| By :
Rick Rakauskas
The Victorian era was a time of change for the medical world. Not only had choloroform and bacteria been discovered, but the role of the mind in health was just being realised. During these early days of psychology, medical attention began to turn to hypnosis and hypnotherapy as a medical technique. Some of those early pioneers have become household names. Most people have heard of Mesmer, who was the very first doctor to try using hypnotherapy. In fact, "mesmerism" is a synonym for hypnosis. Sigmund Freud, considered to be the father of psychology, also experimented with hypnosis as part of a counselling session. Less well known is the Scottish researcher Dr James Braid. Dr Braid really ought to be a household name, especially in for those who have discovered what hypnotherapy can do for them. Dr James Braid was born in 1795 in Scotland and studied medicine. His first specialty area was eyes and muscular conditions, and he was also a skilled surgeon who made the most of the "new" anaesthetics. Possibly it was his experience with anaesthesia as well as the growing interest in the theories of Mesmer that stimulated Dr Braid's interest in hypnosis and hypnotherapy. The event that really started Dr Braid down his pioneering path was watching a demonstration of hypnosis by a visiting Swiss doctor. As an expert in muscle conditions, Braid recognised that the subjects of this demonstration were indeed in an altered physical/mental state. And so Braid began his research, which ultimately led to the hypnotherapy of today. It did not take long after his research started for Dr Braid to coin the term "hypnosis" as a handy abbreviation for "neurohypnosis", which was the fancy Greek-based term meaning "sleep of the nerves". Perhaps we can be grateful for this: originally, Dr Braid called this technique "neurypnology". Dr Braid attempted to be rational and balanced in his views as he undertook his research. For example, he totally rejected the idea that the therapist was able to put the subject of the hypnosis into such a state that the subject would be totally obedient to the suggestions and commands of the therapist. Many in the world of science and medicine were afraid of this: that hypnotists would be able to induce a trance in an unwilling subject and extract all their secrets, or command them to carry out tasks they didn't want to do. Many even worried that hypnosis would be part of the stock-in-trade of spies and the military - a theme that resurfaces even today in thriller fiction. Dr Braid developed the techniques of hypnotherapy. These techniques are still in use today in clinical hypnotherapy settings, and involve inducing a trance followed by suggestions. Dr Braid believed that the process of falling into a hypnotic trance was a natural phenomenon that made use of the mind/body pathways in all human beings. Given Dr Braid's experience with eyes, it is not surprising that it did not take him long to realise that visual focus was a vital part of inducing a trance. According to Braid, the eyes should be focused on an object about 18 inches away from the subject, preferably located above and in front of the eyes. The object should be ordinary and "boring", allowing the mind to relax. This visual fixation should be accompanied by deliberately slowing the breathing. Dr Braid used his lancet case as a point of focus, as it was boring and everyday (at least for him and his patients), but other early hypnotists who tried his techniques used another everyday item: their pocket watches - an image that has become almost a stereotype of the hypnotherapist;. For a very short while, the practice of fixing the eyes and mind on a neutral object as a means of inducing a trance for hypnotherapy was known as "Braidism". It's a pity that the term didn't stick, as this would have kept this pioneer's name in the public consciousness. Braid did not just draw on his own experiences as an eye specialist when researching how to induce a hypnotic trance. He also drew on sources from ancient India to guide him. During the Victorian era when Braid was doing his research, Britain had close ties with India, and an Anglo-Indian correspondent who had heard of Braid's research drew his attention to the similarities between his methods of inducing a trance and the methods used by yogis during meditation. Braid's correspondent also suggested an ancient text called the Dabestan-e-Mazaheb, a Persian text (rather than an Indian one) which outlined some of the techniques used by the Persian magi to enter a trance state. One of the things that Braid quickly notices was that both the yogis and the magi used the technique of visual and mental focus on a neutral object - often a finger, a candle or even the tip of the nose - to enter a trance state. One of Braid's conclusions from reading these texts and hearing the stories of the gurus was that it was possible to hypnotise one's self - a therapist was not needed. This completely refuted the claims of Mesmer, who stated that during a hypnotherapy session, the "animal magnetism" of the therapist induced the trance in the subject. Even since Braid's day, people have noticed a similarity between the trance state induced during a hypnotherapy session and the altered state of consciousness produced by Eastern meditation. It is thought by many that when someone is in this trance state, their minds (and spirits) are open to outside influences, be that outside influence the hypnotherapist or the spirit world. Braid was a strict materialist, so he would have rejected the idea of the spirit world having anything to do with hypnotherapy and hypnosis. Although Dr James Braid is no longer a household name, he is known as the first real hypnotherapist, and his methods are used by all properly trained hypnotherapists today.
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