Hypnosis and Suggestion From Mesmer to Modern Therapy in a Solution Focused World

Hypnosis and Suggestion: From Mesmer to Modern Therapy in a Solution Focused World

Hypnosis has traversed a fascinating path across centuries, moving from esoteric beginnings in animal magnetism to becoming a clinically grounded and evidence-informed tool in modern psychotherapy. At the heart of hypnosis lies a seemingly simple but powerful mechanism: suggestion. From early mesmerists to today’s solution focused hypnotherapists, the core aim remains—to harness imagination, belief, and attention in ways that facilitate change. This article explores the rich history of hypnosis and suggestion, and brings the conversation into the modern age, where they intersect with the neuroscience of expectation, narrative therapy, and solution focused brief therapy (SFBT).

The Foundations: Hypnosis as Influence and Imagination

Mesmer and the Birth of Magnetic Healing

Franz Anton Mesmer’s theory of animal magnetism in the late 18th century was a conceptual precursor to what we now call hypnosis. Mesmer believed that a subtle energy flowed through all living beings and that illness resulted from blockages in this flow. His methods, described in detail by Pattie (1994), involved elaborate rituals that included magnets, iron rods, and dramatic group healings. While the “magnetic fluid” was ultimately discredited by scientific inquiry, the psychological effects Mesmer produced were undeniable.

What Mesmer truly uncovered—though he did not yet have the language for it—was the power of expectation, focused attention, and suggestion.

From Braid to Bernheim: A Psychological Frame Emerges

James Braid, a Scottish surgeon, shifted the conversation from mysticism to mental processes. In his 1852 work, Braid argued that hypnosis was not supernatural but a state of focused attention and altered awareness brought on by suggestion and monotony (Braid, 1852). He coined the term “neuro-hypnotism” and placed the phenomena within the realm of physiology and psychology.

Braid’s ideas laid the groundwork for Hippolyte Bernheim, whose work in the Nancy School (Bernheim, 1889) identified suggestion as the key mechanism in hypnosis. Bernheim showed that individuals could experience changes in sensation, memory, and behaviour purely through verbal influence—without any elaborate induction. This insight redefined hypnosis not as a mysterious trance, but as a communicative act that could trigger real, measurable changes.

 
Suggestion, Role-Playing, and the Social Psychological Models

The 20th century brought a deepening of psychological models of hypnosis, moving away from the notion of a distinct “hypnotic state” toward an understanding of social influence, cognitive flexibility, and imaginative involvement.

Hypnosis as a Role Enactment

Sarbin and Coe (1972) described hypnosis as a form of social role-taking, where the subject adopts the “hypnotic role” based on cues from the hypnotist and cultural scripts. Rather than being passively induced into trance, the individual actively participates in shaping their experience. This view aligns hypnosis with broader psychological phenomena like placebo effects, performance, and narrative identity.

Barber, Spanos, and Chaves (1974) further emphasized that hypnotic responses are the product of beliefs, attitudes, and imaginative skill—not an altered state. Their work showed that non-hypnotic suggestion could yield similar results when expectation and motivation were high.

 
Cognition, Expectation, and the Construction of Experience

Response Expectancy Theory

Perhaps the most influential model for modern clinical hypnosis is Irving Kirsch’s response expectancy theory. Kirsch (1985, 1999) demonstrated that what people expect to happen has a profound effect on what they actually experience. In hypnosis, this means that suggestions are not commands—they are invitations to anticipate an outcome, which then becomes more likely to occur.

This view supports the evidence that hypnotic suggestions work by leveraging top-down processing—the brain’s ability to shape perception based on belief. These insights are foundational to modern, evidence-based hypnosis (Lynn & Kirsch, 2006) and resonate with developments in cognitive neuroscience showing that expectation alters sensory and emotional experience.

The Automatic Imagination Model

More recent models like Sheldrake and Jacquin’s Automatic Imagination Model (2011) conceptualise hypnosis as a skilful use of imagination to create the illusion of involuntariness. Suggestions are experienced as happening to the individual, even though they emerge from within. This is not deception—it’s a demonstration of the mind’s capacity to follow imagined realities as if they were true.

 
Hypnosis Today: A Solution Focused Reframe

In contemporary clinical practice, hypnosis is rarely used in isolation. It is often integrated into broader therapeutic frameworks—one of the most effective being Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT).

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy: A Synergy of Expectation and Empowerment

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) combines SFBT’s goal-oriented, resource-focused conversations with the imaginative power of hypnosis. It operates on the principle that clients are not broken, but stuck—and that positive change can begin by identifying what works, scaling progress, and focusing on preferred futures.

This integration is particularly powerful because:

Hypnosis amplifies solution-focused conversations: Post-talk, clients enter trance with recent positive insights freshly embedded in their awareness. This primes the imagination to explore and rehearse success.
Suggestion reinforces progress: Language in hypnosis is carefully crafted to affirm capabilities, celebrate small wins, and orient the unconscious toward future solutions. This aligns perfectly with Bernheim’s original therapeutic use of suggestion.
Expectation becomes a tool for change: Following Kirsch’s model, SFH helps clients expect change by reinforcing the possibility of better futures, allowing the unconscious to begin rehearsing success.
Trance becomes a safe container for hope: Drawing on Erickson’s legacy, trance is used not to fix but to explore—metaphor, narrative, and symbolism create distance from problems and evoke new perspectives.
 
Myth, Meaning, and the Inner World

Hypnosis is not just a clinical tool—it is a deeply human process. As Joseph Campbell (1991) explored in The Masks of God, cultures have always used story, ritual, and symbolism to alter states of consciousness. Hypnosis may be our modern myth-making method: a way to reconnect with the intuitive, non-linear parts of ourselves that understand the world through metaphor.

R.D. Laing (1984) challenged the dominant view of linear rationality, suggesting that experience is always mediated by context, emotion, and belief. In hypnosis—and particularly in the solution focused approach—we honour this by asking clients to imagine, feel, and construct their own futures using the raw materials of hope and possibility. 

Conclusion: The Future of Hypnosis Lies in Empowering the Present

From Mesmer’s magnets to metaphor-rich solution focused trancework, the evolution of hypnosis has always reflected humanity’s growing understanding of the mind. What began as an external force acting on the body is now seen as an internal process guided by belief, imagination, and language.

Modern hypnosis, especially in its solution focused form, is not about control or compliance. It is about collaboration. The hypnotist becomes a guide—not a guru—inviting the client to discover their own resources and create new patterns of experience through expectation, suggestion, and skilled imagination.

Hypnosis and suggestion are no longer arcane tools. They are mechanisms of transformation, accessible to anyone willing to explore the power of focused attention, positive expectation, and the stories we tell ourselves.

References:
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Campbell, J. (1991). The masks of God: Primitive mythology. Penguin.

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Kirsch, I. (1985). Response expectancy as a determinant of experience and behavior. American Psychologist, 40(11), 1189–1202. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.40.11.1189

Kirsch, I. (Ed.). (1999). How expectancies shape experience. American Psychological Association.

Kirsch, I., & Lynn, S. J. (1995). The altered state of hypnosis: Changes in the theoretical landscape. American Psychologist, 50(10), 846–858. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.50.10.846

Kihlstrom, J. F. (2008). The domain of hypnosis, revisited. In M. R. Nash & A. J. Barnier (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of hypnosis: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 21–52). Oxford University Press.

Laing, R. D. (1984). The politics of experience and The bird of paradise. Pelican.

Lynn, S. J., & Kirsch, I. (2006). Essentials of clinical hypnosis: An evidence-based approach. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11377-000

Pattie, F. A. (1994). Mesmer and animal magnetism: A chapter in the history of medicine. Edmonston Publishing.

Sarbin, T. R., & Coe, W. C. (1972). Hypnosis: A social psychological analysis of influence communication. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Sheldrake, K., & Jacquin, A. (2011). Ripped apart: The automatic imagination model [Audio recording]. Head Hacking.

Spanos, N. P., & Chaves, J. F. (1996). Hypnosis: The cognitive-behavioural perspective. Prometheus Books.

Bramwell, J. M. (1921). Hypnotism: Its history, practice and theory. William Rider and Son.