First let's be clear about the question. "Can hypnosis work for you?" is answered with a resounding "yes". Scientific data show that hypnosis can be effective in alleviating pain, modifying behaviors, altering perceptions, and in a myriad of other ways. "Will hypnosis work for you?" is answered with a resounding "maybe".

There are several factors that will determine whether hypnosis will work for you. Let's begin with your beliefs and expectations. There is considerable experimental data verifying the role of belief and expectation in the success of hypnosis but first let me give you a little background.

Hypnosis was developed from the work of Franz Anton Mesmer, an eighteenth-century healer. Mesmer discovered what he called "mesmerism" (later to be called hypnosis) while experimenting with magnets in the treatment of a patient. He and his followers (called mesmerists) began inducing hypnosis by touching people with magnets. Later, Mesmer decided that the human body was itself a kind of magnet, capable of magnetizing inanimate objects and curing disease.

Surprisingly, the first set of studies validating the role of belief and expectation in the success of hypnosis was conducted in the eighteenth century by a French royal commission. This commission was established by Louis XVI and chaired by Benjamin Franklin, who was then the American ambassador to France. In one of these very simple experiments, the commissioners brought in a well-known mesmerist. They asked that mesmerist to "magnetize" a tree in Ben Franklin's garden. Then, a patient was brought in and led to a tree that was NOT magnetized. Nevertheless, the patient showed all of the usual signs of mesmerism. Later, while being escorted out of the garden, she was casually led under the magnetized tree. Not surprisingly, standing under this tree had no effect. The commission concluded that "the imagination is the true cause of the effects attributed to magnetism" (Tinterow, MM, 1970). Similar results were found in other tests. For example, drinking magnetized water had no effect if the person did not know that the water had been magnetized. Conversely, drinking regular water produced signs of mesmerism if the person was led to believe that it had been magnetized. This may have been the first placebo-controlled clinical trial in the history of medicine.

These simple single-person experiments established that the only necessary condition for being mesmerized was the person's belief that the conditions had been met to be hypnotized. These findings have been replicated repeatedly and consistently over the subsequent centuries.

The historical evidence is also supplemented by physical experimental data. Many studies have shown that people respond they way they expect to respond and that changing those expectations changes the way they respond. An important study was reported by Martin Orne in 1959. Orne told a group of students that people who are hypnotized show catalepsy (when the arm is lifted, it stays in the position in which it was placed) of the dominant arm. When these students were later hypnotized, most of them displayed dominant arm catalepsy. Few students who had not been told about the catalepsy prior to being hypnotized displayed catalepsy.

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Sharyn A. Cerda is a Certified Hypnotist, Metaphysical Life Coach and teacher, Reiki healer and THM practitioner with a Master's Degree in Metaphysics. She currently resides in Erlanger. This article is the copyright property of Angels Awakening Hypnosis. All rights reserved. sharyn@personalgrowthhypnosis.com http://www.personalgrowthhypnosis.com