When is Hypnois Not Hypnosis and What is this Hypnosis Thing Anyway?

Recently, as always, there have been some discussions on various email lists I belong to about whether EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and the like is based upon hypnosis or suggestion or something else.  Well, within the discussion, the position usually goes forth that pretty much anything is hypnosis and that we are hypnotized all the time without being aware of it via television commercials, politicians and the like.

While I agree that influence is all around us, personally, I prefer not to buy into the television or all influence should be considered hypnosis.  By saying that commercials are hypnosis dilutes our ability to discuss hypnosis with any clear utility.  I would strongly suggest, that while Hitler was very effective at social influence and he certainly used a number of what we might consider hypnotic operators within his propaganda machine, to characterize what he did merely as hypnosis or hypnosis merely as influence removes a great deal of utility from our ability to discuss "hypnosis" . . . personally (and this is a personal opinion so you are certainly free to disagree with me, and you will) I believe that not all bypass of the critical factor of the conscious mind should be considered hypnosis per se.  However, we can certainly note the shared hypnotic operators that go into propaganda, commercials, and sales pitches or other forms of social influence.

If EVERYTHING or ALL INFLUENCE is considered hypnosis, then it makes it difficult to talk about Hypnosis as anything useful in and of itself or as a state or process that can be understood, quantified, and practiced beyond all that other stuff.  IMO.

Just a thought I thought I'd put out there.  Feel free to disagree . . . I certainly have a fluid idea of what is or isn't this or that. :-)

All the best,
Brian

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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
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Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
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Comments

[John Lundholm]

The opposite question, "when is not hypnosis" hypnosis is just as important. I learned Emotional Freedom Techniques with the understanding that it's not hypnosis. I disagree.

It certaintly isn't tradition hypnosis, but it does bypass the critical factor through ritual and pattern interuption, and guide the participant into a state that is more receptive to suggestion (even if the suggestion is very indirect). I use it with my clients, and promote it on my website (www.ChangeDynamics.net) as a form of waking hypnosis. (Afterall, I am a hypnotherapist; why would I be offering "energy healing")

When is "guided imagery" hypnosis and when is it not? The research shows that calling it one or the other influences the results one achieves.

This is not to say all influence is hypnosis, or that all trance is hypnosis. Social context (including what we call what we are doing) is a large part of defining what is and what is not hypnosis.

[Brian David Phillips]

John, excellent point.