The Nature of Suggestion There is no such thing as Hypnosis, there is only Suggestion.

So lets forget hypnotism because its a bad word to describe the phenomenon that were interested in, and that is suggestion. But what is suggestion? Well, there are many different kinds of suggestion. First theres straightforward verbal suggestion, for example, just imagine for a moment you're at home and the phone rings. You're in the middle of doing something, and so you say to your friend, answer the phone would you, and he answers the phone. He has responded to your verbal suggestion to answer the phone. Now that might sound like a command, answer the phone would you, but in fact in the circumstances, it was a perfectly reasonable request and your friend has responded to the command, or the suggestion, to answer the phone. Thats if he actually picks it up of course. Now imagine you're at home and the phone rings again. This time you're eating something, and so you just give your friend a look, and nod in the general direction of the telephone. He picks it up and answers it on your behalf and so again, hes responded to a suggestion, but this time a non verbal one. Try standing on the corner of a busy street gazing up at the sky with your hands shielding your eyes from the sun, and the chances are that most of the passersby will at least have a quick glance heavenward. And there it is - indirect non verbal suggestion....or whatever you choose to call it really.... Body language....theres another example. You dont need a degree in psychology to know when someone is flirting with you. Every single day of our lives, we are literally bombarded with thousands and thousands of suggestions. That is after all why advertising works. Our response to these external stimuli is normally to behave in a way that has been clearly defined and is within certain parameters of accepted social behaviour. Each has their own ways of responding - each of them knows what is expected of them in a given situation and will react accordingly. The verbal suggestions or commands that a hypnotist gives are interpreted in exactly the same way. The subject should respond in the appropriate manner. But theres even more to it than this, because when you walk into a theatre or a hypnotherapists waiting room, the senses are literally peppered with signals that all play their part in enhancing the image of the person you're about to see. Take your seat in the theatre and take a look around. A lot of people have paid to see the man whos about to step into the spotlight. If hes any good, hell have a good stage presence, an air of authority if you like, and he will be able to take command of the situation. In fact the very fact that youre sat there in the first

place means that you already have some respect for this mans ability. And exactly the same is true when you're sat in the waiting room of the hypnotherapist. Just as two hundred years ago people were inspired by Mesmers lightning bolts, the modern miracle worker impresses with his certificates (and well be having a good close look at those later on,) and his newspaper cuttings. Theres nothing magical or mysterious about the hypnotists power, its just that they know something you dont, and its the same thing that all the really good hypnotists find out pretty early on. Hypnosis may be all in the mind, but the majority of people believe what theyre told to believe. Andrew Newton managed to sum it up in a single sentence, and it really enshrines just what were talking about. The great unwashed really do believe every word they read in The Sun. Now all this sounds as if none of these people are really hypnotised, they just think theyre hypnotised, but then, isn't that the same thing? And it may even sound as though the people on the stage or in the clinic are just going along with it. At the University of Liverpool, psychology lecturer Dr. Graham Wagstaffe believes that there is no such thing as a trance, hypnotic or otherwise. Apart from in the movies, have you ever seen anyone in a trance? This may come as a big surprise, but there is not one single documented case of anyone ever being in a trance. Sure, medical books and journals are full of examples of people who are fixated, or who are in comas, or in a state of hysteria, but sadly, no trances. Lets have a look at a couple of Dr. Wagstaffes experiments. The first involves a class of psychology students. Wagstaffe puts them all through a standard hypnotic induction and then gives them a test to measure the effect. Responding to suggestions that their arms are getting lighter than air, many of the students arms actually begin to rise into the air! At the end of the experiment the students were quizzed as to their experiences. Some reported that they actually felt as if they were hypnotised, they certainly appeared to be hypnotised, they certainly showed all the symptoms, the attitude of extreme relaxation and the responsiveness to suggestion, but on closer questioning nearly all of them decided that they had just been going along with the whole thing. Certainly if they thought they were going to experience some trance-like state of altered consciousness, they were disappointed because it didn't happen. And another interesting point was that once one student volunteered that he was simply playing along the rest of them agreed that they were just doing the same. Nevertheless, something happened, because most of them did respond to suggestion, and thats what we're talking about here. What in effect happened was that they were able to experience their own responsiveness, but were unable to experience hypnosis.

The other experiment is a little more straightforward. A student from another university department volunteered to take part in an experiment for the benefit of the class. When he volunteered, he had no idea at all what he was letting himself in for. Only when the experiment was about to begin, did he have any indication of what it was hed let himself in for. He was asked to play the part of a very good hypnotic subject and react in the way a true hypnotic subject would react. What actually happened was that he turned in an Oscar winning performance. When he was told to behave like an eight year old, he took to the part like a natural, he sucked his thumb and mumbled and to all intents and purposes behaved like an eight year old, all without even being hypnotised! So what are you saying then doctor, that hypnosis doesn't exist, or that it can be faked? An orgasm can be faked, but that doesn't mean to say that they dont exist. What Dr. Wagstaffe has actually proved, is that effects produced under hypnosis can be produced just as well without it. The bricklayer dancing like a ballerina on the stage may well be simply responding to suggestion, but its clear he could perform equally well without hypnosis, the difference is, hes unlikely to... unless of course its in the context of the hypnotic show. People tend to behave differently when they have the limelight, or a television camera pointed at them, and then ask themselves later why did I do that? But we can all behave in extraordinary and unusual ways when faced with extraordinary and unusual circumstances, and this is as much a part of human nature as any of our more normal patterns of human behaviour. People modify the way they conduct themselves and the way they interact within their immediate environment according to the circumstances. We behave quite differently when we're about to meet the Queen than we do when we're at a football match. Even the way we dress is different. Whether we are visiting the therapist or about to volunteer to go on stage and be put under, our behaviour is modified to fit the occasion. We are all just about to play the role of the hypnotised subject. Copyright Andrew Newton 2001