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Foundations in Hypnosis Class Notes 2017

Dave Elman -1900 May 6th - 1967 Dec 5th

Park River, North Dakota, USA. His book Findings in Hypnosis now it is renamed
as Hypnotherapy
A stage hypnotist developed rapid induction techniques and clinical hypnosis.

Hypnosis is not a condition of mind but a state of mind.

We are not in hypnotic condition always. To put one in hypnotic condition, change of
present condition is required. Not many people are willing to have their mind
changed.
The state of mind, unlike its condition, frequently and easily changes.
The state of mind of hypnosis can be obtained instantaneously, for a state of mind
is merely a mood.
Hypnosis is a state of mind in which the critical faculty is bypassed and
selective thinking established.
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Under hypnosis, a person is in control of all his faculties except one. He can hear,
see, feel, smell taste and speak. Sometimes he may be unconscious but he is
completely aware and therefore cooperate. The single exception is critical faculty
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Impotence and frigidity
If the patient knows the cause at conscious level, it is quite easy to relieve, but the
patient is unable to state the cause hypnoanalysis is the answer. However any
pathology should be ruled out.
Two types of impotence and frigidity:
1. Type-A - cause is known at conscious level
2. Type-B cause not known at conscious level but retained in the mind by an
awareness below the level of consciousness (subconscious)
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All text books declare that you must obtain eye closure if you wish to obtain
hypnosis. The methods such as fixation, monotony, rhythm are, initiation or
levitation are suggested. But a simple technique to obtain the same
instantaneously, is pretending that the eyes cant be opened.
The Three pre - requisites for hypnosis are:
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1. Consent of the subject.

2. Communication between the subject and the operator.
3. Freedom from fear or reluctance on the subjects part to trust the operator.

Everybody has been on the threshold of hypnosis thousands of times and that
everybody has hypnotized himself again and again without knowing it.
Explain Friday 13th, cat crossing and other superstitions. Those who believe those
things believe and hypnotized themselves bypassing their critical faculty of mind
and implanted selective thinking.
There is not a person of normal intelligence and over above 2 years who has not
been hypnotized. If you doubt this, you dont know what hypnosis is.
Explain pleasant dreaming eyes closed and visualize and enjoying their participation
some time ago in their minds eye actually.
When a person rejects hypnosis, it means he has refused to bypass his critical
faculty and thereby make the implanting of selective thinking impossible. If he
follows the given instructions hypnosis is possible for him also.
The induction hypnosis attached sleep is faster an easier than when the subject is
awake. This is because the subject is pre-relaxed when you begin.
Five signs of Hypnosis: These signs are subtle and minute.
1. Body warmth
2. Fluttering of the eyelids
3. Increased lacrimation
4. The whites of the eyes (sclera) get red or pinkish
5. The eye balls going up into the head

How to tire a person's eyes very quickly, my technique improved to the place where
I was getting approximately nine out of ten successes instead of five out of ten. I
would shake hands with a person as I placed my other hand in front of his forehead,
with the little finger of my left hand next to his face. Then I would say, "Keep your
eyes on my hand as I bring it down under your chin," and I would then
bring my hand down along the profile of his face until it was under his
chin. "Now, close your eyes and relax the muscles around your eyes, relax
them to the point where they will not work. When you're sure they won't
work, test them." And by this simple device, I would get excellent eye-closure.
The fact of the matter is that just because you have eye-closure you do
not necessarily have hypnosis. That is why so many novices are unsuccessful.
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They don't realize that it takes more than eye-closure to establish hypnosis can be
done instantaneously.
It doesnt mean that you are hypnotized, it does not. It is merely the entering
wedge, and hypnosis is not obtained until selective thinking is firmly
established.
Selective thinking is whatever you believe wholeheart edly. For example, if
you are led to believe that you will feel no pain, and you believe it completely, you
will have no pain. Let the slightest doubt come in and the selective thinking
vanishes; the critical faculty is no longer bypassed. You will feel pain at normal
level. Selective thinking vanishes not only when doubt enters the picture but when
fear does. The introduction of fear causes a defensive reaction that brings the
critical faculty back into focus.
Let us return to the eye-closing pretense. If I were to say, "Close your eyes and
pretend you can't open them," and you followed instructions, your critical
faculty would be bypassed, but I must go further to accomplish hypnosis. I
must also firmly establish selective thinking. Therefore, I would say to
you, "So long as you keep pretending that you can't open your eyes, you
will feel nothing. Nothing will bother you, no matter what the doctor
does." If I say this convincingly enough and you believe it completely, I have
established selective thinking while your critical faculty was inoperative, and the
result is complete anesthesia.
I stress the importance of rapid induction. When doctors discard the unreliable
techniques and learn hypnosis on a scientific level, it will achieve its proper medical
status.
There are several good reasons why the handshake technique is particularly
valuable. The first reason is that it enables the operator to observe at close range
the person on whom he is working. Observation is a most important phase in the
study. Another reason is that the handshake is a gesture of friendship. It creates an
immediate rapport which is essential. You already know that bringing the left hand
down over the profile of the patient's face is a technique for tiring the eyes quickly,
and therefore you are still using the fixation technique.
The right hand contains the first sign of hypnosis. Hypnosis give off five signs, and
in that handclasp you find the very first one, body warmth. The advanced student,
and usually even the inexperienced operator can immediately tell from the
handclasp whether or not the patient is receptive to suggestion. A cold hand says
that the person is cold to the subject; a hot, wet hand says that the patient is liable
to resist. A warm hand tells you that you should be successful immediately.
The radial pulse often becomes imperceptible as the patient goes into
hypnosis. It is very easy to
test the radial pulse when using the handshake technique.
There is another group of signs frequently mentioned in the textbooks
erroneously. They only occur when fear is engendered in the patient by the
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realization that hypnosis is being used, and then only if the patient is afraid of
hypnosis. Notice how these signs comprise a fear syndrome. They are: faster
pulse, faster heartbeat and increased respiration. These signs can be
observed in a person who is afraid of anything, and therefore they are not
hypnotic signs.
Here are your instructions: Say the cue word green and close your eyes. Test for
eye-closure. When you are sure you have eye-closure, use the symbol word "green"
again, knowing that the instant you say it your suggestion will take full and
complete effect. Then test to make sure that the suggestion has taken full effect. To
release the eye muscles, say the word "green" once again, and your eyes will open.

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If you tried the experiment involving the eye c1o s u r e pretense on yourself, you
must have noticed a conflict in your mind. One part of your brain seemed to be
saying, "You can't open your eyes." Another seemed to be saying, "Nonsense."
Doubt-skepticism-is a natural human reaction, and often a valuable one. The same
can be said of fear. However, doubt and fear can defeat you if you don't know how
to avoid or overcome these reactions.