The involvement of the hypnotist in the hypnotic session

Contemporary psychoanalysis and hypnosis

The relationship between psychoanalysis and hypnosis is presented in three parts: past, present, and future. First, the parallel developments in psychoanalysis and hypnosis over the past 100 years are summarized. Four major theoretical evolutions in psychoanalysis (drive theory, ego psychology, object relations theory, and self psychology) are described, with their corresponding influences on the practice of psychoanalytically informed hypnosis. Second, four contemporary movements in psychoanalysis are enumerated (postmodernism, spontaneity, pluralism, and integrationism), with commentary on these movements' likely impact on the current and future practice of hypnosis. Finally, the impact of shrinking mental health dollars on the practice of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytically informed treatments is presented. Hypnosis is offered as uniquely positioned, with its history of multitheoretically informed brief interventions, grounded in research and clinical practice, to provide psychoanalysis with a life raft into the next 100 years of practice.

A deeper understanding of hypnosis: its secrets, its nature, its essence

Numerous research projects converge on the conclusion that there are three major types of very good or highly responsive hypnotic subjects: (a) fantasy-prone individuals who have secretly spent much of their time since childhood fantasizing vividly and realistically; (b) amnesia-prone individuals who have developed special abilities for mentally repressing or compartmentalizing undesired memories, thoughts, and emotions; and (c) positively-set individuals who are maximally ready to cooperate, think-with, and imagine what is suggested to the best of their ability while letting go of contrary thoughts. The major principle that provides a deep understanding of hypnosis and hypnotic phenomena is that all hypnotic subjects are affected, albeit in different ways for different types of subjects, by four powerful behavior-determining factors that can be potentially maximized in hypnotic situations: (a) social factors that obligate the socialized subject to cooperate and try to actualize or realize the hypnotist's expectations and explicit suggestions; (b) the hypnotist's unique skills and personal characteristics (including creative ideas, communicative ability, and interpersonal efficacy) and the nature of the hypnotist-subject interpersonal relationship; (c) the effectiveness of the induction procedure in guiding the subject to think-with the suggestions; and (d) the depth of meaning, creativity, and "force" or "power" of the suggested ideas.