Hypnosis Explained by Alan Gilchrist - The Origin of Hypnosis / Hypnotherapy

In the 18th century James Braid (1795-1860) a Scottish surgeon, sometimes called the "father of Hypnosis" coined the word HYPNOSIS after the Greek god HYPNOS, meaning sleep. After having investigated "mesmerism", and subsequently trying to expose it as a fake, he soon discovered that hypnosis was not a state of sleep. He realised that it was a state of focusing and heightened awareness and tried (unsuccessfully) to change the word from Hypnosis to Monoideism, but the word Hypnosis had already caught on.

Throughout his career he continued to use hypnosis for pain relief during surgery and also self-hypnosis to ease his arthritic pain. As Hypnosis began to receive serious recognition and could be explained in a more rational manner, it began to gain acceptance and not looked upon as being bizarre.

However, many people still find the word 'trance' scary, and consider that only weak-willed people can 'go under or be put out'. (There are so many misconceptions and sensational stories about what hypnosis actually is).

This is not the case, in actual fact the more intelligent and creative a person is, the easier it is for them to enter hypnosis. It is common for people who go into hypnosis to argue that they haven't been hypnotised at all, as they put it "I didn't go out". A person entering the state of hypnosis feels total relaxation, and upon leaving this natural state they are wonderfully calm, extremely relaxed and are never sceptical or nervous of hypnosis again.

If you click on to the Testimonials link, you can read some of the many letters received at my office, showing how Fast Track Hypnosis has helped some of my clients overcome their particular problem such as quit smoking, weight control to overcoming a phobia, etc.