The landscape of hypnosis in France in the twentieth century†

Abstract

The author – a psychologist, psychotherapist and poetess – traces the history of hypnosis in France, the cradle of hypnosis. At the outset there were two conflicting schools, one originating with Charcot, a neurologist, who ended viewing hypnosis as a pathologic phenomenon associated with hysteria; the other with therapeutic goals originating with Bernheim and viewing hypnosis as a physiological state involving suggestion. From 1900 psychoanalysis dominated until the mid-century when Chertok and later Michaux struggled to stimulate a revival. In 1980 they founded the Groupement d'Etudes pour les Applications Médicales de l'Hypnose (GEAMH) for research and training purposes, which continues to host conferences to the present day. In 1983 Godin and Malarewicz established in Paris the first Milton H. Erickson Institute, and there followed a proliferation of institutes throughout France. From 1991 Roustang wrote prolifically offering an original Eastern and Western synthesis and therapeutic approach. In 1997 Bellet founded the Confédération Francophone d'Hypnose et de Thérapies Brèves (CFHTB) drawing together, by 2007, 21 affiliated organizations with 3000 practitioners in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Québec, and with affiliation with international societies. Copyright © 2007 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.