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12HYPNOTISM AND SELF-HYPNOSISand that other physical changes in the skin surface canbe induced in the same way? That heart and pulsebeats can be raised and lowered in the same way?How many members of the general public realisefully the psychological factors involved in stomachulcers, hyper-acidity and the many other internal disorders in which the mind and emotions of the suffererhave taken complete charge of his heart, liver, pancreasor lungs—the normal action of which is entirely involuntary? Isn't it this extraordinary ability of the mindto effect changes in the organic tissue of the body whichparticularly needs research?I do not think the public have much idea of thesethings, though the rise of psychoanalysts and otherpractitioners who concentrate on the mind factor is awelcome sign; and I myself am often asked by ordinarypeople for my advice about them.I regard hypnotism as the tool of psychiatry, perhaps the best tool it has. I claim personally to havehypnotised more men and women than any man living,and my work—especially my experience in U.S. Armyand Navy hospitals during the recent war—has shownme what a wonderful tool it can be, in what a vastvariety of different cases; so that I say boldly hypnotismshould be within the power of every medical manmaking any claim to eminence in the psychiatric field.It is little use for a doctor to ask questions about thecolour of your grandmother's underwear, whether youever remember falling out of your perambulator, andother questions about things past and forgotten (andoften better forgotten too) if he cannot do somethingpractical to offer you hope for your present and future.Therefore I would say there are three qualities that

PSYCHOLOGISTS AND PSYCHIATRISTS13every good psychiatrist must have—and indeed everygood doctor, whether psychiatrist or general practitioner,knows from his own experience the value of thesepoints:(i) He must be a good listener. He must realisethat his patients are mostly lonely people bursting to pour out their woes to him, and find inhim that pillar of sympathy and friendlinesswhich we all of us need so much,(ii) He must be a direct talker and not wrap up hisopinions in incomprehensible jargon. "Youhave a chronic inferiority complex" sounds unnecessarily damning to any patient; "you arerather a shy sort of chap" says the same thingmuch better.(iii) He must be a man of the widest possible experience and understanding. There is nothing soheartening to a patient as to hear his doctor say:"Well, you're not the only one, you know; I hadthis trouble and got over it after a bit, andlook at me now! We'll fix it for you."I am not myself a deeply religious man, but I cannothelp seeing that in the modern world the psychoanalyst hasto some extent replaced the priest—except perhaps in theRoman Catholic church, which in its ritual of confessionand absolution still makes official provision for that deepseated human desire to "get things off one's chest". Thepsychoanalyst, therefore, has responsibilities as seriousas the priest. Let him discharge them in the same spirit ofgravity and humility, in the knowledge that the materialpassing through his hands is that most precious, delicateand wonderful of all created things—the human mind.

CHAPTER FOURAbout MyselfTHIS is the least valuable chapter in the book, and may beskipped by all those who are interested in hypnotism fromthe professional point of view. As I have often explained,there is nothing personal to me in my methods of hypnotism,and the technique generally has nothing to do with thepersonality or the character of the hypnotist. Given thenecessary self-confidence, hypnotism and self-hypnotismcan be taught to all and sundry. It is like swimming: oncetake the first plunge and the rest is easy.Some people, however, are always interested in "how itall began", and since most of my ideas are naturally theresult of my parentage, environment and upbringing, I givethe following few facts about myself.I am the eldest of six children. My childhood in UpperClapton, then one of the pleasanter suburbs in London, wasnot a particularly happy one. My father, who was a verywealthy man, gave me every opportunity for education, butbecause of his tremendous interest in my mother and in hisvery successful business life, he did not give me the thing Ineeded most—understanding. I was always alone and wasconsidered by my family as a strange boy who refused totake advantage of his parents' desires to see him as a greatsurgeon or successful business man, and who instead spentmost of his time reading books on psychology and thescience of the mind, which, to my14

ABOUT MYSELF15parents, made me a "hopeless case", destined to cometo no good.It had been one of our neighbours in Clapton—aretired writer in the late seventies, who first influencedme towards the study of psychology. When I was onlytwelve he lent me my first books on the science of themind, which has been my preoccupation ever since.He remained for many years my friend and when, atabout the age of twenty, I left for America to seek myfortune there, I still continued to correspond with himon the subjects which interested us both.At this time it was my father's idea I should train tobe a surgeon, while my mother, who was very muchunder the spell of the famous violinist Mischa Elman'splaying, was determined I should be a violinist. I tooka few lessons but couldn't make a go of it, although Ihave remained interested in music ever since. At thatage I was a bit of a rebel against my parents anyway—most young men are—and after my very casual and haphazard upbringing it would have been a miracle if I hadsettled easily to anything. For many years in AmericaI was just too busy trying to survive to study anythingor immerse myself in anything seriously. I took variousjobs—radio announcer, actor (for one day only), composer of light music and assistant to a man on an ice-cart.(This last job didn't last long, since I weighed only 90lbs. at the time and was called on to lift blocks of iceso much heavier than myself that I collapsed one day.)Then I began to practise on a few of my friends theideas about hypnotism that had been simmering in mymind all these long years. I was determined for a startto eliminate 95 per cent of all the vast accumulation ofstuff I had read on the subject. No nonsense about soft

l6HYPNOTISM AND SELF-HYPNOSISlights and sweet music for me. I wished to perfect atechnique of double-quick hypnotism, so I couldhypnotise a patient in about the time it takes a doctorto give an injection, or less if possible. And as Ibelieved in myself this was indeed the technique I perfected and have since demonstrated on the stage ofmany theatres on both sides of the Atlantic.I gave my first public demonstration to a restrictedgroup of five physicians. Among the group was afamous New York doctor, who was at once tremendously impressed by what he saw. He took me asideafterwards to give me some advice. "Young man," hesaid, "I have been greatly interested by your performance; but you understand that if I was to proclaimpublicly my belief in your methods, my official doctors'association would step on me like a cockroach, andprobably on you too. The thing for you to do is to goout into the world and make a big name for yourselfwith the public. Remember that when you're downstairs shouting up, no one hears you; when you areupstairs shouting down, they all hear you—and comeback to ask for more."So I took this doctor's advice and he gave me duringall my early years as a hypnotist his constant help andsupport for nothing. I said to myself, "Well, why notstart at the top, if it's the top we're aiming at?"—andthough I had to beg and borrow the money, I took NewYork's huge Carnegie Hall one night and gave there ademonstration to a selected audience—all guests personally invited by me—including 1500 doctors and disabled servicemen. Later I played Carnegie Hall seventimes in one year, and I am the only man in the worldto have done that.

ABOUT MYSELF17On one of these occasions I found myself billed nextto Mischa Elman, who had appeared there just beforeme. You may be sure that I had the notices photographed and sent a copy to my mother in England whohad been so keen for me to follow Elman's steps as aviolinist!You can imagine too the great feeling of satisfactionwhich it gave me, on my return to Britain in 1949 as astar, to see my mother and father proudly stand up andtake bows at every opening night, whether it was in atheatre or an auditorium like the Empress Hall, Earl'sCourt, where I set a new precedent by appearing "solo"at this huge arena for an entire week, with no otherscenery but twelve chairs.People often ask me why I appear in theatres. Thereare two answers: (1) that desire for security whichinfluences us all in more or less degree, and (2) thefeeling that I have a definite mission to interest thepublic, and especially the informed medical public, inthe vast possibilities of hypnotism. During the recentwar I spent practically all my time in U.S. Army andNavy camps working on disabled men and givingdemonstrations to groups of doctors. For this all I haveto show is a series of beautiful diplomas. One cannotunfortunately pay one's rent with beautiful diplomas.Again, I know that a theatrical performance is thequickest, most dramatic way of demonstrating my burning faith in the curative power of hypnotism. There areby now thousands of people in Great Britain—peoplewho would otherwise have dismissed hypnotism, if theythought of it at all, as unreliable black magic—who haveseen such "miracles" as this happening before their owneyes on the brightly lit stage of a public theatre:

18HYPNOTISM AND SELF-HYPNOSIS(i) a cripple walking with a stick, who had to behelped up the stairs on to the stage by others, leave thesame stage walking steadily and proudly under hisown steam. (I still have that stick, which he leftwith me as a souvenir!)(ii) a confirmed chain-smoker (60 cigarettes a day)throw away two cigarettes running with every sign ofdisgust immediately after the first puff, after I hadgiven him post-hypnotic suggestion to this effect.(iii) an old man shaking all over with some functionalnervous disorder, who was regarded by himself andothers as unemployable and had drawn a war-disabilitypension for years at his country's expense, stand upstraight and strong again like the fine young soldier heonce had been,(iv) a well-known journalist stretched stiff like a boardbetween two chairs—head on one chair heels on anotherand nothing between—so that I myself could take mystand on him, and he could bear my whole weight on hisunsupported stomach with ease. (See illustration.)All these things were unrehearsed by-products of myordinary stage show; for when at each performance I call forvolunteers to come up on the stage, I have no way of tellingwhat sort of people will come—and they are a mixed lot,believe me! Such "miracles", then, have been witnessed bythousands—general public, medical men and newspapermenalike—and it is only natural that these many thousands will bewondering to themselves, in sickness and in health, how canhypnotism help ME? It is to try and satisfy this very naturalcuriosity that I have written this book.

PART IICHAPTER FIVEMethods of Hypnotism(including the Ralph Slater Method)I SHOULD like to begin this chapter on methods ofhypnotising by making clear a few very importantpoints. What I am about to say now may surprise thereader, but the hypnotist actually does not hypnotisethe subject; the subject hypnotises himself. The hypnotistmerely acts as the instrument through whom the suggestions for sleep are given. With this thought in mind,it can be readily understood that the first law ofhypnotism is to make the subject believe that he is goingto be hypnotised. This is achieved by the manner andbearing of the hypnotist, who, by his very actions andconfidence, impresses the subject with his ability tohypnotise him. Therefore, the hypnotist must havecomplete confidence in his ability to hypnotise anynormal person. If this sense of confidence is ever relaxed so as to admit the slightest doubt, he may fail.Do not be discouraged if you do not succeed in hypnotising the first few people upon whom you experiment.Once you have hypnotised successfully, you willundoubtedly gain the confidence that is necessary tomake you an expert hypnotist. I mention this point inmy first paragraph, and wish to dwell on it, since Ibelieve the lack of this necessary confidence to be onereason why hypnotism is so comparatively little usedtherapeutically to-day. Such20

Plant! Niws Ltd.RALPH SLATER DEMONSTRATES "CATALEPSY"—STANDS ON BODY OFHYPNOTISED JOURNALIST AS DOCTORS AND NEWSPAPERMEN LOOK ONI feel that for a few more years at least I must consolidate the little bit of reputation I now have andbuild up a position for myself in which I shall be freeto forget my own troubles, and set to work relievingsome of the pain and misery we see about us in theworld. I already have plans for clinics where I canteach my methods personally, but it takes time toorganise things just how I want them.In another book one day I shall describe my earlyadventures more fully; but every author should be prepared to come forward and take his bow before hispublic, and I hope that I have done so well enough inthis chapter, for those who are interested.

METHODS OF HYPNOTISM21confidence is in no way peculiar to me, or a mysteriouspart of the Ralph Slater method, but just one of thosebasic rules of life. In this world other people accept youat your own valuation of yourself; thus it is your firstduty to desire sincerely to help your subject, and yoursecond to make your subject realise that this is yourdesire.Of course, most ordinary practising doctors arealready certain enough of their ability to relieve suffering, and they are already accustomed to taking responsibility often at the shortest notice, and issuingclear-cut orders for the good of their patients. This isall in the day's work, and such men will already have thefundamental confidence to embark without hesitation,and with complete success on the regular practice ofhypnotism, which may become, as I suggest elsewhere,the most useful weapon in their whole armoury ofhealing. But there is no reason why medical studentstoo, though they are young and have less experience ofthe rough and tumble of a doctor's daily life, should notbecome proficient hypnotists. Indeed, as in most otherspheres of life, the young have the immense advantageof youth and energy over their elders, and the acquiringof this technique early on in life will enable the youngdoctor to bring his skill to greater heights of perfectionthan his seniors can hope to.I have seen cases where several people in a row havefailed to respond to hypnotism; and by the same token,where thirty or forty people consecutively can be placedin a state of deep hypnosis without any difficulty whatsoever. All disturbing elements must be removed.When you practise hypnotism, try to do so in anenvironment which is conducive to the concentration

22HYPNOTISM AND SELF-HYPNOSISof your subject. Avoid draughts. A draught will sometimes keep a subject awake, where he normally wouldfall asleep. Also, distracting noises should be so far aspossible avoided.Some subjects, who cannot be hypnotised at the firstattempt, will fall into a hypnotic state after two or threetries. I would strongly recommend that for his initialattempts at hypnotism, the operator should practise onstrangers instead of on his friends, because the psychological effect is so much greater. Someone who knowsthe hypnotist too intimately might not fall into thepassive state of mind which is necessary for hypnosis.I cannot stress too strongly the importance of readingeach chapter over and over until the reader has thoroughlyacquainted himself with every detail. The confidencegained by his thorough study of this book will enablethe hypnotist to be much more successful. And nowfor some of the methods of hypnotism.THE BRAID METHODAs indicated in the first lesson, Dr. Braid, who gavehypnotism its name, used the method of focusingthe attention of the subject on some mechanical object,held a few inches above the eyes; so as to create anoptical strain, which would aid in making the eyelidsheavy, and in inducing the hypnotic sleep. This methodis still used by some practitioners. The main objectionis that it requires considerable time, usually from sixto twelve minutes, and the strain on the eyes mightpossibly give the subject a slight headache. The directsuggestive method seems equally effective, and is muchquicker. I have demonstrated in my radio programmes,and in many public and private demonstrations, that it

23HYPNOTISM AND SELF-HYPNOSISis possible to hypnotise an individual in a matter of afew seconds, without resorting to any mechanicalmeans whatsoever. With the Braid method, in additionto the focusing of the eyes on a bright object, suggestions to induce sleep, which will be explained a littlelater in this lesson, are also given.THE CANDLE METHODThe subject is seated in a comfortable chair, and toldto relax completely. The operator holds a lighted candlein his hand and stands about three feet in front of thesubject. He instructs the subject to gaze at the candle,and tells him that soon he will begin to feel drowsy andsleepy. And then, the operator says in a quiet, firmvoice, "You're beginning to feel yourself getting sleepy—your arms and legs are beginning to feel numb andheavy—your eyelids are beginning to feel heavy—youreyes are closing—you feel yourself going deeper anddeeper asleep—your body feels like lead—sleep—youare sound asleep." The operator can use his own wordsmore or less. The basic idea is to suggest the thoughtof sleep to the subject; that his body is heavy, that hisarms are heavy, that his eyelids are heavy, etc., and thathe will soon be asleep. When the eyes of the subjectclose, there is usually a sigh, and an obvious relaxation.When the eyes are closed and the operator feels that thesubject is asleep, he should gently lift the right arm ofthe subject, saying as he does so, "I am going to liftyour right arm, but you will stay asleep." When thearm is outstretched, the operator says,"Your arm is nowrigid—like a bar

6 HYPNOTISM AND SELF-HYPNOSIS Dr. James Braid, born in Manchester in 1795, after much experimentation, discarded the theory of Mesmer, proving that the same results could be obtained without Mesmer's ballyhoo, and without any belief in animal magnetism. At first B