Hypnotic or suggestive therapy has been used as a healing technique for many centuries. References to it can be found in the Bible, although the name was not introduced until much later. It was of prime importance in the “sleep temples” of Ancient Greece which were places of pilgrimage and healing.
In the Middle Ages belief in miraculous cures associated with religious shrines was widespread. Healing was brought about by touch and prayer.
Modern Hypnotherapy became prevelant during the 18th Century. The theory of “Magnetism” was developed. An Austrian physician by the name of Franz Anton Mesmer argued that the planets influenced mankind through their magnetic effects on the “fluid” which occupied all space. He discovered that he could induce people into a trance like state and concluded that he himself must be a kind of magnet, hence the term “Animal Magnetism”.
This idea was soon discredited by a French Royal Commission which found that the magnetic fluids did not exist. Even so, Mesmer is now regarded as a pioneer in the research and development of Hypnotism.
In the early part of the 20th Century hypnosis was used almost exclusively by stage hypnotists, thereby projecting a hopelessly distorted view of the very powerful therapeutic tool. However, in 1955 the British Medical Association endorsed the practice of hypnosis in Medical School education, since then it has become a valuable addition to conventional medical treatment.
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