A Brief History of Hypnotherapy Part Two
A Brief History of Hypnotherapy North London Part Two
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the French were also taking an interest in the subject of hypnosis and the possibility of Hypnotherapy, and many breakthroughs were made by such men as Ambrose Liébeault (1823 - 1904), and Charles Richet (1850 - 1935).
The work of another Frenchman, Emile Coué (1857 - 1926), was very interesting. He moved away from conventional approaches and pioneered the use of autosuggestion. He is most famous for the phrase, 'day by day in every way I am getting better and better'. His technique was one of affirmation and it has been championed in countless modern books. A man of enormous compassion, Coué believed that he did not heal people himself but merely facilitated their own self-healing. He understood the importance of the subject's participation in hypnosis, and was a forerunner of those modern practitioners who claim that there is no such thing as hypnosis, only self-hypnosis.
Perhaps his most famous idea was that the imagination is always more powerful than the will. For example, if you ask someone to walk across a plank of wood on the floor, they can usually do it without wobbling. However, if you tell them to close their eyes and imagine the plank is suspended between two buildings hundreds of feet above the ground, they will start to sway. If you would like further information about Hypnotherapy North London, or to have a consultation without charge or obligation; please contact Paul Levrant who will be happy to explain in greater detail how Hypnotherapy North London may be able to assist with various behavioural and emotional difficulties. Sessions for Hypnotherapy are available in his practice in Highgate. In a sense Coué also anticipated the placebo effect; a treatment of no intrinsic value the power of which lies in suggestion: patients are told that they are being given a drug that will cure them.
Recent research on placebos is quite startling. In some cases statistics indicate that placebos can work better that many of modern medicine's most popular drugs. It seems that while drugs are not always necessary for recovery from illness belief in recovery is! Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) was also interested in hypnosis, and the idea of hypnotherapy; initially using it extensively in his work. If you would like further information about Hypnotherapy North London, or to have a consultation without charge or obligation; please contact Paul Levrant who will be happy to explain in greater detail how Hypnotherapy North London may be able to assist with various behavioural and emotional difficulties. Sessions for Hypnotherapy are available in his practice in Highgate. Freud eventually abandoned the practice - for several reasons, not least that he wasn't very good at it! He favoured psychoanalysis, which involves the patient lying on a couch and the analyst doing a lot of listening. He believed that the evolution of the self was a difficult process of working through stages of sexual development, with repressed memories of traumatic incidents the main cause of psychological problems. This is an interesting idea that has yet to be proved. Freud's early rejection of hypnosis delayed the development of hypnotherapy, turning the focus of psychology away from hypnosis and towards psychoanalysis.
Similarly, his student, C.G. Jung (1875-1961), also enthused about hypnosis, later abandoned the field because of misconceptions about its use, resulting in an embarrassing failure during a classroom demonstration in which he lost control of the patient. Jung said he abandoned hypnosis, in part, because he didn't want to impose his will on others, which is more a comment on the type of hypnosis he used than on hypnotherapy itself. However, things picked up in 1930s in America with the publication of Clark Hull's book, Hypnosis, and Suggestibility: An Experimental Approach. Although his theories are outmoded, Hull's book established good criteria for clinical experiments.
In more recent times, the recognised leading authority on clinical hypnosis was Milton H. Erickson, MD (1901-80), a remarkable man, and a highly effective psychotherapist. As a teenager he was stricken with polio and paralysed, but he remobilized himself. It was while paralysed that he had an unusual opportunity to observe people, and he noticed that what people said and what they did were often very different. If you would like further information about Hypnotherapy North London, or to have a consultation without charge or obligation; please contact Paul Levrant who will be happy to explain in greater detail how Hypnotherapy North London may be able to assist with various behavioural and emotional difficulties. Sessions for Hypnotherapy are available in his practice in Highgate. Erickson became fascinated by human psychology and devised countless innovative and creative ways to heal people. He healed through metaphor, surprise, confusion and humour, as well as hypnosis. A master of indirect hypnosis, he was able to put a person into a trance without even mentioning the word hypnosis. It is becoming more and more accepted that an understanding of hypnosis is essential for the efficient practice of every type of psychotherapy. Erickson's approach and its derivatives are without question the most effective techniques.
In 1955, the British Medical Society officially recognised hypnosis as a legitimate medical procedure, and the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association followed suit in 1958. The twentieth century saw further strides forward in the field of hypnosis. The emergence of Neuro-linguistic programming in the late 1950's linked hypnotherapy with this new 'science'.
The emphasis on hypnosis today centres around its therapeutic use, both in medicine, particularly obstetrics and, and as a psychotherapeutic tool, treating such diverse problems as habit control, phobias, and emotional issues.
Of equal significance is its benefit in treating stress-related conditions, as an effective tool to lower of physical, behavioural and psychological signs of stress, and a means of personal empowerment and self esteem. Hypnosis has come a long way, and is now considered an effective way of dealing with many problems of life in the 21st century. The use of hypnosis, whether for personal gain, such as self hypnosis for relaxation and motivation, or within a clinical setting, as part of a psychotherapeutic approach to problem solving, is both a valuable tool and a safe way of achieving health, harmony and personal fulfilment. If you would like further information about Hypnotherapy North London, or to have a consultation without charge or obligation; please contact Paul Levrant who will be happy to explain in greater detail how Hypnotherapy North London may be able to assist with various behavioural and emotional difficulties. Sessions for Hypnotherapy are available in his practice in Highgate.
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