As you may already know, "hypnosis" is a Greek word for sleep. What you may find interesting is that…

No-one knows for certain when or where hypnotherapy originated, but it is thought that a form of it was used by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians in their "sleep temples" for healing. 

The Druids called hypnosis "magic sleep." Pre-literate cultures drumming, chanting, and dancing would induce an altered state in the healing rituals.

Many people have used hypnosis without even realizing it.

Before anesthetics were "discovered", a small boy had a tumor removed. During the operation his mother sat next to him and told him a story. The boy was so absorbed in the story that he felt no pain at all.

Many years later a book was published containing the story that the little boy had been told… It was Snow White and the author was Jacob Grimm.

Hypnosis as we now understand it was "uncovered" in late 1700's by  Frederich Anton Mesmer, a Viennese physician.

Mesmer began with a theory about animal magnetism, involving the distribution of magnetic fluid within an organism's body. He used hypnosis (then called Mesmerism), to produce a more harmonious distribution of this magnetic fluid in the body.

He was able to cure people of different diseases without medicines or surgery, by using magnets to improve the flow of the "magnetic fluid."

Mesmer became very famous in Paris. At one time 3000 people a day begged to see him, and in order to accommodate them all, he had to change his technique.

There are reports that he "magnetized" a tree (I wonder how… - publisher note) under which the people who were seeking his help linked themselves with ribbons or cords. He developed a strange ritual around the tree, placing a tub of water containing glass bottles and iron filings.

In 1784, Louis XVI formed a commission to investigate Mesmer's findings (kings don't like to compete in popularity.) The commission that was headed by Benjamin Franklin attributed Mesmerism's effects to placebo effects, although Mesmer's findings on hypnosis were undisputed. After that, Mesmerism fell from popularity.

In the 19th century, James Braid, a Scottish doctor, published a book entitled "Neurypnology or Study of Nervous Sleep." He invented the word "neurypnosis" from which the word"hypnosis" is derived, and he was the first person who attributed the phenomenon of "nervous sleep" to psychological rather than physical variables.

His findings renewed interest in the subject. At this time In France, hypnosis gained popularity again as a form of pain reduction during surgery.

Around the same time (1882), Dr. Joseph Breuer from Vienna discovered that his patients could freely recall events in hypnosis that they could not otherwise remember.

As a result of releasing repressed emotions the patients experienced a reaction which produced relief from their symptoms ( talking about "new" regression techniques…)

The first man who really rediscovered and put to a really good extensive use the power of hypnosis (even before the word "hypnosis" was known) was James Esdaile - a surgeon from England.

In those days (in 1845) the death rate in surgery was around 50%. Listen to this: Esdaile reduced this figure to 8% by the use of his "mesmerism" techniques, and his patients recovered more quickly and easily.

 I don't know about you, but I was truly amazed by this fact.

In 1923, Emil Coue wrote "My Method", the book our students still find very interesting and useful: "Every day in every way, I am getting better and better" is his affirmation that has changed thousands of lives (and counting).

Dr. Milton Erickson is the name you may recognize more easily. As a teenager he was stricken with polio and paralyzed, but he re-mobilized himself. During his paralysis he spent much time observing people and became fascinated by human psychology. Dr. Erickson was considered a "master of hypnosis" and could put people into a trance without even mentioning the word hypnosis.