First of all, an ordinary history as related by the patient will more often than not reveal the emotional incident which upset him. Contrary to what is generally stated, this is usually fairly easily remembered, as may be expected from anything which made such a profound impression. If the patient does not volunteer the information, a few judicious enquiries will soon elicit the facts. For instance, in the case just described, the patient had a fear of going mad.
Simple enquiry as to whether she had ever seen or heard of anybody going mad quickly brought to light the facts she related about her brother. Is it not more logical to regard this as the starting point of her trouble, rather than to consider her adult neurosis as the result of an ‘infantile neurosis’ developed before the age of five, according to Freud? If Freud’s theory is correct - ’no adult neurosis without an infantile neurosis’ - how can we possibly account for her cure?

Anyway, having obtained a history from the patient and formed an opinion as to the plan of action, it is necessary to prepare the patient for hypnosis. Now most hypnotists will agree that it is fatal to explain to the subject beforehand that there are degrees of hypnosis and that not everybody can be deeply hypnotized. This they consider is rather like a conjuror explaining his tricks before-hand. They prefer to attempt to hypnotize the patient deeply; and then, if they fail, to begin explaining that some people can only be lightly hypnotized. 
This attitude may be justified if the hypnotist, like the stage performer, is striving to obtain deep hypnosis. If, however, it is decided to use light hypnosis only, which is all that is necessary in medical work, then it is far better to explain to the patient that he is not expected to develop anything more than a light stage of trance.

Patients nearly always have a wrong idea of hypnosis and generally imagine that they will be completely unconscious, remember nothing and behave like subjects on the stage. As relatively few patients can achieve this state, disappointment at what they imagine is failure to achieve hypnosis can often act as a form of counter-suggestion, and so prejudice what would otherwise be excellent results.
However, if it is explained beforehand that, for medical work, only light hypnosis is necessary, many patients will be greatly relieved. Many of them, particularly nervous cases, are often afraid of ‘going unconscious’ and ‘knowing nothing about it’. They are usually told that they are expected to do no more than go into a pleasant, drowsy, relaxed state like being half asleep and half awake.
In this condition they will be quite conscious and know all that is going on, but they will be able to pay attention to the hypnotist exclusively and absorb all his suggestions.
Hypnosis, it is pointed out, enables the patient to concentrate his mind on the suggestions of the hypnotist, excluding practically all other thoughts. As the mind is concentrated on one thing instead of being occupied with hundreds of other distracting thoughts, then its power must obviously be increased.
 
The mind has tremendous reserves of power which are never used - just the same as the body has. It has been seen that these reserves of bodily power can be called forth under hypnosis so that there is apparently a tremendous increase in muscular strength. For instance, a slender boy can, under the influence of hypnotic suggestion, support the full weight of the hypnotist, a man much heavier than himself.
In the same way the strength of the mind can be greatly increased and all its energies directed into useful channels instead of being wasted in thousands of ‘scatter-brained’ thoughts.
The only use of hypnosis, it is pointed out, is to convey curative suggestions, and this can be done just as well with light hypnosis as deep.

Hypnotists of experience know perfectly well that response to suggestion does not depend upon depth of hypnosis. Many patients have the impression that ‘deep’ hypnosis is ‘more powerful’, and this misconception should be corrected, for practical results show that, for medical work, deep hypnosis is unnecessary.
Further, it should be explained that the patient will remember everything that happens in the trance and in particular the hypnotist’s suggestions.
In this way, hypnotism is used as a sort of mind training. The patient knows why he is doing certain things, and by bringing back the hypnotist’s suggestions in his mind, the treatment is reinforced.
This enables the patient to feel that he is co-operating in the treatment and helping to bring about his own cure under the guidance of the hypnotist.
As a result, self-confidence is increased, for the patient feels that he is no longer helpless in the grip of his particular phobia or neurosis, but that he has a weapon which can easily overcome it when he learns how to use it.
Few people relish becoming mere automatons, and nearly all secretly dread being in the power of the hypnotist.

Used in the way which has been indicated, as a sort of mind training, far from being dependent on the hypnotist, the patient learns how to deal, not only with his immediate problem, but with any future difficulties which may ever arise.
The objection that the subject becomes dependent on the hypnotist is only valid if hypnotism is used for direct symptom removal, as it often is by psychiatrists, amateur hypnotists and stage professionals.

In any case, it would be difficult to imagine a patient as dependent on a hypnotist as the poor neurotic who attends for ‘psychoanalysis’ one hour a day, five or six days a week for five or six years!
Having explained all this, gained the patient’s confidence and induced a light hypnosis, the hypnotist may proceed much as follows. First of all, the patient’s mind should be put at rest and the belief in the absolute certainty of cure firmly established.
Most nervous patients, as in the case described, have a secret fear that they might go mad or have a severe nervous breakdown.
A simple but nevertheless forceful statement to the effect that they show no signs of any real mental disease whatsoever, usually brings tremendous relief. This is more likely to be accepted if definite reasons are given for this opinion.
For instance, they may be told that they have nothing more than a bad habit of thinking, just as some people have a bad habit of smoking or drinking; belief in the certainty of cure will be established when they are told that, as they know, all bad habits can be broken, and that they will be shown how to break theirs, and develop a good habit of thinking correctly.
Doubters may be reminded that their way of thinking has got them where they are, so that if they wish to be cured they had better accept the hypnotist’s suggestion of a change in thought.

Next, it helps if they are shown briefly how their trouble arose. For instance, in the case described the patient was told that she showed no signs of real madness. It was pointed out that the very fact that she worried about her mind showed that she had no real mental disease, for patients who are really mad never worry about their own minds.
‘Napoleon’ in the asylum is notoriously satisfied with his own condition and inclined to think anybody is mad but himself! She was shown how the idea of madness had been put in her head by her brother, confirmed by the circumstances of his death, and re-activated by the emotional factors involved in her marriage. It was further demonstrated that worry and anxiety had upset the balance of her nervous system, so that it was no wonder she could not think clearly.

Nobody could be expected to solve a difficult problem, either in chess, mathematics or anything else, if they were flustered and upset. Therefore, she could not be expected to solve her particular difficulty until she had learned to calm her nerves.
However, this did not mean she was mad. As a result, it was obvious that she had never been mad, was not mad, and would never go mad. Further, as her nerves became calmer, all the organs and glands in her body, including her brain, would work smoothly and well, and as a result she would be able to think clearly, and easily solve her own problems.
As we have seen, all this did come to pass, and when the patient had been cured she was able to exercise her own judgment and have the marriage annulled. She did not do it as an automaton under the control of the hypnotist.
Most nervous patients complain of what may be called secondary symptoms. The original fear or worry generates nervous tension, which discharges itself through the autonomic nervous system and so produces various bodily symptoms. It is common knowledge that worry may give rise to a nervous headache or migraine, while fright may cause palpitation. Difficulty in breathing, often asthmatical, gastro-intestinal upsets, bladder frequency, trembling and sweating are common symptoms. Everybody knows how students who are keyed up before an examination frequently visit the toilet.
The aim, of course, is to remove the cause which is bringing about these symptoms. At the same time, however, it helps tremendously if the patient learns to control this autonomic nervous system and so dispel nervous tension. Generally, when the patient feels something wrong such as palpitation of the heart, this causes more worry. More tension is generated which in turn is discharged through the usual channels and so upsets the affected organ even more. Thus a vicious circle is set up. This can be broken in many ways. Alcohol will do it, for instance, and so will heavy doses of sedative drugs.
These, however, are only temporary expedients and act by deadening the nerves. Unfortunately they have side effects so that the cure is worse than the disease, in addition to which the patient worries more than ever because of his addiction to alcohol or drugs.

There is a very simple and natural way of breaking this vicious circle and so quietening the nerves. This is by means of complete relaxation of both mind and body. Few people can relax properly, and nervous patients will always declare that they cannot possibly relax.
Under hypnotism, as we have seen, it is possible to obtain complete relaxation even in the lightest stage. Thus patients who have been fidgeting, twisting and turning and clenching their fists a short while before, will, on being hypnotized, remain perfectly still, often in an awkward position, for perhaps half an hour or more.
While in the trance, the benefits of relaxation should be explained to the patient. It can be pointed out that all athletes achieve the knack of relaxation. Swimmers relax between strokes - one arm is relaxed while the other is pulling and this gives them the endurance to swim perhaps twenty miles.
Nervous tension wears people out and creates exhaustion. They may be told, for instance, that their own heart relaxes between beats and this little pause or rest enables it to recuperate its energy and so go on beating day in and day out as long as they live.
They should be told that they will be able to relax for themselves in future and that as they do so, all nervous tension will go out of their body, leaving their nerves feeling calm and peaceful. To master the art of relaxation, like anything else, needs practice.

At first it will be necessary for them to sit quietly in a chair in order to relax; but as they get better at it they will be able to relax at will, even when up and about.
It may be suggested that each day after they have achieved complete relaxation, the suggestions made by the hypnotist will come back into their head and thus reinforce the treatment.
Having given these general instructions, specific suggestions may then be made. There are certain laws of suggestion which should be observed in order to get the best results.

First of all, it must be remembered that the patient is a human being and that hypnosis has not converted him into the helpless automaton he is popularly supposed to be.
Although it is true that suggestibility is increased, the patient is quite capable of accepting or rejecting a suggestion, even in the deepest state of hypnosis.
This is even more marked in the light stage, and therefore the suggestions should be thought out and presented with care.
Most people resent being ordered about and told ‘you must do this’ or ‘you must not do that’. Therefore domineering methods should never be used in medical treatment.
The suggestion is much more likely to be accepted if it is presented in a reasonable manner, and particularly if a sound, logical reason is given as to why it should act.
For instance: suppose the patient has a twitching eye, it is useless to say ‘Don’t twitch’, ‘Stop your eye twitching’, or some other such order. If, however, suggestions are given that, as the patient relaxes the nerves will get calm and peaceful and that the eye muscles will therefore get steadier and steadier, then success will be more probable.

It is always advisable to give the suggestion time to act. Concerning suggestions, it may be explained that they are like seeds planted in the ground. At first nothing can be seen; then they send up a little shoot, and may finally grow into beautiful flowers or even big trees. 
So the suggestions planted in the mind will grow in strength day by day.
It may be suggested that some improvement will be noticed at once, and that this will increase as time goes on. In this way, the patient’s expectancy is raised and the suggestion given time to act.
It is no good, for instance, if the patient has a neuralgic pain, to say ‘The pain is gone’, ‘You cannot feel it’ because (except in a few very susceptible cases) the patient would still feel it and lose faith in the treatment. 
Therefore it is best to suggest definite but gradual disappearance, saying for instance, ‘As you relax, more and more your nerves are becoming quieter and more peaceful, and as a result the pain is getting less and less every minute and will soon be entirely gone’.
Suggestions should always be positive rather than negative. Instead of saying ‘You will never be depressed’ it is better to say ‘You will always be cheerful and happy and well’. Full use should be made of emotion wherever possible, as this increases the force of the suggestion.
 
It is said that only words which come from the heart can reach the heart. Therefore the hypnotist should have a firm faith in himself and his form of treatment.
It has been seen that even a weak, frail youth can be made phenomenally strong by calling forth his reserve muscular power under hypnotism. It is obvious that considerably greater strength could be expected from a trained athlete, say a weight lifter, in similar circumstances.
Little children have implicit faith and believe anything they are told. As a result, they are happy believing in Father Christmas or fairy-tales, until some sceptical person destroys their illusions. Children are notoriously susceptible and make excellent hypnotic subjects. Christ knew that unless people could have faith and believe like little children, then the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ was not for them, because they could not make use of the power within themselves.
When using emotion to aid the acceptance of suggestion under hypnosis, it often helps to paint a mental picture. For instance: a feeling of disgust and a dislike of alcohol may be caused by painting a picture of what the patient looks like when under the influence.
On the other hand, a patient who stammers may be given confidence by teaching him to call up a mental picture of himself speaking freely and easily, perhaps addressing an important meeting and making a great success of his speech.

The patient can learn to call up these little ‘success pictures’ whenever he wishes, particularly when relaxing. In combination with ‘success suggestions’ they form a very powerful means of raising the patient’s self-confidence and reinforcing hypnotic treatment.
It is well known that an idea once implanted in and accepted by the mind will tend to be carried out; and also that there is always what may be called the dominant thought. It is impossible to think two opposite things at once.
Nobody can think ‘I can do it’ and ‘I cannot do it’ at the same time. They can think one after the other, or one more than the other; but one is always dominant. And here we meet another curious law of suggestion which is sometimes known as the law of reversed effort.
 
When a person thinks, ‘I would like to do that, but I do not think I can’, then he will be unable to do it, and all the ‘will-power’ in the world cannot help him.
This is well illustrated in the case of people who suffer from insomnia. No matter how they grit their teeth and exert their ‘will-power’ to sleep, they think or believe they cannot, and so stay awake. The harder they try to go to sleep the wider awake they become.
Using ‘will-power’ to overcome a complaint such as this is just like pushing with brute strength and no intelligence against a stronger opponent. Failure is certain.
Using imagination, however, is like using Ju-Jitsu which turns the opponent’s strength against himself. The person who suffers from insomnia and gives up caring whether he sleeps or not but simply thinks, ‘I am going to relax completely’, ‘As I relax, my nerves get calm and peaceful’. ‘As they get calm and peaceful I begin to feel tired’, ‘I am beginning to feel tired already, and the more I relax the more tired I become’ - such a person will be asleep before he knows it.

It is sometimes useful to demonstrate this form of dominant thought and inability to think two things at once by giving the patient a simple test. He is told to clasp the hands tightly together and think, ‘I can not undo them’.
It will be found that while the patient honestly thinks this and nothing else, he will be unable to undo them. The minute he changes his mind, he can do so. He may be told that, just as he does not want to go through life with his hands locked together and changed his mind in order to free himself, so he can avoid going through life with a ‘locked mind’ by changing his thoughts.
Hypnotism, by invoking a natural law, can make use of the wonderful power which is within all of us and increase the strength of the mind just as it can increase the strength of the body.
This increased strength of mind combined with the imagination which has been directed into proper channels, results in an irresistible power of dominant thought which brooks no opposition. Thus the alcoholic no longer gives way to drink, the stammerer speaks clearly and distinctly, while the neurotics give up their phobias and obsessions. Psychiatrists endeavour to damn hypnotism by claiming that it suppresses symptoms.
Used in the way it often is by psychoanalysts, amateur hypnotists and stage professionals, such criticism may be sometimes justified.
However, a valuable method of treatment should not be condemned merely because the majority of people do not understand it and use it wrongiy.

Used in the manner already indicated, as a form of mind training, there is no suppression of symptoms, any more than there is when a child discards the habits of infancy and learns to walk, talk and control itself generally.
Further, it is often stated that other symptoms will appear to take the place of those which have been removed.
This is quite impossible, for the patient who has once learnt to use this God-given power within himself, becomes invulnerable and is quite capable of dealing with any circumstance which may arise.
For instance, the patient who overcame her fear of madness had no difficulty in discarding her sleeping pills, dealing with a complicated domestic affair, and settling her own personal problem connected with her marriage.

This wonderful power which lies within all of us may be likened to the latent power of steam in an engine. If the fly-wheel is stopped for any reason with the piston exactly at top dead centre or bottom dead centre, then the force of the steam is unable to act and the engine will not work.
A slight flick or touch will tip the balance and set the wheel going round, so that the machine works perfectly.
When a person thinks, ‘I cannot do this’, or ‘I cannot do that’, he is like an engine, the wheel of which has been stopped in the position described above. Hypnosis supplies the ‘flick’ or ‘touch’ which sets the wheel going and so allows the latent power within to come into play and ‘I cannot’ becomes ‘I can’. 
Just as the engine must have fuel and water to keep up the pressure of steam and in order to drive itself properly, so it is necessary for man to have a driving force if he is to function at maximum efficiency.
Such a force is available to all in the simple teachings of Christ.