(1945). Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 14:135-136 Hypnosis Number: Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. VII, 1943, Nos. 5 and 6. This issue of the Menninger Bulletin is an attempt to evaluate various aspects of hypnosis as a form of psychotherapy. Specific projects by the Research Committee of the Menninger Foundation are under way with a view to learning more about the deeper dynamics of hypnosis. This issue represents a preliminary report. Treatment of a Case of Anxiety Hysteria by a Hypnotic Technique Employing Psychoanalytic Principles. Merton M. Gill and Margaret Brenman. Pp. 163–171.This paper describes a case of anxiety hysteria which was treated by hypnosis. There are four highly significant points: (1) The special ability of hypnosis to overcome simple repression. (2) The possibility of handling transference in the hypnotic situation. (3) The temporary suspension and working out of resistances in hypnosis. (4) The speculation that repressed material can be reintegrated into the ego through hypnosis. The Use of Induced Hypnagogic Reveries in the Recovery of Repressed Amnesic Data. Lawrence S. Kubie. Pp. 172–182.Kubie points out that through the induction of states of hypnagogic reverie, significant information about the patient can be made readily and directly accessible without depending upon the interpretations which are requisite in the translation of dreams or other distorted derivatives. The author is very restrained in estimating how widely applicable the hypnagogic reverie may be as a therapeutic technique. He does state that in a number of patients in whom prolonged analysis had not succeeded in penetrating the roots of a neurosis, the addition of this technique has proven invaluable. A case is presented of a patient who had had a year and a half of analysis with little result. Two years later, for a period of two weeks, he was treated with five prolonged periods of induced hypnagogic reverie as well as several orthodox psychoanalytic hours. This type of treatment produced infinitely more positive
results than the previous analysis. Kubie concludes that up to the present he has not had enough experience with the method with patients who had not been analyzed, and therefore he awaits further clinical research before evaluating the results. Use of the Rorschach Test in the Prediction of Hypnotizability. Margaret Brenman and Suzanne Reichard. Pp. 183–187.The authors have explored the potentialities of the Rorschach test for predicting hypnotizability because they felt that an objective method for making a reliable forecast was necessary. The most clear cut of their results was the fact that the good hypnotic subject seemed to show 'free-floating anxiety' more frequently than the poor hypnotic subject. There was a trend which would indicate that individuals with a labile affectivity are more hypnotizable. Hypnotherapy for Mental Illness in the Aged: Case Report of Hysterical Psychosis in a 71-Year-Old Woman. Margaret Brenman and Robert P. Knight. Pp. 188–198.The authors describe a case in which the aim of the treatment changed from direct suggestion attempting to alleviate symptos to a progressive translation of the symbolic significances of the symptoms. This patient became symptom free and well adjusted to her environment after seventy hours of treatment. The transference situation was hardly touched. The essential factor was that the hypnotic technique made this patient accessible where all other techniques had failed. The authors then point out that there are many different elements of psychotherapy which may be accented by the use of hypnotherapy.
Article Citation [Who Cited This?]Greenson, R.R. (1945). Hypnosis Number. Psychoanal Q., 14:135-136 |
