rites performed in Egyptian sleep temples. The Indus Vedas knowledge sacred book written around 1500 BC, mentions the use of hypnotic techniques and procedures in detail yet in 2012 we still find it difficult to answer the question â€Å"what is hypnosis?†. ‘All sciences alike have descended from magic and superstition, but none have been so slow as hypnosis in shaking off the association of its origin'. (Clark Hull, Hypnosis and suggestibility, 1984). The grandfather of hypnosism is regarded to be Franz Anton Mesmer who achieved some very amazing cures. He was, however, prone to be a bit theatrical wearing long flowing robes and brandishing a wand to complete his wizard image. Treatments and cures were conducted in large arenas with many onlookers. The film Svengali, although pure fiction did a lot to discredit hypnosis for many years by portraying hypnotists as evil predators and also inspired the emerging stage hypnotists. Even today stage hypnotists continue to discredit hypnotism making it hard to be taken seriously as an emerging science. It is my view that the use of hypnotism for entertainment should be completely banned. Abuse allegations where hypnotism has been said to be a contributing factor still regularly appear in our newspapers fueling the public perception that the only safe hypnosis is that which is performed in a public arena in front of millions of people for entertainment. My introduction would not be complete without mentioning the impact of the church. As a practicing Christian I find it difficult to understand how people practicing the same faith as me could believe that hypnotism could be believed to be evil. What i find more astounding is the fact that some people, educated people still think that today. ‘Whilst hypnosis and its use in hypnotherapy seem merely to be the input by the hypnotist of ideas into the subconscious of a subject in a heightened state of suggestibility, I would contend that this art of psychic manipulation is in fact of demonic origin. Though these roots of hypnosis are now obscured by an undergrowth of scientific jargon, it remains a dangerous activity to anyone involved.' (Dr A. D. Bambridge, Nucleus, 1987) There is no exact definition of what hypnosis is, mainly because no such definition can be agreed upon by all the experts. It has been described as ‘the deliberate inducement or facilitation by one person in another person or a number of people of a trance state. A trance state is one in which a person's usual means of orientating himself in reality have faded, so that the boundaries between the external world and the inner world of thoughts, feelings, memories and imagination begin to dissolve.' (Robin Waterfield, Hidden Depths, 2004). It has also been described as ‘a state of mental relaxation and restricted awareness in which the subjects are usually engrossed in their inner experiences such as feelings and imagery, are less analytical and logical in their thinking, and have an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestions in an automatic and dissociated manner.' (Windy Dryden, Hypnotherapy, a handbook, 1991). The clearest description being ‘a state of mind brought about by the use of a set of techniques. It enhances an individual's concentration and increases their responsiveness to suggestion in order to make the beneficial changes that the individual may wish to make in their thought patterns, their behaviour or their physiological state.' (Chrysalis, 2010) ‘It is probably more useful to describe hypnosis than attempt to define it. Features of the hypnotic state include the following: Acceptance of imaginary phenomena in place of sensory experience, and detachment from the sensorium; Suspension of reality testing, suspension of everyday cognitive logic and secondary-process thinking; Narrowing of attention (a sort of mental tunnel vision) to the content of the focus of the hypnotic exercise: suggested by the therapist or created by the subject's own imagination or memory; ‘splitting' of consciousness into separate channels that communicate in only one direction (i.e. The subject's normal consciousness, attitudes, reality testing and so on continue and are aware of the content of the hypnotised self, but the latter is unaware of the former); A rather regressed or developmentally immature frame of mind (closely akin to some transference phenomena in analysis or analytic therapy); Commitment to a substitute reality described by the therapist or the patient's own imagination and memory.' (Hellmut Karle and Jennifer Boys, Hypnotherapy a practical handbook, 1987) The mind still remains unmeasurable and unquantifiable and therefore a definition of any science or therapy based on the mind will always remain something open to debate and discussion. The fact that the hypnotic experience is personal and each individual will experience something different simply complicates things further. ‘There are a number of people, academics above all, who simply do not believe in the existence of mind. They think that this a naive belief held by the rest of us, and that the phenomena attributed to our minds are best explained otherwise.' (Robin Waterfield, Hidden Depths, 2004). It seems the best that the experts can do is fairly agree as to the psychological and physiological phenomena experienced during hypnosis. Psychological phenomena often experienced during hypnosis could include hyper suggestibility (so important that it is often considered definitional of hypnosis), time distortion (when an hour may appear to pass in a minute), super learning and creativity, spontaneous age regression, hypermnesia and amnesia. (Robin Waterfield, Hidden Depths, 2004) Since the invention of the electroencephalogram in 1929 we have been able to measure the electrical activity of the brain. Scientists have determined that there are four main brain waves which vary in frequency. 1. Beta waves (15 to 40 cycles per second). These are typical of a focused and engaged mind. These are found in abundance in our modern, busy life style. 2. Alpha waves (9 to 14 cycles per second). These are typical of taking a rest after an activity. They are present during times of creativity and problem solving but not during times of fear, anger, in a deep sleep or highly aroused. 3. Theta waves (4 to 8 cycles per second). These are present during sleeping and some meditative states.. These are associated with (amongst other things) medium to deep hypnosis. These waves are associated with our subconscious mind. You may be in the theta range when daydreaming or driving a car. It is where we engage with our intuition learning and creativity. It is where we have our best ideas. You may recall having moments such as these on a car journey or in the bath. 4. Delta waves (1 to 4 cycles per second). These waves are produced at our slowest, deepest state of rest. There are never any other waves active. They are present during the deepest hypnosis and sleepless sleep. You can never reach 0 cycles per second as that is brain dead. These waves will dip and flow and at any one moment one will be predominant and the others will just be present as a trace and moving from one to another depending on the state of the individual. From what we know about the frequencies we can see that hypnosis occurs during alpha and theta waves and that these waves are associated with relaxation which we will discuss later. Although philosophers and mystics may have been reflecting on a subconscious mind for centuries our understanding of it only dates back to the time of Sigmund Freud. We know that it is responsible for the non-voluntary bodily functions that keep our bodies working from one day to the next freeing our mind up to concentrate on the things of the day. Think about all those skills we learned within the first year or two of our lives – moving limbs, making a noise, swallowing food, standing, walking etc etc. Imagine for one moment that all those skills had to be thought about each and every time we wanted to use them. Our day would be completely filled with just those things. We learn those skills and then pass them to the subconscious mind to action them, leaving our conscious mind free to learn more and develop. So hypnosis is simply about assisting someone to reach the state where the predominant brain waves are the alpha and theta waves and so access their subconscious mind. As mentioned previously these waves are associated with relaxation which has, as our life styles have become more and more busy over time, become more and more difficult to achieve on ones own. Hypnosis and relaxation are not the same. Hypnosis uses relaxation techniques to relax the body and relaxation is an indication that a person has achieved a hypnotic state. The difference is that hypnosis aims to reach a special state of consciousness where selective attention and increased suggestibility are present. Hypnosis will then use this state to effect changes in a person through beneficial suggestions A brief look at the physiology of muscles shows us that muscle units work on an all or nothing principle, meaning they are either contracting or relaxed and there are no other states. The problem is that due to the constant stress that modern living brings with it some muscles, in particular the shoulders and neck, are constantly in contraction. In 1929 Dr Edmond Jacobson discovered that most of his patients, all with unrelated problems, had tense muscles and that by relaxing these muscles he could reduce the severity of their symptoms. He also noticed that most patients were not aware of the tension they carried with them. He developed a technique called Progressive Muscle Relaxation (or PMR) which enabled the patients to relax their muscles and keep them relaxed and thereby improve their physical, mental and emotional state. Hypnosis uses an updated form of PMR to achieve the same results. We know that relaxation does not mean laying on a bed and it does not mean being asleep. We will all have experienced times when we have driven somewhere and cannot remember getting there. We certainly would not say we were asleep. Long distance runners will also experience the same phenomena and often cannot remember huge amounts of the run. As a long distance runner myself I am aware of the importance of relaxing whilst running and can bring my pulse rate back to normal within a mile or two of the start of a run. I having been practicing PMR techniques for years whilst running without knowing that it existed In conclusion then it is still difficult to answer then question of what is hypnosis with a simple definition because in the past it has been so closely associated with theatrical entertainment or rejected by the church or wrapped in superstition, falsely portrayed as evil on film and used by some to abuse people that the scientific community never took it seriously as a science until recently. The fact that a number of academics deny the existence of the mind does not help matters either. We can begin to describe it in terms of the psychological and physiological phenomena experienced during hypnosis but not much more. We know that there is nothing mystical or magical about the hypnotic state. Put simply it is assisting someone to reach the state where the predominant brain waves are the alpha and theta waves and so access their subconscious mind where selective attention and increased suggestibility are present and then use this state to effect changes in the person through beneficial suggestions. We know that to achieve this state we can make use of PMR Albert Einstein said that we only use 10% of our brain. Maybe with hypnosis we are just beginning to push at a door that will lead us into the remaining 90%. History has given us glimpses of an amazing power that we don't yet understand. People undergoing major surgery with anaesthesia, curing debilitating physical conditions, amazing accounts of healing. What is hypnosis today? What could hypnosis be tomorrow?