Definitions of hypnosis and suggestion
Definitions offered for hypnosis tend to depend heavily on the author's theoretical perspective - look around the internet and you will find many different views about what hypnosis is. Amongst academics and clinicians there has been a robust debate about whether hypnosis constitutes an 'altered state of consciousness', that is, whether an individual's consciousness is altered by becoming hypnotised. This debate is currently unresovled and is considered in the state/non-state section. There has also been debate about how to operationalise hypnosis: that is, what makes a person hypnotised? This is important because how hypnosis is defined affects the kinds of conclusions that can be drawn from research. It is widely acknowledged that many of the interesting effects associated with hypnosis are actually brought about by suggestion - a hypnotised person is typically given suggestions to experience changes in sensation or perception (e.g. see 1).
Hypnotic 'Trance' and Suggestion
Hypnosis has often been carved into two separate elements - 'Trance' and Suggestion (e.g. see 2). This distinction has led to some useful research, and is particularly important when considering the results of neuroimaging research. However, the distinction between trance and suggestion is not universally recognised (see 3).
Hypnotic 'Trance'
A central issue in the history of hypnosis has been whether we need to hypothesise a special state of mind, or even a special altered state of brain functioning, in order to explain the phenomena we observe in hypnosis; the so-called 'state' vs. 'non-state' debate. Without taking sides in this theoretical debate, the term 'trance' can still be helpful when thinking about hypnosis if we use it in its weaker version. That is, if we use the term in the way we might in everyday language to denote a state of mind, such as being happy or sad, interested or bored, attentive or disinterested. We define trance as:
i) Focused attention
ii) Disattention to extraneous stimuli
iii) Absorption in some activity, image, thought or feeling
Put this way, the 'state' in everyday terms is one of being 'entranced' and people can, and do, enter this 'entranced' state spontaneously. Common examples of 'everday hypnosis' are:
• being 'lost in thought' or day dreaming
• absorption in sport, reading, listening to music etc
• driving for long distances and not recalling the route taken
• being absorbed in meditation / relaxation procedures.
Hypnotic procedures formalise this process of 'entrancement' and intensify it. Potential hypnosis subjects are given a series of instructions which, if they follow them, are intended to assist them in achieving a trance state. Hypnotic procedures are intended to encourage focussed attention, disattention to surroundings, and absorption in innter mental world. (Note that this list does not include relaxation - this is a suggested effect - see below).
Some people are able to enter the desired state quickly, either spontaneously or through a hypnotic procedure. Hypnotic procedures are generally facilitated by:
i) encouraging the subject to be non-analytical in their thinking
ii) increasing the subjects motivation and willingness to actively involve themselves with the procedures
iii) raising subjects expectancies of a positive outcome
Suggestion
The verbal communications that the hypnotist uses to produce responses are termed "suggestions". Suggestions differ from everyday kinds of instructions in that a 'successful' response is experienced by the subject as having a quality of involuntariness or effortlessness - it feels as though it is happening by itself. One widely held belief is that being in a 'hypnotic state' facilitates responsiveness to suggestion, and there is some evidence to support this. However, while this might be the case people can also respond to suggestions without being taken through a hypnotic procedure first - in the absence of hypnosis people are said to be responding to imaginative suggestions.
Suggestions are often accompanied by appropriate imagery but the following effects can be produced by direct suggestion without imagery:
• Relaxation (e.g. "You are becoming more and more relaxed as time goes by")
• Arm levitation (e.g. "You might begin to notice your arm becoming lighter, and beginning to float up in the air")
• Analgesia (e.g. "Notice the feeling in your hand becoming less and less, your hand becoming numb")
• Amnesia (e.g. "When you wake up, you won't remember anything that happened during this session")
• Post-hypnotic suggestion (e.g. "Later, when I click my fingers, you will scratch your nose")
American Psychological Association (APA) Definition
Hypnosis typically involves an introduction to the procedure during which the subject is told that suggestions for imaginative experiences will be presented. The hypnotic induction is an extended initial suggestion for using one's imagination, and may contain further elaborations of the introduction. A hypnotic procedure is used to encourage and evaluate responses to suggestions. When using hypnosis, one person (the subject) is guided by another (the hypnotist) to respond to suggestions for changes in subjective experience, alterations in perception, sensation, emotion, thought or behavior. Persons can also learn self-hypnosis, which is the act of administering hypnotic procedures on one's own. If the subject responds to hypnotic suggestions, it is generally inferred that hypnosis has been induced. Many believe that hypnotic responses and experiences are characteristic of a hypnotic state. While some think that it is not necessary to use the word "hypnosis" as part of the hypnotic induction, others view it as essential.
Details of hypnotic procedures and suggestions will differ depending on the goals of the practitioner and the purposes of the clinical or research endeavor. Procedures traditionally involve suggestions to relax, though relaxation is not necessary for hypnosis and a wide variety of suggestions can be used including those to become more alert. Suggestions that permit the extent of hypnosis to be assessed by comparing responses to standardized scales can be used in both clinical and research settings. While the majority of individuals are responsive to at least some suggestions, scores on standardized scales range from high to negligible. Traditionally, scores are grouped into low, medium, and high categories. As is the case with other positively-scaled measures of psychological constructs such as attention and awareness, the salience of evidence for having achieved hypnosis increases with the individual's score.
(Taken from APA Division 30 website)
American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) Definition
Hypnosis is a state of inner absorption, concentration and focused attention. It is like using a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun and make them more powerful. Similarly, when our minds are concentrated and focused, we are able to use our minds more powerfully. Because hypnosis allows people to use more of their potential, learning self-hypnosis is the ultimate act of self-control.
While there is general agreement that certain effects of hypnosis exist, there are differences of opinion within the research and clinical communities about how hypnosis works. Some researchers believe that hypnosis can be used by individuals to the degree they possess a hypnotic trait, much as they have traits associated with height, body size, hair color, etc. Other professionals who study and use hypnosis believe there are strong cognitive and interpersonal components that affect an individual's response to hypnotic environments and suggestions.
(Taken from the ASCH website)
Classic suggestion effect
The key characteristic of hypnotic responding is what is called the "classic suggestion effect" 4. As a hypnotic suggestion is carried out by a subject, the subjective experience is that the behavior is happening all by itself, involuntarily. For example, if the suggestion is that the subject's arm is rigid like a bar of iron, the classic hypnotic experience is that one's arm has really become rigid, on its own. It is not that one is deliberately holding one's arm stiffly. This phenomenon is also referred to as "hypnotic involuntariness", that is, the lack of an experience of one's own will in producing the behavior.