Science of Hypnosis

Preface

    The word hypnotism seems to convey something mysterious, but as one reads this book one will realise that hypnotism is a science like any other and that there is nothing mysterious about it. Since all of us try to influence others through our talk, writing or actions, it will help us if we know how a hypnotist uses his techniques scientifically to influence others.
    There are many books available on hypnosis, most of which unfortunately misguide people as they are written by lay hypnotists with no scientific knowledge on the subject. It is said that the only way to make a line on the blackboard smaller without touching it, is to draw a bigger line by its side. Similarly, the only way to help readers not to be misguided by such books is to write a book on the subject in scientific terminology. We had been contemplating this for many years.
    Newspapers and magazines have played a major role in arousing the interest of people in the subject and allaying their fears about hypnosis by publishing numerous reports of the successful treatment of ailments with hypnosis. Consequently, some people demand a reference to a hypnotherapist from their family physician. The doctor, not having learnt anything about hypnotherapy in his medical career, is at a loss, as he does not know any therapists other than non-medical people in this sphere. Many times, just to satisfy his ego, a doctor may not agree with his patient about a reference to a hypnotherapist. That may create a conflict about the validity of hypnotherapy in the patient's mind. To overcome this problem and to acquaint doctors and non-medical with hypnotherapy, we delivered several lectures to them and conducted a number of training courses since our return from Britain in 1978, where we practised hypnotherapy for a number of years. More than three hundred doctors have attended the training courses conducted by us on behalf of the Indian Society for Clinical Hypnosis and Research. It was at these lectures and courses that many doctors suggested to us to publish our talks. During the workshops we observed that many a time the doctor remained too busy jotting down notes, instead of listening to our talk, contemplating on it, asking questions and comprehending the subject. Hence, we decided to write the course material in detail in the form of books. This led to the compilation of 'Science of Hypnosis'.
    The queries by the doctors during the courses and also the letters received from the readers about our articles in the popular press inspired us to include additional points in this book. The contents of this book have been devised after the analysis of over a hundred doctors' evaluation of the course conducted by us. The book 'Science of Hypnosis' explains how to use hypnosis in therapy. The methods of therapy described in the book on hypnotherapy are mainly based on our 'Personality Defect Model of Psychotherapy', which we found very effect. In these two books, as far as possible, we have tried to answer all the questions about the How, Why, When and Where of hypnosis, which usually medical and non-medical people ask.
    The book is written in a lucid language to facilitate the comprehension of the subject. In fact, the language is so simple that even a layman can easily follow it. To learn a practical science such as hypnotherapy, it is always advisable to attend a training course, as there cannot be a dialogue through a book. Moreover, it is impossible to demonstrate techniques and to know whether the participants have learnt the techniques correctly. If this book gives you some idea about hypnosis and hypnotherapy and motivates you to practise hypnosis for self-lf-development, the very purpose of our writing it will be more than served. In the last one year we wrote over seventy-five articles on different aspects of hypnosis and hypnotherapy in Marathi dailies such as the Navashakti, Sahyadri, Likprabha and Gavkari and other weeklies.
    We are greatly indebted to our friends Mr. Milind Gadgil, chief sub-editor of the daily Navashakti and Mr. Arun Tamhankar, executive editor of the Sahyadri, who have encourged us to write articles for the non-medical populace and who published the same in the popular press. We are bereft of words to thank Dr. K. P. Dave, Hon. Associate Professor of Psychiatry, L. T. Medical College, Mumbai, who spent his precious time running into hundreds of hours, discussing every single aspect of the book with us and who has minutely gone through every detail in the book, and Dr. Shrikant Joshi, Psychiatrist, for the constructive discussions we had with him. So also to Dr. K.N. Sharma for his invaluable suggestions and assistance to every step when writing this book. We are obliged to our colleagues Dr. N.S. Murti, Dr. (Mrs.) R.V. Shinde, Dr. U.S. Rao for the constant support and encouragement in writing this book.

Dr. J.B. Athavale
Dr. (Mrs.) K.J. Athavale