Gabor Filó: Dentista.
Clinicians, generally, are well intentioned healers driven by an urge to help. Clinical hypnotists even more so due to the intensity and intimacy of the therapeutic encounter.
But!
Is it possible that this is erroneous? Was it mentioned during training? If so, was the mantra “all hypnosis is self- hypnosis’’ as an option to avoid culpability? Are we naïve to think that there may not be malicious uses?
Perhaps there is a dark side to hypnosis; perhaps there is a dark side to most altered states of consciousness that clinicians may encounter, recommend or practice.
To explore this further, we need a model of altered states of consciousness (ASC). Many years ago, Dennis Wier (Wier, The Way of Trance) offered a model of ASC’s and a curtailed exploration of the dark side.
Space precludes an in-depth discussion of his underlying premises; however, the following list is a schema of progressive ASC’s that build upon combinations of the preceding. The fundamental premise is that all ASC start from meditation in which a repeating cognitive object is the subject of focus.
The cognitive object may be anything internal or external upon which one’s focus can be repeatedly directed to the exclusion of all else. We should note that meditation is a continuum ranging from one-pointedness to mindfulness. Also noteworthy is that all cultures have historically had variations of meditation – it is not exclusive to the East.
The schema:
This list of ASCs falls under the rubric of Trance which is a rather imprecise term that is more anthropological than clinical. Yet, it will be used interchangeably as we do not have indisputable definitions for these states, if they are even actual states not merely states of mind. Dark side, for this discussion, is any negative consequence or sequelae related to any one of these practices.
Meditation is an individual experience utilizing any cognitive object which can be repeatedly focused upon. Breathing is the usual universal object, but anything from a mandala to mindful awareness may be used. Should any external thought object intrude, it becomes a hypnotic experience in that it is no longer a monadic experience, but a dyadic one caused by the intruding secondary cognitive object.
Anna Lutkajtis (Lutkajtis, The Dark Side of Dharma) extensively examines all varieties of meditation and the varying psychopathologies that accrue from their practice. Thus, if one meditates, one should be aware that much can and likely will go wrong over time. The question is what to do about it? If one has a teacher, a guru, that is experienced in such things, assistance may be at hand.
On the other hand, if one is exposed to a western instructor who merely dabbles, that assistance may be lacking. You only have to rummage through the media postings about meditation to note that very little if anything dark is mentioned. Meditation has become the darling of health advocates, psychotherapists, yoga instructors to name a few. Yet, rarely if ever do they acknowledge there is a dark side. This may be intentional, as meditation is quite lucrative, or unintentional due to illiteracy.
In the West we have a bad habit of appropriating ideas, techniques and practices. The problem stems from removing the method from its cultural context in which dark side issues are, known, expected and have generations of remedies. When we encounter the dark side sequelae, we are inappropriately prepared to deal with them. We may classify the signs and symptoms as Western defined psychopathologies. The American Psychology Association Dictionary definition of Dissociative Trance Disorder is equivocating when it concurrently negates the definition with, “In trance disorder, individuals retain their usual identity but have an altered perception of their milieu. These types of dissociative experiences are common in various cultures and may be part of customary religious practice; they should not be regarded as pathological unless considered abnormal within the context of that cultural or religious group.”
How do we then determine a spiritual crisis brought on by an excursion into the dark side from a true psychopathology? How then does one intervene in our Western context?
Hypnosis as Weir defines it is a meditative trance upon which an external thought object has been added. So, you are sitting on your meditation pillow and the door bell sounds; or perhaps your instructor starts a guided meditation. These intrusions become hypnotic altering your trance. A long as all the intrusions are either neutral, the doorbell, or well intentioned, all will likely remain well.
This is the perfect place to query the concept of intention. The word tends to be bandied about frequently without ever being defined or circumscribed. Rarely, do we mention it in therapy as an underlying assumption.
Perplexity AI defines it thus:
An intention is a mental state in which a person commits themselves to a course of action. It involves both a content, which is the action plan, and an attitude of commitment towards executing this plan. Intentions are characterized by several key features:
Commitment: Intentions involve a practical commitment to realizing the action plan, distinguishing them from other mental states like desires or admiration.
Conditions of satisfaction: Intentions can be successful or unsuccessful, depending on whether they bring about the intended course of action.
Intentionality: Like many mental states, intentions represent possible states of affairs.
Rational evaluability: Intentions can be assessed as either rational or irrational.
Types: Intentions can be categorized into prospective (future-oriented) and immediate (guiding current action) intentions.
Formation: Intentions can arise through deliberation and decision-making, or sometimes without explicit decisions, as in habitual actions.
Role in behavior: Intentions are often used to explain why people engage in certain behaviors and play a crucial role in initiating, sustaining, and terminating actions.
In legal contexts, intention is considered one of the main forms of mens rea, the mental element of a crime. In philosophy, intention is viewed as a distinctive practical attitude that plays a pivotal role in planning for the future and involves desire, though it goes beyond mere desire.
From the perspective of our inquiry, the first statement, commitment, intentionality, behavioural roles and the legal context is perhaps the most germane.
Consider the fictional tale of Trilby. Very few know the book title or the fact the Georges Du Maurier’s 1894 book was the first international run-away best seller. But almost everyone is familiar with the protagonist Svengali, the evil hypnotist who predates, yet bears an uncanny resemblance to Rasputin the Russian ‘holy man’. Rasputin alienated the Tsar’s court by his behaviours yet was much valued for his hypnotic skills in controlling the tsarevitch’s hemophilia. Each of these characters can be described by the given definition of intention, specifically the negative or dark side. They also fall under the category of Charismatic trance. Another candidate for this was Adolf Hitler amongst many others past and present.
One of the best expositions on the dark side of hypnosis is to be found is Temple’s work (Temple, Open to Suggestion). Others have also addressed this: Weitzenhoffer, Watkins, Wells, Estabrooks, Young, Forel, Luys, and Moll. They all considered hypnosis to have the potential for misuse, while Erickson thought otherwise. Erickson’s perspective seems to have won the day.
Machovec (Machovec, “Hypnosis Complications, Risk Factors, and Prevention”) compiled a list of negative sequelae to hypnosis without the mal intentions of the operator. Hambelton (Hambleton, Practising Safe Hypnosis a Risk Management Guide) catalogued the legal ramification in three jurisdiction –USA, Britain and Australia– for the forensic use and misuse of hypnosis. Alan Scheflin devoted quite a lot of time to hypnosis in the forensic sphere (Scheflin and Shapiro, Trance on Trial). He carefully expounds on why hypnosis must be carefully used to minimize and prevent negative legal outcomes.
Hypnosis derivatives like Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) have beneficial uses, but the marketplace is replete with how-to books on the dark side uses. Hypnosis books for marketing purposes also fill the arena and can be considered guide books to the dark side.
Addiction is a trance. The signs and symptoms, or characteristics are congruent with ASC’s. Cigarettes have an addictive chemical nicotine, but once that is controlled or eliminated the incessant repetitive movement of the hand to the face (the cognitive object) may persist until it too is eliminated.
Invasive Trances are incorporated into various media or carriers used against us by varied actors –corporations, government and the like. Perhaps the best-known example is MKUltra the CIA’s international investigations. Biofield therapies and their misuses also fall into this category. Mesmer and Esdaile may have been on to something…
Ecstasy has been with us since early man. Usually the tribal shaman, medicine man was the exponent of this skill. Religious figures also represent this variety of Trance, e.g., St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross. The dark side leads to shamanic illness in the least form. Evolution of the role leads to the brujo and bruja.
This leads to the Magick Trance (the spelling used is to differentiate it from entertainment magic). In and of itself, this is not yet a dark activity until one attempts to raise demons as one of the best-known exponents Alister Crawley. Shamanism is usually for the enrichment of the tribe and its individual members. Magick is usually for personal gain, hence an easy road to corrupt intentions.
Advanced trances are the result of many years practice. As with all things, there is the duality, the yin/yang, of them. Weir catalogues this in his work as:
| Skillful use: | Unskilled use: |
| Abstraction | Learning difficulties |
| Use of symbols | Confuse symbol with the thing |
| Meditation | Belief bound fantasies |
| Creative | Dull, literal |
| Hypnotic, persuasive | Uncritically follows orders |
| Magical powers | Multiple addictions |
| Enlightenment | Ordinary, non-creative |
This pithy exposition is a mere beginning to an expansive subject to better understand and use hypnosis in the clinic. One should be aware of the entire field of ASC, not merely the limited sanitized information acquired in readings, workshops and seminars.
In summary:
References
- Hambleton, Roger. Practising Safe Hypnosis a Risk Management Guide. Bancyfelin, Carmarthen, Wales: Crown House Publishing, Ltd., 2002.
- Machovec, Frank. “Hypnosis Complications, Risk Factors, and Prevention.” American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 31, no. 1 (1988): 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.1988.10402766.
- Scheflin, Alan W., and Jerrold Lee Shapiro. Trance on Trial. New York, New York: The Guilford Press, 1989.
- Temple, Robert. Open to Suggestion. Wellingborough, Northamptonshire: The Aquarian Press, 1989.
- Wier, Dennis R. The Way of Trance. New York, New York: Strategic Book Publishing, 2009. www.strategicbookpublishing.com