Hypnotherapy, a history

When one hears the word, "hypnosis," it's not uncommon to immediately think of performers in top hats waving a watch and making someone cluck like a chicken.

But the practice of hypnosis and hypnotherapy dates back more than 4,000 years and was used to help people suffering from an assortment of physical, mental and emotional ailments. The modern practice of hypnosis and hypnotherapy sprouted in the 18th century in Europe, and the foundations for modern treatment were laid down in the early 20th century.

Where does "hypnosis" come from?

The terms "hypnotism" and "hypnosis" were coined in the 19th century by English physician James Braid after the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos. The practice in cultures such as ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Israel and India involved just that, putting people into a trance-like state during healing rituals.

In ancient Egypt, "sleep temples" involved a priest or priestess using hypnotic suggestions to get a patient connected with the gods to perform healing. The practice involved purification rituals and sacred chants, where patients would mediate, take hot baths and make sacrifices to the gods.

The patients, or "seekers," were often seeking a solution to problems, healing a mental or physical challenge or simply to gain insight.

In India, some of those practices survive today and used to treat poor health and even so-called "bad luck."

Modern practices

Fast forward to 18th century Europe, when German physician Franz Mesmer used hypnosis to treat patients in Paris and Vienna. Mesmer was soon discredited because of his mistaken belief that hypnotism used an occult-like force, but his methods continued to draw interest.

That included famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who learned about the practice on a visit to France and used it to help neurotics recall disturbing events they had forgotten. He later soured on the practice, claiming it was too volatile, but the real reason is he had developed a lisp from poorly-fitted dentures, which mean Freud couldn't speak well enough to induce a trance.

In the 20th century, hypnotists such as Milton Erickson, George Esterbrook and Dave Elhman developed practices still used today.

Erickson, in particular, was capable of inducing trance using his environment around him and a patient's psychological functions. Examples include using the sound of a bell clock that caused a deeper trance with each sound or using blinking eyes to put a patient into a state of relaxation.

Uses today

Hypnosis today is used to treat a variety of issues, such has headaches, help with quitting smoking, improve concentration, relieve minor problems and even to ease the pain of childbirth or be used as an anesthesia. The National Health Service in the UK even recommends it for  irritable bowel syndrome and pain control.

Many practitioners haven't always understood how it works, but peer-reviewed publications such as the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and Health Psychology have shown hypnosis to measurably improve many types of therapies.

Sources: The Institute of Applied Psychology, Vitality Living College, The Felicitas D. Goodman Institute