Modern Hypnosis History
In 1843, Dr. James Braid coined the term "hypnosis" (inspired by the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos) to describe mesmerism, but recognized that the field needed more study as it had become a fraudulent field fraught with "charlatans" and he himself had doubts (Hypnosis.com). Braid, in his studies, while never finding conclusive proof, believed that the human imagination and mental "factors" were the most important to hypnosis' success (Hypnosis.com). He did provide some scientific basis for the phenomena, finding that "experimental subjects could go into a trance if they simply fixated their eyes on a bright object" (Hypnosis Secrets).
In 1866, a psychologist named Ambrose-Auguste Liebeault treated and cured the poor with "no diagnosis or examination" (Daniel Olson). His successes came to Hippolye Bernheim's attention, a professor from the University of Nancy, who sought to expose him, but instead ended up joining him to form the Nancy school, a clinic that lasted for 20 years that "treated over 30,000 patients...with suggestions under hypnosis" to great results (Daniel Olson). Their work spread through Europe, and many doctors came to study with Bernheim and Leibeault, including a guy you might have heard of, Sigmund Freud (Daniel Olson). Freud was fascinated with the field, as can be expected given his obsession with the subconscious and dreams, and is discussed on the Fun Figures of Hypnosis page.
During World War I, hypnosis was commonly used to help soldiers redeploy. It helped soldiers deal with stress, a precursor to its uses today, and helped hypnosis gain "respectability" (Daniel Olson). Hypnosis became a staple in wars after WWI, helping soldiers in WWII and the Korean War (Hypnosis Black Secrets).
In the 1930s, Yale scholar Clark Leonard Hull's academic research on hypnosis helped stimulate the field, and in his novel Hypnosis and Suggestability, Hull differentiated the hypnotized state from sleep (Hypnosis Black Secrets).
In 1951, Dr. Albert Mason provided hypnosis some much needed legitimacy, curing a boy of ichthyosis, a hereditary skin condition in front of a group of skeptical doctors (Hypnotic World). Seven years later, in 1958, the American Medical Association "approved a report on the medical uses of hypnosis" (Daniel Olson). In 1960, the American Psychological Association recognized hypnosis as a field within psychology, affirming the practice (Hypnosis Black Secrets).
From there, it was Dr. Milton Erickson, a student of Hull's, who is credited for doing more to legitimize clinical hypnosis than any other, coming up with the Erickson method of hypnosis. By the time Erickson died, he "left a legacy of often zealous followers, a number of important contributions to the field, and several offshoot schools of applied psychology based on his core principles of indirect strategic therapy and suggestion, and based on hypothetical unconscious processes and indirect forms of human communication" (Hypnosis.com). The Erickson model blended therapy and hypnosis together to fortify hypnosis' use in the medical and therapy fields. In the '70s, taking a cue from Erickson, Richard Bandler and John Grinder helped create the Neuro Linguistic Programming method (Daniel Olson). Thanks to them, hypnosis is a viable field of study, a viable career, and a viable treatment, helping thousands of people.
Want to know more?
Check out Adam Crabtree's book "From Mesmer to Freud: Magnetic Sleep and the Roots of Psychological Healing," available on Amazon.com.