Preferences for Descriptors of Hypnosis: A Brief Communication

Abstract

Alternative descriptors of the capacity to experience hypnosis, intended to describe the same phenomenon, appear in the current literature. Published members of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH) were surveyed to determine their preferences. The descriptors were empirically derived from recent International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis articles and input from the executive committee of SCEH. Participants also indicated their primary theoretical conceptualization of hypnosis. Hypnotizability was chosen nearly 4 times more frequently than the next most favored choice (susceptibility) as a descriptor of hypnotic talent. Hypnosis as an "identifiable state" was chosen more than 4 times more frequently than the socio-cognitive version. This latter finding suggests that the notion of the continued debatability of hypnosis as primarily a state is now shared by only a few.

Whither Spontaneous Hypnosis: A Critical Issue for Practitioners and Researchers

“…Thus, the notion that the state/non-state, social-psychological, and altered state of consciousness "debate goes on" (Kirsch, 2003) or that the issue is "unresolved" (Sarbin, 2005) now seems to be shared by only a few vocal members of these societies. Christensen's (2005) survey of published members of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis found strong support for the conceptualization of hypnosis as "primarily an identifiable state." The preferences were not only statistically significant, but were overwhelmingly shown by a nearly five to one ratio over the concept of hypnosis as a solely socio-cognitive phenomenon.…”

The Perspective of a Teacher and Clinician: The 2003 APA Division 30 Definition of Hypnosis

“…Certainly, many subjects and patients "believe" this because of their phenomenological experience of hypnosis. Most researchers in the field, however, appear to view hypnosis as being primarily a state (Christensen, 2005), as do many practitioners and teachers, and might well prefer to have their views characterized as widely accepted interpretations of the growing body of data rather than as mere beliefs.…”

Hypnosis, Hypnotizability and Treatment

“…A variety of terms have been proposed: suggestibility, hypnotic suggestibility, imaginative suggestibility, hypnotic susceptibility, hypnotizability, trance capacity or hypnotic responsivity to name a few (Braffman & Kirsch, 1999;Christensen, 2005;Frischholz, 1985;2005a;Spiegel and Spiegel, 1978;Weitzenhoffer, 1980). Making this matter even more confusing is that some use different types of descriptive labels while at the same time employing the same assessment method/measurement instrument.…”

“…Interestingly, a recent attempt to answer this question was undertaken using a poll of hypnosis professionals (Christensen, 2005). Respondents claimed, by a ratio of 4:1, that induction ceremonies produced an identifiable "state" (presumably different from a normal conscious "waking" state).…”