Here are some quotes which might be of interest. They show that hypnotists
from 1853 to 2006 have consistently bemoaned the legacy of Mesmerism and the
fact that misconceptions derived from animal magnetism are bound up with the
popular portrayal of hypnotism. I suspect that the majority of
hypnotherapists today are still guilty of confusing hypnotism with its opposite
and
arch-enemy Mesmerism. Braid, the man who coined the word "hypnotism",
dedicated
his career to opposing the theories of mesmerism and is crystal clear that he
sees this as nothing to do with his "psycho-physiological" method of
"hypnotism." - DR



Go into any large bookshop nowadays and you will most likely find that their
shelves are liberally stocked with books about hypnosis, and its numerous
applications. Pick out any such book at random, open it anywhere and look
anywhere on the page. The chances are that what you are reading is plainly
wrong, is misleading, is questionable, has little support, or requires
significant qualification for it to be accepted as a valid statement. (Heap,
‘
Hypnosis: the modern perspective’, 2006)



Very few topics in the whole history of mankind can have given rise to so
many absurdities, misunderstandings, and misconceptions. From the very
beginning the study of hypnosis has been tied up with fantastic conceptions
like
animal magnetism, the influence of the stars, and similar tarradiddle. Even
nowadays, popular conceptions of hypnosis are extremely confused, and
journalistic reports in newspapers have done but little to clarify the issues
involved.
[...]
The terms ‘mesmerise’ and ‘hypnotise’ have become quite synonymous, and
most people think of Mesmer as the father of hypnosis, or at least as its
discoverer and first conscious exponent. Oddly enough, the truth appears to be
that while hypnotic phenomena had been known for many thousands of years,
Mesmer did not, in fact, hypnotise his subjects at all. […] It is something
of a
mystery why popular belief should have firmly credited him with a discovery
which in fact was made by others.
– Hans Eysenck, Sense & Nonsense in Psychology (1957)


I beg farther to remark, if my theory and pretensions, as to the nature,
cause, and extent of the phenomena of nervous sleep [hypnotism] have none of
the
fascinations of the transcendental to captivate the lovers of the
marvellous, the credulous and enthusiastic, which the pretensions and alleged
occult
agency of the mesmerists have, still I hope my views will not be the less
acceptable to honest and sober-minded men, because they are all level to our
comprehension, and reconcilable with well-known physiological and psychological
principles. (Braid, 1853: 36)



Yours Sincerely,

Donald Robertson
College Principal & Executive Director

Senior Clinician Hypnotherapist (NCH)
Registered Psychotherapist (UKCP)
Member of the European Register of Psychotherapists (ERP)
Fellow of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health (RSPH)


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