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Abnormal Psychology: Hypnotic Suggestion

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Hypnosis
Toni Embrey
Post University

Hypnosis is a trancelike state that is performed by a trained therapist. While in the hypnotic trance a person is most susceptible to the power of suggestion (Feldman, 2013). Hypnosis and hypnotic suggestion have been used as a healing practice for thousands of years and can be traced back to early Greek times. A German doctor named Franz Mesmer believed that magnetic imbalances in the body were the source of illness. He then used gestures and a soothing voice to relax patients which he termed ‘mesmerism’ to restore the patients magnetic balances. In 1842, Scottish neurosurgeon James Braid was the first to use the term ’hypnosis’ and described this therapy as a trance ‘that resulted …show more content…
A therapist who does not have the experience level, psychological and clinical training for how to deal with different problems as they arise can encounter and cause adverse reactions for the patient. Negative effects of hypnosis have not been because of hypnosis itself, but of the context of the suggestions given and the management of the trance state. Such as lack of screening for subjects who are high risk, misdiagnosis of disorders, vague suggestions, inappropriate interventions, inadequate debriefing and ineffective termination of the trance state (Stanley & Burrows, 2001). There are some who believe that a person while in a hypnotic trance can be made to do things that they normally would not do and lose a will of their own or carry out dangerous or self-destructive acts, this is not true and a person while in a trace is still attentive and in control and cannot be hypnotized against their will (Feldman, …show more content…
(2001). The Power of Hypnosis. Psychology Today. Retrieved on September 18, 2014 from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200101/the-power-hypnosis.
Feldman R.S, 2013. Essentials of Understanding Psychology (10th ed), New York, NY Mc Graw Hill
Hypnosis (2008). American Cancer Society. Retrieved on September 18. 2014 from http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternative medicine/mindbodyandspirit/hypnosis.
Hypnosis Today- Looking Beyond the Media Portrayal (n.d.). American Psychological Association. Retrieved September 18, 2014 from http://www.apa.org/topics/hypnosis/media.aspx.
Klein, S. (2014). 5 Science Backed Health Benefits of Hypnosis. The Huffington post. Retrieved on September 18, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/02/hypnosis- health-benefits_n_5523210.html.
Robson, D. (2014). Hypnosis: The day my mind was ‘Possessed’. BBC. Retrieved on September 18, 2014 from

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