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Global Health Econ Sustain Hypnosis: Refiguring health care practice

waking suggestion]. From these various forms of times synonymously referred to as suggestive therapeutics
psychotherapy, the medical … [person] must choose (Bernheim, 1887/1899; Liébeault, 1889/2002; Munro,
the method best adapted to the individual case as 1917) – that is, the use of suggestion to treat disease. Their
presented in actual clinical work. synonymous designation, however, represented an error of
All psychical treatment [(i.e., psychotherapy)] – direct logical typing or paradox (Bateson, 1972; Phipps, 2019a;
or indirect, whatever be the form of procedure – aims Watzlawick et al., 1967; 1974; Watzlawick & Weakland,
at the persuasion [emphasis added] of the patient. It 1977), because it confuses psychotherapy – the class of
is administered by the employment of suggestion to different types of suggestion for treatment – with hypnotic
persuade, influence, or encourage the functions of suggestion or hypnosis – simply a member of the class of
the nervous system, whether acting on the higher different types of suggestion.
mental levels, to which belong conscious and
voluntary actions, or appealing to the lower mental Psychotherapy can, therefore, be understood as a
levels, including unconscious, automatic, involuntary branch of medicine that involves the trained use of
actions … – the influence exerted by impressions suggestion to treat mental and physical illness or disease
from without on the psychophysiological functions. (i.e., suggestive therapeutics) with its use of hypnotic
(pp. 21–22) suggestion (i.e., hypnosis) constituting only one efficacious
form of such suggestion.
As is evident from Munro’s (1917) explanation,
psychotherapy is a discipline of medicine that involves the The prohibition of the use of both hypnotherapy
communication of suggestion to treat mental and physical and hypnosis – similarly to this earlier confusion about
illness and disease. It is the trained use of communication the nature of the relationship between psychotherapy
of suggestion, as distinct from the use of medicine and/or and hypnosis and their distinction – represents an
surgical procedures that differentiate psychotherapy from error of paradox: It confuses the use of hypnosis – the
the other treatment disciplines. This is true of the discipline class of different types of uses of hypnotic suggestion or
of psychotherapy at its inception, then and now. hypnosis – with the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy
(i.e., hypnotherapy) – simply a member of the class of
5.2. Development of psychotherapy different types of uses of hypnosis.
Although a detailed examination of the development Therefore, the use of hypnosis can occur in various types
of the main approaches in psychotherapy is beyond of relationship or interaction, with its use in a treatment
the scope of this paper, what is common to all these relationship and, more specifically, a psychotherapeutic
approaches – beginning with the founding of Sigmund treatment relationship – as per the psychoanalytic,
Freud’s psychoanalytic approach in 1890s, and behavioral, humanistic, interactional (i.e., systems),
followed by the behavioral, humanistic, interactional narrative, and/or cognitive-behavioral approaches –
(i.e., systems), narrative, and cognitive-behavioral (i.e., hypnotherapy) constituting use in only one type of
approaches (Phipps, 2023) – is that they are based on treatment relationship, itself constituting, at a higher order
a coherent set of tested knowledge about the human level, use in only one type of human relationship.
mind, behavior, physical environment, and interaction,
thereof. Furthermore, by way of the trained use of The third part of the problem is that the prohibition
communication as suggestion, treatment involves prevented the efficacious use of hypnosis, this relating to
helping the person(s) acquire knowledge about a misconception about the efficacious use of hypnosis in
themselves (i.e., mind and/or body), others, and/ health care.
or the physical environment. The accuracy of this 6. Prohibition preventing efficacious use
acquired knowledge increases their ability to perceive
more accurately the reality of themselves, others, and/ The demarcation of the use of hypnosis as the act of the
or the physical environment, both now and, should a discipline of psychology – and thus the prohibition of its
similar such interaction, foreseeable or unforeseeable, comprehensive use by any other health care discipline –
arise, in the future. This enables them to interact more and thereby the ascension of the independent, exclusive,
effectively and thus adapt and evolve within their and unidisciplinary use of hypnosis in health care by
physical and social environment. psychology, was in non-observance of the essential early
principle about the efficacious use of hypnosis in health
5.2.1. Hypnotic suggestion care – namely, the requirement of its multidisciplinary use
The use of suggestion, and hypnotic suggestion, is also the – and therefore, it prevented the efficacious use of hypnosis
reason that psychotherapy and hypnosis were at earlier in health care.

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 6 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.1713