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Article: HYPNOSIS, HYPNOTIZABILITY AND TREATMENT
- Article from:
- American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis
- Article date:
- July 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Society of Clinical Hypnosis Jul 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Abstract
There is broad agreement that a phenomenon we call "hypnosis" exists. However, there is no generally accepted definition of hypnosis. A brief historical overview of the use of hypnosis in healing practices demonstrates how it evolved willy-nilly, and like Topsy, "just growed" into its current status in medicine, psychiatry, psychology and dentistry. The mechanisms underlying hypnosis and how hypnosis differs from other cognitive states are almost totally unknown. With the exceptions of suggestions for pain control, current concepts of high, medium, low or non-hypnotizability do not reliably predict clinical outcomes for most medical, psychiatric or dental disorders. We do know that ...