Erika Fromm

The phenomena and characteristics of self-hypnosis

Abstract Self-hypnosis and hetero-hypnosis were compared, and selfhypnosis was studied longitudinally. Results indicated that absorption and the fading of the general reality orientation are characteristics of both hetero-hypnosis and self-hypnosis. The differentiating characteristics lie in the areas of attention and ego receptivity. Expansive, freefloating attention and ego receptivity to stimuli coming from within are state-specific for self-hypnosis, while concentrative attention and receptivity to stimuli coming from one outside source—the hypnotist on whom the subject concentrates his attention-are state-specific for laboratory defined hetero-hypnosis. Attempts to produce age regression and positive or negative hallucinations are markedly more successful in hetero-hypnosis. Imagery is much richer in self-hypnosis than in hetero-hypnosis. Self-hypnosis requires adaptation to the state: in the beginning of self-hypnosis there is a good deal of anxiety and self-doubt. As the subject feels more comforta...

An ego-psychological theory of altered states of consciousness

Abstract In this paper a new ego-psychological thmry is proposed for the understanding of altered stah of consciousness. The diehob mies of primary and secondary process, ego activity and ego receptivity, and automatization and de-automatization of ego functions in daydreaming, in the inspirational phase of creativity, in hypnosis, in psychedelic stabs, and in meditation are discussed; so are the roles of fantasy, imagery, and various forms of attention.

Age regression with unexpected reappearance of a repressed c3ildhood language

Abstract This paper describes the case of a 26-year-old, third-generation Japanese-American born in California 5 days before Pearl Harbor, who thought he knew no Japanese. When hypnotically age-regressed to levels below age 4, he spontaneously and unexpectedly spoke Japanese, while he spoke only English at the adult as well as at age-regression levels above 4 years. The psychodynamics of the patients repression of the childhood language and questions pertaining to the nature and theory of age regression are discussed.

Transference and countertransference in hypnoanalysis

Abstract The hypnotherapist is often looked upon as an omniscient healer, a parent figure, who magically and swiftly can help the patient get rid of all of his problems without any effort on the patients part. Or the hypnotherapist may be conceived of as an omnipotent authority who “makes” people give up their problems and illnesses. The hypnotist may even tend to think of himself in such a manner. These and other unrealistic attitudes stemming from early childhood feelings, childhood wishes, and fears are discussed in this paper.

Ego activity and ego passivity in hypnosis.

Abstract A case study is presented to demonstrate activity and passivity of the hypnotic subjects ego in response to the hypnotists suggestion. A posthypnotic suggestion, its sequelae, and antecedent associated via similarity of affect are used to illustrate the newly developing psychoanalytic theory of ego activity and ego passivity. The concepts of ego passivity and activity are carefully differentiated from their behavioral counterparts.

Significant Developments in Clinical Hypnosis During the Past 25 Years

Abstract In the past 25 years, important changes have taken place in clinical hypnosis. It has become scientifically respectable as the field has moved from publishing anecdotal case reports to testing hypotheses on significant samples of patient populations. In addition, new treatment approaches have been introduced, foremost among them hypnoanalysis of psychotic, borderline, narcissistic, and post-traumatic stress disorders, as well as hypno-behavioral methods for the treatment of habit disorders and somatic and psychosomatic diseases. The former treatment approaches combine hypnotic techniques with the newer psychoanalytic methods derived from object relations and self-theories; the latter combine hypnosis with the methods of behavioral medicine and attempt to teach the patient voluntary control over ordinarily involuntary somatic processes. In general, while formerly the therapeutic use of hypnosis involved mainIy direct and indirect suggestion, in the last 25 years hypnotherapists of all persuasions ...

How to write a clinical paper: A brief communication

Abstract The standards for publishing clinical papers are in some ways the same and in some ways different from those applying to experimental articles. The present paper, written by the Clinical Editor of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, is meant to be a guide to clinicians on how to write publishable papers and to reviewers and readers on how to evaluate them.

The Clinical Use of Self-Hypnosis in Hypnotherapy: Tapping the Functions of Imagery and Adaptive Regression

Abstract The authors present a new method of interweaving hetero-hypnotic psychotherapy and self-hypnosis. In the hetero-hypnotic sessions, the hypnotherapist acts as a dependable parent figure who is supporting and available when that is desirable, but who also encourages and fosters the patients efforts to develop his/her inner resources and ability to function autonomously. Self-hypnosis is utilized for its rich idiosyncratic imagery. The hypnotherapist uses and elaborates on this rich, affect-loaded imagery. At other times the therapist takes a guiding role in producing therapeutic metaphors of positive valence. The patient uses and enlarges on these during self-hypnosis between the weekly therapeutic hours. In addition, the hypnotist may counteract any negative strong self-hypnotic images during hetero-hypnosis. Self-directed self-hypnosis allows patients to experience openness and receptivity to internal and unconscious processes against which they may defend themselves in the dyadic relationship w...

Selfhypnosis as a Therapeutic Aid in the Mourning Process

Abstract Mourning has three phases which must be worked through and which usually take about two years. This paper is a clinical case report showing — through excerpts from diaries — how a woman who had lost her husband and was an S in a phenomenological study on selfhypnosis, worked through for herself, in SH, the three phases of mourning intensely and creatively; so that at the end of the four weeks of daily SH sessions she felt liberated from her deep grief and could start a productive and happy new life again.

The Modes of the Ego in Self-Hypnosis

In this study, the diary entries of thirty subjects who practiced self-hypnosis for twenty-eight consecutive days were analyzed carefully with regard to manifestations of four ego modes: ego activity, ego receptivity, ego passivity, and ego inactivity. Results snowed that ego activity (decision making, structuring of the experiences) and ego receptivity (openness to stimuli rising from within) are essential elements in self-hypnosis, while ego inactivity (“nothing happens”) and ego passivity (feeling overwhelmed) rarely occur in the self-hypnotic experiences of healthy subjects. Ego receptivity is central to self-hypnosis. It is strongly positively related to vivid imagery, absorption, self-hypnotic trance depth, and also to hetero-hypnotic susceptibility. Personality characteristics of subjects who demonstrate high ego receptivity are: a need for independence, self-reliance, and trust in ones own unconscious. On the other hand, a greater preponderance of ego activity in self-hypnosis is to be found in subjects who have a need for structure, certainty, and control in their lives. These subjects cannot allow themselves to let imagery emerge naturally or to become deeply absorbed in the self-hypnotic process.