The History of Hypnosis

In 1500, Paracelcus coined magnetism, where patient could be cured by using magnet, as he did to his patients.

In 1772, Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), an Austrian physician, a student of Maxmillian Hell brought the use of healing magnets to Vienna, is widely acknowledged as the 'Father of Hypnosis'. Noting what his teacher did to heal his patients, 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.

One day by coincidence Mezmer couldn't find his magnet and used a stick instead, still causing the bleeding to stop, it was this that led Mesmer to believe that the magnetic energy came from within the patient, and he believed that he had “power” to flow the magnetic energy to that stick to stabilize magnetic energy within the patient. He eventually labeled the term Animal Magnetism.

One of way of therapy done by Mesmer was by filled full a basin with water then loaded iron. Patient was asked to holds iron in the water tub. If the patien more then one, they were asked to holds string connecting between them so that magnetic energy could to every patient body. Then Mesmer did a theatrical drama  assisted with smoke and mirror game. This situation made patient became drift and dissolved, so that, among of them experienced trance such their body were shaken by this drama! They were also hallucinated, they saw Mesmer hand release smoke when it moved on the air and pointed to basin. The trance patient then touched by Mesmer, then expressed recovers.

Mesmer declared that he had special strength, a miracle. By using strength or the miracle, he could canalize and channel magnet energy to a glass. So that, one who drank from that glass could recover from the disease. This made Mesmer famous and rich, but on the other sied he got opposition from medical world and church. They suspected that Mesmer did a quack practice, when at that time church hardly prohibited the action like that.

In the year 1816, by request of King Louis XVI, Mesmer called by the commission of France Medical Academy headed by Benjamin Franklin, where the members included Dr. Joseph Guillotine and Antoine Lavoisier, the chemist, to investigate the erudition of Animal Magnetism.

The meeting concluded that MESMER WAS NOT FLOWING ANYTHING FROM HIS HAND when curing his patient. Without magnetism coined by Mesmer, patient could also trance and recovered. Even, like the one observed by Benjamin Franklin, there was a patient touching an object which was said has been flown magnetic energy, doesn't recover at all. Without game of theatrical drama, magnetism was not happened. So it’s concluded also that magnetic dilution didn’t exist!

Animal magnetism didn’t exist! Mesmer didn’t had any miracle in healing the patient. Patient recovered because being dissolved in a drama treatrikal....!!! Then Mesmer was expelled and moved out town and finally died peacefully in Swiss. But Mesmer already had many followers at that moment. Among them was Catholic priest called Fr. Joseph Gassner, who did mesmerism through his ritual activity.

Marquis de Puysegur (1781-1825), a mesmerian (who was using Mesmer method) in curing his patient, introduced hypnotic state term as we recognize today, like somnambulism or sleepwalker for deep hypnotic state.

Dr. John Elliotson (1791-1868) and Dr. James Esdaile (1808-1859) applied mesmerism as a means of anesthesia. More than one hundred mans had been cured by using this way. Curative method with hypnosis became unpopular after finding of chloroform. Besides, it had get contradiction from church. According to them God has complemented man with pain, so that pain may not be eliminated.

In 1842 that the terms 'hypnotism' and 'hypnosis' were coined by James Braid (1795-1860), a Scottish surgeon working in Manchester.  James Braid wrote the book Neurhypnology, and published his observation that it was a subjects fixation on a single point that caused the state of trance (monoideaism). 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. The term hypnosis itself came from hypnos, a God of Sleep in Greek myth. He tried to coin the term 'monoideaism', but it didn't stick and the term hypnosis, survived to this day.

Research of Braid had drawn attention some experts like Prof. Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893), a neurologist ( the formerly name for a psychologist), including Piere Janet, Sigmund Freud and Alfred Binet. Charcot expressed that hyonosis could be yielded mechanically without suggestion (wrong assumption) and he also found classification of hypnosis phenomenon.

Freud expressed that hypnosis only achieved if patient was in deep trance. They, Piere Janet and Freud, failed to hypnotize because they had failed to build good rapport with client during interview. Finally they told that hypnosis was just for person who was ill bounced and dangerous. Failures of Freud in determining a good hypnosis subject made him and other expert leaved hypnosis.  While, as we know today, the process of hypnosis is hardly depend on client desire and suggestibility. This thing was unknown by Freud. Finally Freud develops psychoanalysis with analyze human behavior.  As a result, the popularity hypnosis thus went downwards.

On the other side, there were two professors developing this art of hypnosis, Dr. Ambroise Auguste Liebeault ( 1823-1904) and Bernheim. They said that subject could sleep easily just with given him a suggestion. .Liebeault did therapy with hypnosis. His approach to hypnosis was as according to current psychology science and have a big contribution in psychiatry. Liebault often is conceived of "Father of Hypnosis".

In 1940 Jung and Clark Hull also developed hypnosis. They were still having a notion that hypnosis hypnosis should be done by authoritarian style (by command) to force client in following the desired of therapist. Jung didn’t want to continue this because he didn't wish to force his will to client.

In this year, hypnosis didn’t grow favorably. This thing happened because every above expert had an opinion that client could recover because the strength of hypnotist (who hypnotize) suggestion. With this strength, they applied authoritarian pattern to the client. They consider had intensity so that with the verbal pronunciation a patient could recover.

In the middle of ‘40, there was a real genius psychiatrist and one of the pupil of Hull, named Milton Erickson (1901-1980). Opposing to his predecessor, Erickson expressed that the superb in hypnosis process was the client. Client could realize and follows what therapist said. He also expressed that hypnosis was a natural process and won’t proceed when the suggestion was against client values and desire. All process of hypnosis resided in client hand – self hypnosis. For that purpose he changes the patterns of hypnosis, which during the time applied authoritarian, became permissive style so that client would follow what told by therapist. He also developed patterns from direct method into indirect method. Besides, he also developed suggestion techniques and ideo-dynamic approach (inter-active pattern) for therapy.

Erickson had hypnotized people during 60 years with average 14 persons per day! Hypnosis techniques developed by Erickson has increased the percentage the number of person that can be hypnotized in a community. Erickson was hilarious and humorist. He could hypnotize with just shaking the opponent without saying a word at all (non verbal technique). Many friends near Erickson avoided to shake hand with him.
For his service, hence in 1958 American Medical Associations and American Psychiatrists Association accepted hypnosis as one of therapy auxiliaries.

Milton H Erickson is often called as Master of Communication, though he was dyslexia when he was young, color blindness, polio so that his feet were paralysis. Only with correct verbal or non communications people can be hypnotized. This thing then studied by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in developing NLP ( Neuro Lingusitic Programing) - a real popular now.

After a period of Erickson, many experts developed hypnosis for therapy like Dave Elman (1900-1967). He developed quick induction technique that ‘s real good for medical doctor and dentist. Despitefully, at era Erickson there was also a Great Stage Hypnotist, Ormond Mc Gill. The nick name was Dr. Zoom. He was considered to be The Dean of American Hypnotist. Other people were Gil Boyne, Charles Tebbets (so-called as Grandfather of Modern Hypnosis), John Kappas, etc.

Now hypnosis grows rapidly. Every expert has own style in applying it. Hypnosis is also a basis of  NLP (Neuro Linguistic Program) science developing by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. They learned communications patterns from Milton H Erickson. Now NLP is very popular, especially in motivation and empowerment world. Many motivator apply NLP for their training, like Anthony Robbins, a human development consultant, where one of his client is ex President USA-Bill Clinton, before he was president.