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History

Precursors of hypnotherapy have been seen in the sleep temples and mystery religions of ancient Graeco-Roman society, though analogies are often tenuous. Indeed, some parallels can be drawn between hypnotism and the trance-inducing rituals common to most pre-literate societies.
Sigmund Freud was originally a proponent of hypnotherapy. He traveled to France to study hypnosis with the two great teachers of his day, Charcot at the Sapetriere and Bernheim's Nancy School. Freud wrote several articles on hypnotherapy and translated two of Bernheim's books on the subject from French into German. He originally employed hypnotherapy with a small number of clients in the 1890s. By about 1905, he had largely abandoned the procedure in favor of his newly-developed free association technique. However, Freud's description of the basic rule of free association still bears a striking resemblance to certain modern methods of hypnotic induction. Freud later suggested that it might be combined with hypnotic suggestion once more in an attempt to hasten the outcome of treatment.
Milton H. Erickson, M.D. is considered one of the most influential modern hypnotherapists. He has written many books, journals and articles on the subject, and his accomplishments are well-documented. During the 1960s, Erickson was responsible for popularizing an entirely new branch of hypnotherapy, which we now call Ericksonian hypnotherapy, characterized by indirect suggestion, confusion techniques, and double binds.
The popularity of Erickson's techniques has since led to the development of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), which has in turn found use in modern-day sales, advertising, and corporate training. However, NLP has been criticized by many eminent hypnotists as a distortion of Erickson's work.


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