This document summarizes hypnosis, describing it as a special psychological state resembling sleep but marked by increased awareness of internal experiences over external reality. It notes that hypnosis involves no physical forces but rather psychologically mediated responses to suggestions. The techniques used to induce hypnosis are described, including establishing rapport, relaxation, and suggestion. The key phenomenon of hypnosis is suggestibility and enhanced responsiveness to stimuli from the hypnotist. Post-hypnotic suggestion, where subjects unknowingly perform instructed acts later, is also discussed. Hypnosis is endorsed as a therapeutic method when used competently in medical contexts but condemned for entertainment due to risk of adverse reactions.

1. Hyponisis
hypnosis, special psychological state with certain physiological attributes,
resembling sleep only superficially and marked by a functioning of the individual
at a level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state. This state is
characterized by a degree of increased receptiveness and responsiveness in which
inner experiential perceptions are given as much significance as is generally given
only to external reality.

2. •
A professor of medicine at Strasbourg. Independently they had
written that hypnosis involved no physical forces and no
physiological processes but was a combination of
psychologically mediated responses to suggestions.
(Generally psychoanalysts have come to view hypnosis as
merely an adjunct to the free-associative techniques used in
psychoanalytic practice.)

3. Technique
The techniques used to induce hypnosis share common features. The
most important consideration is that the person to be hypnotized (the
subject) be willing and cooperative and that he or she trust in the
hypnotist. Subjects are invited to relax in comfort and to fix their gaze
on some object. The hypnotist continues to suggest, usually in a low,
quiet voice, that the subject’s relaxation will increase and that his or
her eyes will grow tired. Soon the subject’s eyes do show signs of
fatigue, and the hypnotist suggests that they will close.
The subject allows his eyes to close and then begins to show signs of
profound relaxation, such as limpness and deep breathing. He has
entered the state of hypnotic trance. A person will be more responsive
to hypnosis when he believes that he can be hypnotized, that the
hypnotist is competent and trustworthy, and that the undertaking is
safe, appropriate, and congruent with the subject’s wishes.
Therefore, induction is generally preceded by the establishment of
suitable rapport between subject and hypnotist.

4. The resulting hypnotic phenomena differ markedly from one
subject to another and from one trance to another, depending
upon the purposes to be served and the depth of the trance.
The central phenomenon of hypnosis is suggestibility, a state of
greatly enhanced receptiveness and responsiveness
.
to suggestions and stimuli presented by the hypnotist

5. One fascinating manifestation that can be elicited from a subject
who has been in a hypnotic trance is that of posthypnotic
suggestion and behaviour; that is, the subject’s execution, at some
later time, of instructions and suggestions that were given to him
while he was in a trance. With adequate amnesia induced during
the trance state, the individual will not be aware of the source of
his impulse to perform the instructed act. Posthypnotic
suggestion, however, is not a particularly powerful means for
controlling behaviour when compared with a person’s conscious
willingness to perform actions.

6. Hypnosis has been officially endorsed as a therapeutic method by
medical, psychiatric, dental, and psychological associations
throughout the world. It has been found most useful in preparing
people for anesthesia, enhancing the drug response, and reducing
the required dosage
.
Though the induction of hypnosis requires little training and no
particular skill, when used in the context of medical treatment, it
can be damaging when employed by individuals who lack the
competence and skill to treat such problems without the use of
hypnosis. On the other hand, hypnosis has been repeatedly
condemned by various medical associations when it is used
purely for purposes of public entertainment, owing to the danger
of adverse posthypnotic reactions to the procedure.

7. Done
by: Ahmad Darwish
140263
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