Recently in my neck of the woods (Taiwan), there’s been quite a bit of public controversy regarding the public demonstration of hypnotic pain relief. I posted a bit on the subject at the Hypnosis Technique Exchange with my take on Demonstrating Hypnotic Pain Relief Techniques.
A hypnotist appeared on television here and was demonstrating hypnosis. As part of his hypnotic presentation, he gave the subject suggestions for insensitivity to feeling. He then took out a needle and pierced the subject’s flesh. Evidently, the hypnotist had not cleared this particular aspect of the demonstration with the subject who became upset. This has caused controversy as the hypnotist has done this more than once – demonstrating hypnosis in the media and doing the needle pain test without prior permission. I am told by one of his students that this is also what he does when he is training hypnosis – no prior permission, just jab ’em.
Personally, I don’t advocate demonstrating pain technique for the public neither as a general demonstration nor as part of an entertainment program (actually, it’s not so much that I don’t advocate it, I condemn it, I don’t think it is appropriate). There are enough non-invasive techniques and effects that the public will find just as compelling without doing the old needle through the flesh and bleeding on one side effects. Heck, even when it is appropriate to teach hypnosis for pain techniques, I would strongly suggest not using needles or cutting of any kind, particularly with the risk of infection or the like. A simple pinch or – if stronger demonstration is needed – use a simple medical clamp to an appropriate tension to normally cause pain without damaging flesh or nerves or the like. There are just too many risks involved and to do so without explicit permission is extremely bad form and a bad idea as it leaves one open to all sorts of liability and culpability. Why take the risk when a simple query for permission is all you have to do to cover yourseld and ensure you have a willing trance partner instead of an unwilling subject.
Of course, there are arguments one could make in favor of doing pain tests without prior notification or permission . . . the effect is genuine rather than aped (I know of more than one person who relates that in a training they were the demonstration subject for a pain technique and they bore the pain and pretended the hypnosis worked so as not to embarras themselves for not being able to release the pain or their teachers for not getting them there – social pressure being what it is). However, when working with real clients who need real pain relief one is not hypnotizing without consent or knowledge of the purpose of the session so such arguments are suspect in and of themselves.
One well known . . . extremely well known and highly respected . . . hypnosis trainer in the US does do pain relief demonstrations in his public talks to non-hypnotists. He also doesn’t actually do the pain test. Instead, he will lightly pinch the subject’s arm and hold it in such a way so that it appears that he is bearing down very hard and should be causing extreme pain but instead he is acting. The subject’s eyes are closed so he will have no idea as to what is actually being done anyway so the oohs and ahhs from the audience will merely reinforce the impression that something powerful is happening. The rationale for using this fudging approach is that pain relief is a powerful convincer for the public and that one definately doesn’t want to risk failure.
Personally, I would prefer to rely upon actual effects for demonstrations and would rather not rely upon acting to convince folks of the power of genuine hypnosis (although I certainly would be up to the task as I am a pretty damned good actor). I would suggest that there are other effects that are very simple to achieve – unbendable arm, name amnesia, and the like – which are highly influential upon folks unfamiliar with hypnosis. Heck, just demonstrating anchoring and conditioned response is enough for many to see that something very worthwhile and very powerful is happening. Personally, I find pain demonstrations to be in poor taste . . . if you disagree, fine. Feel free to do so.
All the best,
Brian
Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]Certified Hypnotherapist
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.briandavidphillips.com
