Self-hypnosis or auto-hypnosis (as distinct from hetero-hypnosis) is a form, a process, or the result of a self-induced hypnotic state. Frequently, self-hypnosis is used as a vehicle to enhance the efficacy of self-suggestion; and, in such cases, the subject "plays the dual role of suggester and suggestee". The nature of the auto-suggestive practice may be, at one extreme, "concentrative", wherein "all attention is so totally focused on (the words of the auto-suggestive formula, e.g. "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better") that everything else is kept out of awareness" and, at the other, "inclusive", wherein subjects "allow all kinds of thoughts, emotions, memories, and the like to drift into their consciousness".

Typological distinctions

From their extensive investigations, Erika Fromm and Stephen Kahn (1990) identified significant and distinctive differences between the application of the wide variety of practices that lie within the domain commonly, equivocally, and ambiguously identified as "self-hypnosis". Based upon their distinctions, "self-hypnosis" practices can be separated into, at least, thirteen different types:

History

James Braid

The English term "hypnotism" was introduced in 1841 by the Scottish physician and surgeon James Braid. According to Braid, he first employed "self-hypnotism" (as he elsewhere refers to it) two years after discovering hypnotism, first teaching it to his clients before employing it on himself: "My first experiments on this point [i.e., self-hypnosis] were instituted in the presence of some friends on the 1st May, 1843, and following days. I believe they were the first experiments of the kind which had ever been tried, and they have succeeded in every case in which I have so operated." In a later work, Observations on Trance or Human Hybernation (1850), Braid provides probably the first account of self-hypnosis:

Émile Coué

Émile Coué was one of the most influential figures in the subsequent development of self-hypnosis. His method of "conscious autosuggestion" became an internationally renowned self-help system at the start of the 20th century. Although Coué distanced himself from the concept of "hypnosis", he sometimes referred to what he was doing as self-hypnosis, as did his followers such as Charles Baudouin. Modern hypnotherapists regard Coué as part of their own field.

Autogenic training

Autogenic training is a relaxation technique developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Schultz and first published in 1932. Schultz based his approach on the work of the German hypnotist Oskar Vogt. The technique involves a step-by-step progression that begins from physiological conditioning, such as muscle relaxation, breathing control and heart rate control. Then it advances to psychic conditioning through mental imagery, acoustic therapy, etc.

Steps commonly used for self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis requires four distinct steps.

Uses

Self-hypnosis is used extensively in modern hypnotherapy. It can take the form of hypnosis carried out by means of a learned routine. Hypnosis may help pain management, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, obesity, asthma, and skin conditions. When this practice is mastered, it can improve concentration, recall, enhance problem solving, alleviate headaches and even improve one's control of emotions.

Pain

Fromm & Kaplan observe that the value, significance, and importance of self-hypnosis is not just that it promotes relaxation, relieves tension and anxiety, and reduces the level of physical pain and suffering, but also that, in teaching patients self-hypnosis, clinicians sensibly recognize that they can't be with their patients at all times—especially, at those times when they are in pain—and, through that process of teaching self-hypnosis, they actively provide their patients with a 24-hours-a-day-available "tool by means of which they can learn to control and master it, or at least be able to live with reduced pain". "Self-hypnosis permits the individual to be in charge and therefore helps the patient to get out of the role of the victim who suffers and into the role of the person who masters or attempts to master her pain. Through practicing self-hypnosis, patients can learn to isolate the feared pain that accompanies many a medical intervention; they can productively dissociate themselves into a position in which they can enjoy pleasurable fantasies and memories, away from the negative aspects of their current reality."

Self-hypnosis and stress

Patients who are stressed and/or lack self-esteem can be taught self-hypnosis techniques which can induce relaxation and/or strengthen their self-esteem. Specifically, once the patient is in a self-hypnotic state the therapist can communicate messages to the patient, allowing the relaxation and strengthening process to occur. Often, when teaching self-hypnosis, a subject is taught a specific "trigger word" (that will only induce self-hypnosis when the subject deliberately uses the word to hypnotize themselves) to facilitate the rapid induction of the hypnotic state. Also, a phrase (often termed an "autosuggestion") might be taught to the subject for them to repeat to themselves when in self-hypnosis. In addition, since stress prevents well-functioning of the immune system, researchers from the Ohio State University came to a conclusion that self hypnosis to prevent stress can also help in protecting the immune system against the negative effects of it. They proved this by showing that students who performed self-hypnosis during stressful exam weeks showed a stronger immune system when compared to those who did not learn self-hypnosis.

Childbirth anesthesia

Self-hypnosis can help women who are in labor to alleviate their pain. Joseph DeLee, an obstetrician, stated in the early 20th century that hypnosis was the only risk-free childbirth anesthetic. Common self-hypnotic techniques include:

Other uses

Self-directed thought which is based in hypnosis can be used for many other issues and behavioral problems.

Research

Reviewing the findings of three previous studies in this area, John F. Kihlstrom concluded: "Comparisons of self-hypnosis with more traditional 'hetero'-hypnosis show that they are highly correlated." At the same time, Kihlstrom questioned the extent to which most self-hypnosis qualitatively resembled the experience of traditional hetero-hypnosis.

Footnotes