subject: Conversational Hypnosis [print this page] During the Civil War battle of Winchester, a severely wounded soldier cries out that he is killed. The Union army commander, General Phil Sheridan, busy rallying his panicked men, firmly and confidently insists to him that he is fine, and should pick up his rifle and return to duty.
Convinced, the young man obeys and taking up his rifle, staggers a few paces and collapses. His life has been extended, if only for seconds, by the power of suggestion and persuasion.
All of us have encountered situations in which persuasion has been used, by ourselves or performed on us. We have seen positive, confident speakers swaying a companion, a group, even a crowd. Successful actors employ persuasive techniques to achieve the necessary suspension of disbelief, while physicians throughout the ages have used such techniques in place of, and now alongside, surgical and analgesic therapies.
Conversational hypnosis is probably best known to the public in these forms as the power of suggestion, through which one person using speech and body language is able to exert influence over another. Most become familiar with this form of hypnosis via film fantasy scenes in which a character, usually a villain, will establish a steadily growing dominance over another via an exaggerated combination of speech and gesture, emphasizing the subject's passivity.
In actuality, this influence, rather than some malevolent dominance, generally takes the positive form of inspiration and motivation, and can be a powerful tool for improving concentration and attention. Thus it can play an important role in enhancing memory and improving the effect of education.
Studies in surgery and dentistry, including those of Lew et. al. (2011) and Mackey et. al. (2010), have shown a significant ability for this form of hypnosis to reduce pain and replace more dangerous anesthetics and can be used by comparison studies to measure the placebo effect. Moreover, subjects play an important and active role in the process, providing subtle cues and information to guide the practitioner.
The setting need not be a traditional stage or even a therapist's office. The technique can be carried out in the most ordinary scenes: a classroom, a boardroom, a patient's bedside, a private conversation, even a political rally; anyplace where the practitioner and subject can have a degree, however momentary, of personal connection.
The subject is guided into a rapport with the practitioner who will act on subtle cues from the subject to determine the subject's point of view and, by agreeing with the subject, will establish a strengthening hold. A degree of trust must be established and maintained.
The conversation will build on the subject's degree of rapport with the practitioner, during which the practitioner will manipulate the conversation to learn the subject's needs and desires, often with reference to a specific matter or concern, and use this knowledge to reinforce his influence. Once rapport is achieved and useful information from the subject is obtained, either on a specific problem or issue or applying generally to the goal of the session, the practitioner can work to suggest actions and reinforce behaviors to achieve the goal and confuse patterns of thought in the subject which may work against that goal.
