Hypnosis in Counselling

Abstract

The popular view of hypnosis, which has its origins in the work and ideas of Mesmer, Braid and other nine-teenth century hypnotists, is that it is a specially induced trance state in which the individual loses, to a greater or lesser degree, their critical faculties. In essence, this means that there is a depotentiation of their logical and conscious mind which allows the unconscious mind to become dominant The person is then able to be more creative because the constraints imposed by the “logical” mind are minimized. In this case the individual is more suggestible than normally. For example, someone with chronic and intractable pain, whose normal state of reason and logic would prevent them from believing that the pain could be resolved (in whatever way), could in the “trance” state take a therapeutic suggestion (provided by the therapist) that the pain could be given away to a friendly animal for safe-keeping. The latter action is not logical or reasonable but, given a well-motivated client, can be accepted during a state of trance with very good therapeutic outcomes (Jaffe and Bresler, 1980).