Hypnosis In Psychology

Hypnosis in Psychology


          Throughout the history of this country, hypnosis has been dismissed

as a form of gimmickry.  Contrary to this, for centuries  numerous cultures have

used hypnosis as a means of mental and spiritual healing.  Hypnosis is defined

as an induced trance-like state in which one is highly susceptible to

suggestions, or commands.  There are three commonly known methods of hypnosis.

Two of which, the authoritarian and standardized approaches, are generally

considered non-beneficial towards the subject.  Meanwhile the utilization

approach, primarily developed by Dr. Milton H. Erickson, is the most widely used

amongst psychologists today. The authoritarian approach focuses primarily on the

power of the hypnotist over his/her subject.  The out-dated though still used,

standardized approach, is rather limited due to the fact that it considers a

person either hypnotizable or not.  In contrast to the authoritarian and

standardized approaches, the utilization approach, stresses the interaction

nature of the hypnotic relationship.  These approaches have many dissimilarities

and thus are utilized for different practices.


             The authoritarian approach emphasizes the power of the hypnotist.

This approach, spawned by Mesmer and others, is still widely exploited by stage

hypnotists and is consequently often the conceptualization held by the uniformed

lay person.  Even many trained physicians implicitly adhere to this view, which

in it's extreme form involves some powerful and charismatic hypnotist exercising

some strange power over a hapless and weak-willed subject.  In essence, the

hypnotist gets the subject to do something he or she wouldn't ordinarily do such

as stop smoking or bark like a dog.  This approach generally assumes that the

unconscious is some passive vehicle into which suggestions are placed.  This

approach is one which is viewed as limited in value.  It is also believed that

the unconscious is mistreated or abused. Because of its authoritative manner,

this approach is considered ineffective.


             Many people realized these limitations and subsequently developed

what might be called the standardized approach.  The standardized approach

generally assumes that hypnotic responsiveness is determined by some inherent

trait or ability of the subject.  There is nothing inherently worn with this

approach, especially in a research setting, where sometimes it is required.

However it doesn't work very well for allot of subjects, especially those

displaying abnormal behavior.


             The utilization approach assumes that each person is unique in

terms of strategies used to create his/her trance and, consequently the

hypnotist's effectiveness depends upon how well he/she is able to adapt his/her

basic strategies to those of a given subject.  Thus standardized methods are not

used.  The approach further assumes that unconscious processes can operate in an

intelligent and creative fashion and that people have stored in their

unconscious all the resources necessary to attain this "trance".


             The question thus becomes: How does the hypnotist bring the subject

under
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