Multicomponent Theories of Hypnotizability: History and Prospects.

This review addresses multicomponent theories of hypnotizability by focusing on 3 important exemplars from the history of hypnosis research: E. R. Hilgard's (1965) Hypnotic susceptibility; R. E. Shor's (1962) Three dimensions of hypnotic depth; and T.X. Barber's (1999) A comprehensive three-dimensional theory of hypnosis. Taken together, they illustrate the variety of hypnotic phenomena examined in research - overt responses, subjective experiences, and underlying processes - and the ways in which evidence about each has implied the existence of multiple underlying components. Particularly highlighted are the different ways in which the theories conceptualize the joint contribution of multiple individual differences. Also covered is relevant later work by other researchers as well as important issues remaining to be resolved.

What Milton Erickson said about being Ericksonian.

Over the last 15 years, as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, I have seen papers by hundreds of authors. Many authors discuss the research, theories, and case presentations without identifying their allegiance. However, an apparent trend has developed in the last decade in which many therapists prefer to identify their work as being "Ericksonian." Yet, there have only been few authors identifying as such who go on to explain what it means to be Ericksonian. It is concerning that few authors seem to have returned to the original source when citing concepts that have been developed by, or attributed to, Dr. Milton Erickson. The vast majority of authors who quote techniques such as utilization or naturalistic induction usually cite a third source rather than Erickson's writings directly. Often this cited third-party author is someone who never studied with Dr. Erickson and whose writing about the cited techniques has also not been directly taken from Dr. Erickson's work. What evolves from this practice is sort of like the childhood game of "telephone." That is a game where a story is repeated down the line by another author which is repeated by another author until, downline, the entire matter becomes radically incorrect and incongruent with the original. In this article, I will describe Erickson's work regarding naturalistic induction, utilization, techniques for depotentiating conscious sets, and conscious-unconscious dissociation in his own words and also illustrate the evolution of his induction techniques over the years from 1929 to 1980.

The mysteries of hysteria: a historical perspective.

Jean-Martin Charcot started his main work on hysteria around 1870, until his death in 1893. Désiré Bourneville had triggered Charcot's interest in hysteria during his stay as an interne in his department, while Charles Richet's 1875 article on somnambulism was the trigger for Charcot to develop hypnotism. Charcot's collaborators Paul Richer, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, Paul Sollier, Joseph Babinski, Sigmund Freud and Pierre Janet subsequently became most famous in hysteria. In 1908, a "quarrel of hysteria" opposed several of Charcot's pupils, from which Babinski, who had developed the concept of "pithiatism", was considered victorious against Charcot's first successor Fulgence Raymond. There was a surge of interest in hysteria associated with war psycho-neuroses in 1914-1918, and Babinski's pupil Clovis Vincent developed a treatment called torpillage (torpedoing) against war hysteria, associating painful galvanic current discharges with "persuasion". After World War I, the neurological and psychiatric interest in hysteria again faded away, before a renewed interest at the turn of the last century. Contrary to a common view, the modernity of several of Charcot's concepts in hysteria is remarkable, still today, mainly for: (1) his traumatic theory, which encompassed psychological and certain sexual factors several years before Freud; (2) his personal evolution towards the role of emotional factors, which opened the way to Janet and Freud; (3) his claim of specific differences vs. similarities in mental states such as hypnotism, hysteria, and simulation, which has recently been confirmed by functional imaging; and (4) his "dynamic lesion" theory, which now correlates well with recently established neurophysiological mechanisms.

Functional neurology after the Second World War: The beginnings of neurology on screen (III).

Treatment of functional symptoms has a long history, and interventions were often used in soldiers returning from battle. On the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, I review the portrayal of neurology in documentary film. Two documentaries were released in 1946 and 1948 (Let There Be Light and Shades of Gray, respectively), which showed a number of soldiers with functional neurology including paralysis, stuttering, muteness, and amnesia. The films showed successful treatments with hypnosis and sodium amytal by psychoanalytic psychiatrists. These documentaries link neurology with psychiatry and are remarkable examples of functional neurology and its treatment on screen.

Vittorio Benussi's "Emotional Functional Autonomy": Resumption and Re-Evaluation.

This study resumes and reevaluates the research on emotional functional autonomy developed by Vittorio Benussi in the 1920s, using hypnosuggestive methods. Four fundamental human emotions were studied in hypnosis: hope, happiness, despair, and unhappiness. Participants received training aimed at experiencing neutral hypnosis, characterized by the absence of any suggested images or suggested cognition. During the neutral hypnosis, the participants were asked to experience emotions isolated from all cognitive and imaginative experience so as to produce what can be assumed to be physiological responses driven by emotion only. The measured physiological variables were breathing and skin conductance. The study found evidence for a specific respiratory profile for each of the emotions examined.

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari": The Scientific Debate on Hypnosis and Its Legal Implications between the 19th and the 20th Century.

Movies could provide unexpected information on the state of medical knowledge in different historical periods. The first centenary of the German silent horror movie Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) by Robert Wiene (1873-1938) could be a timely occasion to reflect on the scientific debate of hypnosis and its legal implications between the 19th and the 20th century. In particular, this article describes the positions of the School of Salpêtrière (Charcot) and the School of Nancy (Bernheim) on the possibility of crimes committed by subjects under hypnosis and the influence of these theories on medical community and public opinion of Germany in the interwar period.

PEDIATRIC HYPNOSIS: TREATMENT THAT ADDS AND RARELY SUBTRACTS.

Pediatric hypnosis emerged during 1960s and 1970s with pioneers Franz Baumann, Josephine Hilgard, Karen Olness, and Gail Gardner. Forty years later, it's matured as a separate, distinct field within hypnosis. Informed by childhood development, this treatment approach is child-centred, imaginatively focused, fundamentally optimistic, and inclusive of parent, family, and other systems in children's lives. Using hypnosis with younger children requires an active, flexible approach. Pediatric hypnosis values creative playful participation in which the clinician sometimes leads and at other times paces with the child's lead. Pediatric researchers and clinicians have added considerably to the body of hypnosis literature and training. Annual pediatric hypnosis workshops occurred through the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (1987-2009), which the National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute (established 2009) successfully continues. This article sketches the history and philosophical underpinnings of pediatric hypnosis, indicating how it adds therapeutic capacity for practitioners.

[Vladimir Bekhterev - A Protagonist of Research on Hypnosis?] / Vladimir Bechterev ­ ein Protagonist der Hypnoseforschung?

Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev (1857-1927) is considered to be Russia's most famous neurologist and psychiatrist. In German-speaking countries his name is particularly connected with the orthopaedic disease ankylosing spondylitis or Bekhterev's disease. He mainly worked in neuroanatomical, physiological and psychiatric fields. In a late autobiographical script, Bekhterev saw himself primarily as the protagonist of Russian research on hypnosis and hypnotherapy. That is why this article scrutinizes important works by Bekhterev in the field of hypnosis and reveals how these have influenced his late work on reflexology.

1784: The Marquis de Puységur and the psychological turn in the west.

In 1970 Henri Ellenberger called attention to the previously unrecognized importance of Franz Anton Mesmer's "animal magnetism" in the rise of psychodynamic psychology in the West. This article takes the next step of tracing the course of events that led to Puységur's discovery of magnetic somnambulism and describing the tumultuous social and political climate into which it was introduced in 1784. Beginning from the secret and private publication of his first Mémoires, only a few copies of which remain today, the original core of his discovery is identified and the subsequent development of its implications are examined. Puysègur was initiated into his investigations by Mesmer's system of physical healing, which bears some resemblance to the traditional healing approaches of the East. But Puységur took Mesmer's ideas in an unexpected direction. In doing so, he accomplished a turn toward the psychological that remains one of the distinguishing features of Western culture.

Iconicidade como alternativa de explicação para a hipnose de Milton Erickson / Iconicity as an alternative explanation of Milton Erickson's hypnosis / Iconicidad como alternativa de explicación para la hipnosis de Milton Erickson

O presente trabalho busca propor uma alternativa de explicação para a hipnose de Milton Erickson (1901-1980) a partir da noção semiótica de iconicidade, que consiste na capacidade dos signos em transmitir qualidades de seus objetos. Neste trabalho, a possibilidade de explicação será desenvolvida, a partir de uma ilustração clínica de Erickson, em torno da discussão sobre três questões principais: a heterogeneidade da experiência hipnótica, a temporalidade e o papel do eu face às influências do inconsciente. Ao apontar as diferentes potencialidades lógicas dos signos, a iconicidade oferece subsídios de grande pertinência para compreender a diversidade do tecido vivido que compõe a experiência hipnótica, a presentificação da experiência de tempo e as diferentes formas de inserção e relação do eu quanto ao universo inconsciente que o precede. Nesse sentido, as contribuições daí consequentes são de grande pertinência para favorecer o afastamento de uma lógica puramente tecnicista da obra de Erickson, como também debates e apropriações coletivas em torno da mesma, condições necessárias para seu progresso como proposta de pensamento e terapia.

This study's intent is to propose an alternative explanation for Milton Erickson's (1901-1980) hypnosis from the semiotics notion of iconicity, which consists on the capacity of signs to transmit qualities of its objects. In this study, the possible explanation unfolds from a clinical illustration of Erickson into a discussion addressing three main subjects: the heterogeneity of the hypnotic experience, the temporality, and the roles of the ego acing the unconscious influences. By pointing the different logical potentialities of signs, iconicity offers subsidies of great pertinence to comprehend the diversity of the living fabric which composes the hypnotic experience, the presentification of time experience, and the different forms of insertion and relation between the ego and the unconscious universe that precedes him. In that sense, the consequent contributions are of great pertinence, favoring a purely technical logic with its debates and surrounding collective appropriations to move away from Erickson's work, necessary conditions for its progress as proposal of thought a therapy.

El presente trabajo propone una alternativa de explicación para la hipnosis de Milton Erickson (19011980) a partir de la noción semiótica de iconicidad, que consiste en la capacidad de los signos para transmitir cualidades de sus objetos. En este trabajo, la posibilidad de explicación será desarrollada, a partir de una ilustración clínica de Erickson, en torno a la discusión sobre tres cuestiones principales: la heterogeneidad de la experiencia hipnótica, la temporalidad y el papel del yo frente a las influencias del inconsciente. De este modo, al senalar las diferentes potencialidades lógicas de los signos, la iconicidad ofrece subsidios de gran importancia para comprender la diversidad del tejido vivido que compone la experiencia hipnótica, la presentificación de la experiencia del tiempo y las diferentes formas de inserción y relación del yo en cuanto al universo inconsciente que lo precede. En ese sentido, las contribuciones consecuentes son de gran importancia para favorecer el alejamiento de una lógica puramente tecnicista de la obra de Erickson, así como debates e apropiaciones colectivas en torno a la misma, condiciones necesarias para su progreso como propuesta de pensamiento y terapia.

Jules Bernard Luys on magnetic pathology.

In the mesmeric movement, one of the phenomena cited to defend the existence of magnetic and nervous forces was the visual perception of them in the form of luminous emanations from people, or effluvia. This Classic Text is an 1892 article by French neurologist, Jules Bernard Luys (1828-97), about the observation of such effluvia by hypnotized individuals. Interestingly, the luminous phenomena perceived from mentally diseased individuals and from healthy ones had particular properties. Luys's interest in this and other unorthodox phenomena were consistent with ideas of animal magnetism in the late neo-mesmeric movement, as well as with some physicalistic conceptions of hypnosis and the nervous system held at the time.

História crítica da hipnose na psiquiatria da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil, entre 1930-1970 / Critical history of hypnosis in psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, between 1930 and 1970 (abstract: p. 14) / Historia crítica de la hipnosis en la psiquiatría de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de São Paulo, Brasil, entre 1930-1970 (resumen: p. 14)

O artigo apresentado tem como objetivo o estudo histórico do uso da hipnose, compreendida como prática clínica, na Clínica Psiquiátrica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, entre os anos de 1930-1970. A transição da psiquiatria paulista nesse período, quando se deu a mudança das atividades do Hospital do Juqueri para a Faculdade de Medicina-USP, apoiou-se decisivamente no poder simbólico do discurso psiquiátrico, que tomou o axioma "ser científico" como filtro valorativo para apreciar ou depreciar determinadas práticas. Exemplarmente, a hipnose permaneceu imune ao crivo "científico" desses mesmos psiquiatras, que a adotavam como prática clínica sem submetê-la ao mesmo escrutínio aplicado a outras práticas, especialmente a psicoterapia psicanalítica. Por meio de documentos produzidos na época analisada, busca-se identificar o teor desses discursos psiquiátricos, imbuídos de sua dimensão considerada científica, redundando como estratégia de manutenção ou não de certas práticas, como foi o da hipnose.

The objective of this study was to analyze the history of the use of hypnosis, as a clinical practice, in the Psychiatric Clinic of the School of Medicine, at the University of São Paulo (USP), between 1930 and 1970. There was a transition in psychiatry in São Paulo in this period, when the activities of the Juqueri Hospital were transferred to the School of Medicine at USP. This was decisively supported on the symbolic power of the psychiatric speech, which took over the axiom "scientific being" as an evaluative filter to appreciate or depreciate certain practices. Hypnosis remained immune to the "scientific" sieve of the same psychiatrists who adopted it as a clinical practice without submitting it to the same scrutiny applied to other practices, especially psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. By means of documents produced in the analyzed period, the authors aimed at identifying the thrust of these psychiatric speeches, pervaded with their so-called scientific dimension, which culminated in a strategy to either keep or not keep certain practices, such as hypnosis.

El objetivo del artículo presentado es el estudio histórico del uso de la hipnosis, entendida como práctica clínica, en la Clínica Psiquiátrica de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de São Paulo entre los años de 1930-1970. La transición de la psiquiatría de São Paulo en ese período cuando hubo el cambio de las actividades del hospital de Juqueri para la Facultad de Medicina-USP, se apoyó decisivamente en el poder simbólico del discurso psiquiátrico que asumió el axioma de "ser científico" como filtro de valor para apreciar o despreciar determinadas prácticas. Ejemplarmente, la hipnosis permaneció inmune al filtro "científico" de esos mismos psiquiatras que la adoptaban como práctica clínica sin someterla al mismo escrutinio aplicado a otras prácticas, especialmente a la psicoterapia psicoanalítica. Por medio de documentos producidos en la época analizada se busca identificar el tenor de esos discursos psiquiátricos, imbuidos de su dimensión considerada científica, resultando como estrategia de mantenimiento o no de determinadas prácticas, como fue la hipnosis.

Active-Alert Hypnosis: History, Research, and Applications.

After a brief review of the history of the idea of an activity-increasing hypnotic induction procedure with eyes open and pedaling a bicycle ergometer, the features of active-alert hypnotic induction are summarized. Results of research conducted on healthy volunteers revealed the behavioral, experiential, physiological, and interactional characteristics of the induced altered state of consciousness (ASC), showing both similarities and differences between traditional and active-alert hypnosis. A short description of the application of the method is followed by two brief case studies.

Clinical Hypnosis Today.

Freud's objections to hypnosis have little relevance to modern approaches. Contemporary hypnosis has evolved beyond direct suggestion to include the suspending of critical thinking in order to allow the patient's unconscious mind to take over and make internal changes. Aspects of the author's experiences as a patient, trainee, and practitioner are noted by way of dispelling some common misunderstandings. The growing profession of hypnosis has support from research in neuroscience. A rapprochement with psychoanalysis may be possible.

El Instituto Psicológico Argentino (1892). Teosofía, hipnosis y charlatanería en los orígenes de una iniciativa olvidada / The Argentine Psychological Institute (INSTITUTO PSICOLÓGICO ARGENTINO) (1892). Theosophy, hypnotism and quackery in the origins of a forgotten enterprise

En octubre de 1892 llegó a Buenos Aires un extraño personaje, que decía ser conde y poseer título médico. De inmediato comenzó a efectuar con la ayuda de su esposa demostraciones de hipnosis, de telepatía y de clarividencia. Ofreció además conferencias sobre esos asuntos. Muy pronto, a mediados de diciembre de ese año, fundó el Instituto Psicológico Argentino, tarea para la que contó con la colaboración de espiritistas y científicos locales. Todas esas actividades fueron informadas con detalle por los periódicos de la ciudad y por una de las revistas del espiritismo porteño. Al poco tiempo el Departamento de Higiene logró la clausura del Instituto, a pesar de lo cual Sgaluppi continuó con sus demostraciones y conferencias. El objetivo de este artículo es reconstruir en detalle esa historia, sobre todo con el auxilio de fuentes periódicas de la época. Nuestro cometido es iluminar un capítulo poco conocido de la historia del hipnotismo en Buenos Aires, poniendo de relieve dos aspectos: el valor que las disciplinas esotéricas tuvieron en la cultura científica de fines de siglo, y las dificultades que tuvieron las autoridades sanitarias para hacer valer sus regulacion

In October 1892 a strange man arrived to Buenos Aires, who claimed to be a Viscount and to posses a medical degree. Immediately he began to perform with the help of his wife some demonstrations oh hypnotism, telepathy and clairvoyance. He also delivered lectures on these matters. Soon, in mid-December of that year, he founded the Argentine Psychological Institute (Instituto Psicológico Argentino), an enterprise for which he was assisted by local spiritualists and scientists. All these activities were reported in detail by local newspapers and by a spiritualist magazine. Soon the Health Office managed to close down the Institute, but nevertheless Sgaluppi continued with his performances and lectures. The aim of this paper is to explore those events, especially with the aid of primary sources. Our aim is to illuminate a tittle-known chapter in the history of Buenos Aires hypnotism, highlighting two aspects: the value that esoteric disciplines had in the fin-de-siècle scientific culture, and the difficulties experienced by health authorities to enforce their regulations