Hypnotic, or suggestive therapy
is the oldest of all healing techniques. From the Sleep Temples of Egypt
through the histories of ancient Greece and Rome, some form of hypnosis
has always been an intimate part of all cultures. In the Middle Ages healing
through touch and prayer became the major way of treating disease. In the
18th century - when it was believed that illness was caused by the magnetic
influence of astral bodies -
Franz Anton Mesmer would induce people into a trance-like state by what
he (erroneously) believed to be Animal Magnetism. Although Mesmerism
was soon discredited, it continued to be used even after the death of Mesmer
as it often produced "miracle" cures. When James Braid re-examined
Mesmerism in the 19th century he discovered that simple suggestion was just
as effective as Mesmerism or any other method to induce trance-like states.
It was Braid who coined the phrase "hypnosis" from the
Greek word for sleep, hypnos. In the early part of the 20th century, hypnosis
was used almost exclusively by stage hypnotists, thereby giving a hopelessly
distorted view of this very powerful therapeutic tool. However in 1955 
the
British Medical Association endorsed the practice of hypnosis and hypnotherapy
in Medical School education, since when it has become a valuable addition
to conventional medical treatment. It may be surprising to many to learn
that we experience trance states often during the course of our lives. Even
passing into ordinary sleep involves a kind of trance state. The experience
of hypnosis is similar: neither asleep nor awake and a little like daydreaming,
with a pleasant feeling of deep relaxation behind it all. Hypnosis is a
different state of consciousness, which you can naturally enter so that,
for therapeutic purposes, beneficial corrections may be given directly to
your unconscious mind. In this way, hypnosis is an effective way of making
contact with our inner (unconscious) self, which is both a reservoir of
unrecognised potential and knowledge as well as being the unwitting source
of many of our problems. It is a fact
that no one can be hypnotised against his or her will and even when hypnotised,
a person can still reject any suggestion. Thus therapeutic hypnosis is a
state of purposeful co-operation.
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