The History of Hypnotism

This information is provided to you by Master Hypnotist A.J. LaHaye.
  The history of hypnotism dates back to even before recorded history though the term "hypnosis" wasn't coined until 1842. Primitive peoples have used hypnotic trance in religious and healing ceremonies since the dawn of man.  The ceremonies of primitive indigenous societies that still exist today in Africa, Australia, and elsewhere use rhythmic chanting, monotonous drum beats, eye fixation and relaxation to accomplish the hypnotic trance.  The old Persian Magi, Yogis, snake charmers, and Eastern magicians have used hypnotism for several thousand years to perform incredible physical feats and to eliminate pain.

The oldest written record in the history of hypnotism of cures by hypnotism was recorded in the Ebers Papyrus written in 1552 BC.  In that document it was described how a physician placed his hands on the heads of patients and, claiming superhuman powers, gave remedial suggestions that resulted in cures. The Roman Emperor Vespasian, King Pyrrhus of Egypt, Francis I of France and other French kings up to Charles X practiced healing using this technique.
 The history of hypnotism is dotted with stories of Egyptian "Sleep Temples." The Egyptians originated the "Sleep Temples", in which the priests gave similar treatment to their patients through the use of suggestion. These temples became very popular in Egypt and spread to Greece and Asia Minor.  Hypocrites, the Greek physician referred to as "the father of medicine" and whose oath all graduating physicians take, is known to have discussed the phenomenon.

It is proven that almost every ancient civilization throughout the history of hypnotism has been familiar with hypnosis in one form or another. The Mantras of India, the Mongols, Tibetans, and the Chinese all had knowledge of hypnosis. Even a detailed description of it is given in the Kalevala, the great epic poem of the Finns.

In modern times the history of hypnotism begins with a catholic priest who lived in Klosters in Switzerland in the early 1770's. Father Gassner theorized patients who were ill were possessed by devils which must be cast out for the patient to be cured. He invited physicians to observe and they were ushered into a room much like a theater. The patient was marched onto a stage in the center of the room to await the appearance of Father Gassner. Timing his entrance to make the most of the spectacle, Father Gassner would stride out onto the stage in a long solid black flowing cape holding a gold crucifix high in the air before him. The patient was told in advance that when Father Gassner touched him with the crucifix he would promptly fall to the floor and remain there for further instructions. Gassner's patients were told to actually "die" while lying on the floor and that while they were "dead" he would cast out the demons from their body and then restore them to health. An observer physician would examine the patient, feel no pulse and pronounce him dead. Father Gassner would then order the demon to depart and shortly thereafter the patient would revive and rise completely cured. The man responsible for introducing the phenomena to the medical profession, Franz Anton Mesmer, was said to have watched a number of these performances by Father Gassner in the early 1770's.

 Franz Anton Mesmer was born on May 23, 1734 in Austria and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1766. Mesmer of course didn't believe Father Gassner's idea that patients were possessed by demons.  However he believed that in some way the metal crucifix the Father held was perhaps responsible for magnetizing the patient and so developed his ideas and explanation of the results into a theory of animal magnetism. He believed that there was a quasi-magnetic fluid in the very air we breathe and that the body's nervous system somehow absorbed this fluid. 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. He first tested his theory in 1773 by treating a 28 year old female, Franziska Osterlin and published his first account of the magnetic cure in 1775. 

    Mesmer's patients were placed in a tub filled with water and iron filings protruding from which were larger iron rods.  Mesmer suggested to his patients that as he touched them with his magnetic rod, they would become magnetized and eventually be cured. He made a very imposing picture in his long flowing robes, holding his magnetic rod and passing from room to room in his clinic. 

    Although his fame continued to spread, he was forced to leave Vienna following a case in which a blind child pianist recovered her sight after treatment by Mesmer despite that she had been under the care of Europe's leading eye specialists for ten years without improvement.  Influenced by jealous doctors, the girl's mother stopped treatment before the cure was complete. During an emotional episode in Mesmer's office the mother struck the child across the face because she did not want to leave his clinic, and the psychosomatic blindness returned. Mesmer's influence though was still great enough to get him a recommendation from the Austrian Foreign Minister to the Imperial Embassy in Paris where he moved early in February 1778.  There he founded a clinic and in 1779 published his famous book, Memoirre Sur La Decouverte Du Magnetisme Animal.

   In 1784 a special committee of the French Government investigated Mesmer and pronounced him a fraud.  However, Benjamin Franklin, who was a member of that investigating committee, stated the phenomenon was worthy of further consideration.

    After being denounced in Paris, Mesmer's popularity quickly faded, and he traveled to England, Italy and Germany, returning for a brief visit to Paris. He died in Morsburg on March 5, 1815.

    In 1814 the Abbe Faria suggested that the phenomena described by Mesmer were not due to animal magnetism, but actually due to suggestion. However the popularity of Mesmer was so well established that Faria's hypothesis was soon forgotten.  Mesmerism spread rapidly throughout Europe.

    James Braid, a Scottish surgeon working in Manchester, was introduced to Mesmerism in 1841 by a French magnetizer named La Fontaine.  Braid recognized that hypnosis was actually due to suggestion and discarded any theory of magnetism. He found that some experimental subjects could go into a trance if they simply fixated their eyes on a bright object, like a silver watch. He believed that some sort of neurophysiological process was involved. He demonstrated that hypnosis was very useful in disorders such as headaches, skin problems, etc., where no organic origin to the problem could be identified. He showed that a single stimulus such as a word or object was enough to re-hypnotize his subjects.  In 1842 he was responsible for renaming Mesmerism to "hypnotism" after "Hypnos," the Greek god of sleep.   Later in life, Braid realized hypnotism was not sleep but a "concentration of the mind," and tried to change the name to monoideism. However, by that time the words "Hypnosis" and "hypnotism"  were already well rooted in the languages of Europe and he finally abandoned his effort. Born in 1795, he studied at Edinburgh and qualified there as a surgeon. After practicing in Scotland for a short time he moved to Manchester, where he lived until he died suddenly on March 25, 1860 of a heart attack. He maintained his practice and interest in hypnotism during his entire lifetime, and wrote many papers and monographs on the subject. 

    Like Braid, John Elliotson received his M.D. from Edinburgh, but went on to study on the continent as well as in Cambridge and at Sir Guy's Hospital.  He was born in 1791 and died on July 29, 1868 after a long illness. Elliotson received a full Professorship of Medicine at the London University. He was also named President of the Royal Medical and Surgical Society and was one of the founders of the University College Hospital in London. He was the one who introduced the stethoscope along with methods of examining the heart and lungs that are used to this day. Elliotson is best known for establishing ,in 1846, the first journal dealing with hypnotism. Many interesting articles appeared in his journal, Zoist, that was published quarterly from April 1843 until December 31, 1855. For thirteen years, article after article, was published by Elliotson, Esdaile, and many other brilliant physicians of that time, testifying to the excellent results of hypnotic treatment in insanity, epilepsy, hysteria, stammering, neuralgia, asthma, torticollis, headaches, functional difficulties of the heart, rheumatism, tic-douloureux, spasmodic colic, sciatica, lumbago, palsy, convulsions, acute inflammations of the eyes and testicles, and reports of hundreds of painless operations, everything from removal of a cataract to the amputation of the penis of which James Esdaile reported two cases. Parker (from whom the expression "Painless Parker" originated) reported over 200 painless operations in Exeter, an institution Elliotson helped him to form. Elliotson was excellent in the field of child hypnotism, and worked with many children and childhood diseases, such as St. Vitus Dance, Chorea, tics, and other maladies. 

Dr. James Esdaile probably performed more surgical operations under hypnoanesthesia than any physician up until the present time. He was a man of extreme ingenuity and intelligence and is probably better known for his work in hypnotism than any other man with the possible exception of Mesmer himself. He was born February 6, 1808, the son a minister, and like Elliotson and Braid studied at Edinburgh where he graduated in 1830. Esdaile did his first operation under hypnosis on April 4, 1845.   His works were many, but perhaps his most famous work was a book titled Hypnosis in Medicine and Surgery. In this particular book, he not only reported 73 painless operations, but also reported 18 cures of medical cases of palsy, lumbago, sciatica, convulsions, and tic-douloureux, in addition to informing the public on hypnotism. He lashed out at the stupidity of some medical men who were blind to any new ideas. Jacob Conn, M.D. of the Johns Hopkins Medical School faculty has stated that no one has worked more diligently to bring the value of hypnotic analgesia and anesthesia to the attention of the medical profession than James Esdaile.  Esdaile's work evidently paid off, as the British Medical Association reported favorably in 1891 that "As a therapeutic agent, hypnotism is frequently effective in relieving pain, procuring sleep and alleviating many functional ailments." He died at the age of 50 on January 10, 1859.

Dr. Ambroise-Auguste Liebeault is widely known as "The Father of Modern hypnotism." The reason for this is primarily because Liebeault was the man who concluded and published the observation that all the phenomena of hypnotism are subjective in origin. Liebeault, a humble French physician was a genius at therapeutics. He was born in 1823, began his study of medicine in 1844, and started his experiments in hypnotism in 1848, even before he left medical school. After having completed a number of therapeutic sessions of hypnosis, he authored a book, which was two years in the writing. Skepticism, however, was so great that he only sold one copy, which went to Bernheim. 

    Dr. Bernheim of the Nancy School is perhaps the best known for publicizing the use of hypnotism. Although Liebeault was responsible for broadening therapeutics, his book was never widely read. However, when Bernheim published his book on hypnotism (with Liebeault's case histories), it was immediately accepted everywhere. 

    In 1882 Liebeault cured an obstinate case of sciatica, which Bernheim had treated without results for over six months. Partly because of his curiosity, and partly because he wished to expose Liebeault as a quack, Bernheim bought the book and then journeyed to see Liebeault convinced that he was in fact a charlatan. Bernheim was, however, so impressed by Liebeault's work that he decided to remain with him and became a devoted pupil and lifelong friend. Bernheim and Liebeault then published another book together, which was widely acclaimed. This was especially true because of Liebeault's vast number of fascinating case histories.

    Liebeault invaded all fields of medicine and was in fact the most important single physician in broadening the scope of therapeutics with hypnotism. Liebeault became quite adept at rapid hypnosis and in fact was one of the first doctors who realized that for most hypnotherapy, a deep trance was unnecessary, a fact frequently pointed out by Dr. S. J. Van Pelt. Quite the contrary, Liebeault would induce his patients with no more than a wave of the hand, and a quick phrase, such as "Sleep, my little kitten"; suggest away the morbid symptoms and allow the patients to wake up when they desired. He saw hundreds of patients rarely spending more than a quarter of an hour with any of them. Liebeault's patients were either improved or cured following his rapid suggestive treatments. Liebeault assisted by Bernheim established what has been known as the "School of Nancy." This was a period of development in hypnotism during which a great deal of experimental work was done with many types of induction.

     At the same time that Liebeault was merely using the word "sleep" with a hand pass, Charcot on the other hand was violently ringing gongs and flashing lights. The Germans, Weinhold and Heidenhain, preferred the ticking of a watch, and Berger was using warm plates of metal. The idea of magnetism and magnetic processes had not yet completely worn off yet. 

  Born in 1825 and dying in 1893, Jean Martin Charcot, the famous French neurologist known to all medical students for his work with progressive neuropathic muscular atrophy is probably the most famous physician at that time to embrace hypnotism. 

  Until Josef Breuer's time, hypnotism had primarily been used for the alleviation of pain in surgery using the method of simply suggesting away of symptoms. However, around 1880, Breuer made an accidental discovery that changed the methods of hypnotherapy and introduced an entirely new art in itself.  It was Breuer's work which attracted Freud and led him into methods of psychoanalysis which are so common to psychiatrists today.

    Breuer had been treating a patient whom he called Anna O. The case is a long and involved one, and is well known to all students of psychiatry. During one portion of therapy, they found however, much to her distress, (and Anna O. was a hysterical patient with many, many different problems) that she could not drink water. In fact, no matter how intense her thirst became, she felt it was a physical impossibility for her to swallow water. Thereupon, she subsisted for a number of months on watery fruits and melons. Until, that is, during a hypnotic session, she revealed in a fit of anger, how, to her great disgust, a former governess had permitted a dog to drink water out of a glass in her presence. As soon as she awoke from the trance she immediately asked Breuer for a drink of water, emptying the glass with ease. This led Breuer to the realization that the simple recalling of the traumatic experiences from the past of the dog drinking the glass of water was responsible for removing the symptoms. After working with Anna O. for over a year, Breuer was able to remove her symptoms of blindness, paralysis, deafness, the contracting of her right arm and all of her other symptoms merely by repeated trances which revealed more and more of her previous experiences, which contained damaging traumatic incidents. The importance of Breuer's work lies in the change of emphasis in hypnotic therapy, from the direct removal of symptoms to the dealing with the apparent cause of these symptoms.

It was Breuer's work that attracted Sigmund Freud (1879 - 1958) and caused him to publish his famous book co-authored with Breuer, Studien uber Hysterie, which was published in 1895. Breuer and Freud correctly concluded that hysterical symptoms developed as a result of repressing damaging experiences and that if these damaging experiences were once again released from the subconscious mind by a mental catharsis, the hysterical symptoms would be eliminated. Breuer accomplished this through the use of hypnotism, but Freud, a poor hypnotist, found that free association coupled with psychoanalysis were vehicles by which he could better accomplish his work. Parlour has pointed out that although Freud spurned formal "hypnosis" he nevertheless used many hypnotic techniques constantly such as "touching the patient's forehead," "the concentration of the patient's mind," "the relaxation of the body on a couch," and "the abundant use of the imagination." 

    Milne Bramwell is best remembered for his classic text, "hypnotism, It's History, Practice and Theory," which even to the present day remains one of the finest books ever written on hypnotism.

    The first modern reported use of hypnosis as an anesthetic occurred on April 12, 1829 when Jules Cleznet, a French surgeon, performed a breast operation using no anesthesia but hypnosis. The first reported uses of hypnotism in America were in 1843. 

    A new era of hypnotism began with World War I. The revival was primarily due to a many paralytic and amnesia cases with psychogenic origin, and the fact that few psychiatrists were then available. From Great Britain came Hadfield, who originated the term Hypnoanalysis, meaning the use of age regression to uncover the damaging experiences and then reliving the experience under hypnosis to produce mental catharsis. hypnotism was used to treat trauma cases in the two World Wars. 

    Lewis R. Wolberg M.D., an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College, wrote perhaps the most extensive treatise on medical hypnotism in two volumes, which had been published in the U.S.A. In 1955 the British Medical Association officially endorsed the teaching of hypnotism in all medical schools and the organization of teaching groups and societies began. 

    William J. Bryan JR. M.D. founded the American Institute of Hypnosis on May 4, 1955. The Institute was founded because until that time there had been no educational body devoted exclusively to promoting all the phases of hypnotism in medicine and dentistry. It has grown since then to become the world's most respected educational institution devoted solely to teaching hypnotism in medicine and dentistry to physicians and dentists all over the world.
Possibly the most famous dental hypnotist is Dr. H. Joshua Sloan D. D. S., a past president and fellow of the American Institute of Hypnosis. He was instrumental in establishing the first university course in hypnotism and taught it for many years.

    Dr. Sydney Van Pelt was the foremost expert in the field of medical hypnotism in the 1960's.  Dr. S. J. Van Pelt, an Australian physician who established practice in London, England over 15 years ago, was the world's first modern full-time medical hypnotist. Limiting his practice to the use of hypnosis in medicine, Dr. Van Pelt built up an enviable reputation at a time when the rest of the world was very suspicious of the new modality.  He has written many books on hypnotism and has published so many articles on the subject that they are too numerous to count. Dr. S. J. Van Pelt is certainly one of the foremost authorities on the subject in the world.

    Literally thousands of physicians and dentists today have been introduced to this important art of medicine. Perhaps the biggest progress and advance has been made in the psychiatric field, where long and tiresome techniques of psychoanalysis lasting five years or more have been supplanted by rapid, specific, and vastly more effective methods of treating the same illnesses by means of hypnoanalysis. Modern Medical Research has definitively proven that the time necessary to complete psychoanalysis can now be reduced from 5 years to approximately three months or less through the proper use of hypno-analytic techniques. 

          The Masters of the Science and Art of Hypnotism in the 20th Century history of hypnotism include these legends in the field— Milton Erickson, M.D., a psychiatrist whom some call a genius of counseling hypnotherapy, Ormond McGill, PhD., the Dean of American Hypnotists and Dave Elman, a hypnotherapist who taught hypnotism to many in the medical and dental fields and whose ingenious induction or a variation thereof is used by almost all hypnotists today.

    Today dentists regularly use hypnotic-anesthesia in their practices, and dental and medical associations in several countries have granted recognition of the therapeutic practice of hypnotism. Since 1958, when the American Medical Association officially approved the use of hypnosis it has become a valued and trusted companion of the healing arts, social sciences and human services.  Is is used by all branches of the military and taught at Harvard, Yale and the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons.

    Today the old myths and misconceptions about hypnosis have been replaced by the ethical use of hypnotism in the fields of medicine, dentistry, law enforcement, education, self-improvement and human development.

    Today’s techniques and applications of hypnotism in therapy have made it a powerful tool to help people move on to new, more satisfying and useful behavior thereby enriching their lives.  Thousands of Americans benefit from hypnosis every day.

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