Magazine
for Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy
A Modern Hypnosis Dictionary:The Letter A
Aesthesiogenic -
Sensations of a sensory nature
produced by suggestion.
Abreaction -
Occurs when the energy of repressed
emotion is brought to consciousness. Catharsis. An exaggerated emotional
reaction.
Agnosia -
Condition where patient is unable
to correctly interpret sensory impressions.
Agoraphobia -
Traditionally defined as the irrational
fear of open spaces (from the latin for market place) but is equally often
a fear of becoming caught in situation, without means of escape. Paradoxically,
this causes withdrawal from that possibility by self confinement.
Alcoholism -
Addiction to the consumption alcoholic
beverages. Alcoholic.
Alexia -
Inability to recognize the written
word as words. This condition is often the result of a brain lesion but
can be caused by suggestion.
Algophobia -
Morbid dread of physical pain.
Allergy -
A condition (allergic reaction)
in which the patient becomes pathologically sensitive to a particular substance
or substances.
Amnesia -
The loss of memory, partial or
total, often caused by shock or trauma. Can be due to physical causes,
can be caused by suggestion. Sometimes occurs spontaneously after arousal
from hypnosis.
Analgesia -
Reduction or loss of the sensation
of pain, can be achieved through hypnosis.
Anchorages -
Frames of reference which people
use to make further judgements.
Anchoring -
The technique of associating several
'keys' with one fixed point of reference, with the idea of using those
keys to later evoke that fix reference. Form of conditioning by association
of ideas. Used in NLP and hypnotherapy.
Anaesthesia -
Loss of sensation and sensitivity, usually due to chemical
agent (as with surgery) but is also an important phenomenon of deep hypnosis.
Hypnosis can be used as an anaesthetic and many instances of it's usage
are on record.
Animal Magnetism
-
A term coined by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 - 1815), who
theorized that the effects of 'hypnotism' (which was then to be called
'Mesmerism' after him and before that time known as 'Charming') were due
to a fluidic magnetic medium that could be passed from person to person.
Anorexia Nervosa -
Severe eating disorder, often due
to irrational 'body image'. Patients may even hallucinate that they are
over weight when close to starvation. Characterized by refusal to maintain
body weight at a healthy level.
Anxiety -
A state of disturbance characterized by fear and worry,
which often leads to stress. May be rational or irrational. Responds well
to Hypnotherapy.
Aphasia -
Loss of the ability to speak, usually through non-physical
causes and typically a symptom of hysteria. Can also be produced by hypnosis
(without the presence of hysteria). Can also be caused by lesions of the
brain (cortical).
Aphemia -
Inability to speak certain words.
Arachnaphobia -
Excessive fear of spiders.
Asthma -
A disorder of the respiratory system
which may be of allergic or emotional origin. Where there is an emotional
origin the condition can be successfully treated by hypnosis, usually through
regression.
Astraphobia -
Excessive fear of thunder and lightening
Atavistic Theory -
The theory proposed by Ainslie Meares M.D. to explain
the phenomenon of hypnosis. He posited that in hypnosis the higher centres
of the brain are systematically closed down and access is gain to parts
of the brain which are primitive and pre-rational. Thus hypnosis could
be explained as a form of regression to pre-critical functioning.
Attention -
The ability to sustain ones awareness by focusing it
on a particular thing.
Aura -
The feelings experienced by patients before an attack
of epilepsy or migraine headache which warns them of it's imminence.
Auto-Hypnosis -
Is where an individual has learned the ability to place
himself in a state of hypnosis.
Autogenic -
Relating to things which originate within the self.
Autonomic -
Self directed, independent.
Autonomic Nervous System -
The nervous system responsible
for many of the body's functions, particularly those of the glands, the
smooth muscles, respiration and circulation. It is located along the spine
and cerebro-spinal system and completely efferent in function. Its is reactive
and responsible for the 'Fight or Flight 'response.
Auto-Suggestion -
Suggestions which originate from
within the individual.
Aversion -
A strong dislike of something.
Aversion
Therapy -
A form of de-conditioning by associating something unpleasant
with a particular behaviour pattern you are trying to eradicate. Typical
of behaviour therapy it is used sometimes in hypnosis, for example, to
associate a foul thing (like dog excrement or vomit) to the act / taste
of smoking, thus helping to de-condition and extinguish the habit.
Return to Alphabet Menu
Tom Connelly© connelly@hypnos.co.uk
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