Hypnosis and Behavior Therapy: Common Denominators

Abstract

In this paper, the relationships between hypnosis and behavior therapy are examined on two levels. First, the authors consider the contention that a “hypnotic state” mediates some of the therapeutic changes that are seen in behavior therapy. Logical and empirical problems pertaining to the hypothetical construct “hypnotic state” or “trance” are specified and it is concluded that the construct is not useful in explaining the changes in behavior observed in either hypnotic situations or in behavior therapy situations. Secondly, the authors focus on parallels between hypnotic situations and those behavior therapy situations that make subjects' imaginings the pivot of therapeutic change. Four sets of variables are delineated that appear to play a role in mediating the changes in behavior seen in both hypnotic and behavior therapy situations: (a) motivational variables, (b) attitudinal and expectancy variables, (c) the specific wording of the suggestions or instructions, and (d) circumscribed cognitive processes (e.g., goal-directed imagining) occurring in response to the suggestions or instructions.