The Origins Of Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy has been in use by humans for therapeutic (and other) reasons for a very long time.

According to the expert in Celtic archaeology Anne Ross, the Druids of ancient Britain and Ireland are likely to have practiced hypnosis as part of their repertoire of healing and other abilities.

However, in the Western world, the use of hypnotherapy was pushed back into the fringes and was viewed with suspicion and mistrust, with many considering that the ability of one person to put another into a hypnotic trance was “casting a spell”,

meaning that the hypnotherapist was possibly a witch or warlock, who may have malign intentions.

Hypnotherapy came back into focus in the 18th century, during the period known as the Enlightenment.

The earliest named pioneer of hypnotherapy was Franz Mesmer, who gave his name to “mesmerism”, which has been used as an alternative term for hypnosis.

Magnetism had just been discovered, and it was believed by Mesmer and others of his kind that there was a form of “animal magnetism”, similar to the “animal electricity” that had been discovered by Galvin in his famous experiment involving frogs’ legs on copper wire during a thunderstorm.

Everyone could see that metals could affect each other via “mineral magnetism”; was it possible for living beings to influence and affect each other via “animal magnetism”?

Later on, the term “hypnosis” was coined and Mesmer’s name fell out of favour, similar to the way Galvin’s name had been dropped and the word “electricity” used instead.

The word was based on the Greek hypnos, meaning “sleep”, as a hypnotic trance was considered to be a form of sleep, the only other alternate state of consciousness known (or at least accepted) at the time.

The general public was intrigued by this new form of therapy and often came to sessions where they could experience “instant sleep” and all its purported benefits.

As was the case with all new therapies, the topic of hypnotherapy was highly debated.

On the one hand, some practitioners claimed that an individual in a hypnotic trance could diagnose their own illness with extreme accuracy.

Others claimed that health could be transmitted from the hypnotherapist to the patient using “animal magnetism” as a medium – a sort of beneficial infection.

However, others dismissed this new form of therapy as simple quackery and put the cures down to the placebo effect.

Today, Hypnotherapy has gained acclamation in the field of alternative medicine or therapy.

It is dubbed as a natural, relaxed and focused state of mind that creates an access to the powerful resources of a persons subconscious mind. Hypnotherapy is the therapeutic application of hypnosis to create positive remedial outcomes for people.

Hypnotherapy is the therapeutic application of hypnosis to create positive remedial outcomes for people.

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