Famous Hypnotists Throughout History

I am sure that most of you know what hypnosis is. For those that don’t – it is a natural process that allows you to relax and enter a state in which you will accept suggestions much more easily, so that you can use those suggestions to improve your life.

I would like to talk about a few hypnotists that made hypnosis what it is today.

Mesmer

Franz Mesmer lived from mid eighteenth to early nineteenth century.

He was the first man to use hypnosis in modern times. What he believed hypnosis was though is a lot different than what it is.

Namely, Mesmer called hypnosis Animal Magnetism, something he thought that is a channel in our bodies that he was the first one to discover.

He believed that it is possible to transfer magnetic fluids through this channel.

By the way, if you think of a man in cloak when you think of hypnotists, you are thinking of Mesmer, as that was his image.

Dr. James Braid

Dr. James Braid is considered the actual father of hypnosis. He was a doctor from Scotland that applied principles of hypnosis to heal people in hospitals.

Because of Dr. Braid hypnosis was thought at universities and used in medical facilities as a healing mechanism.
Dr. James Braid is also known as a creator of the word - hypnosis.

Dr. Sigmund Freud

Freud find hypnosis fascinating, although he thought that only some patients could be healed with it, or rather only patients suffering from hysteria.

Later Freud decided that hypnosis did not give good enough results while the patients were treated with it, and that is when he started using psychotherapy to heal them.

Freud’s rejection of hypnosis made a big blow on the reputation of this science.

Emile Coué

Emile Coue lived in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. He experimented with giving placebos to his patients and hypnotically suggesting to them that the placebos will cure them.

He also left positive notes to patients that actually helped them heal quicker.

We own a great debt to Emile Coue as he was likely the first man to discover the power of autosuggestion, or something he called self hypnosis.

Milton Erickson

Milton Erickson is likely the most famous hypnotist that ever lived. He used hypnosis on himself as he had chronic pain as a result of a disease.

He is also the creator of The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, which he founded in 1957 and made certain minimum requirements for joining, such as a master’s degree.

Erickson’s hypnotic styles are thought even today, although some of his ways of using hypnosis remain controversial, as he was not absolutely open to his patients about how hypnosis works.

His philosophy was that ends justify the means, and that the patient does not have to be fully aware of what is happening, as long as he is cured.

There you are some well known hypnotists that we owe a great debt to.

Without them, hypnosis would not be on the level it is today – it would not be possible to help thousands and millions of people deal with their problems in a natural way, without any medication.