What is “hypnosis”? It seems we all know the answer… but – do we indeed?
In this research the sceintific discourse (of hypnosis) becomes an object of critical examination. It appears that the scientific controversy revolvong the simple question of “what hysnosis is” is so fierce, that in fact the answer isn’t clear at all. Actually, the spiritual-religious sphere is a “significant other” that influences the formation of the sceintific discourse. The sceintific definitions bear significat implications both on the therapuetic aspect and the public and legal ones.
The lecture’s title at the conference was: “Science as Religion – A Critical Outlook at the Scientific Discourse of Hypnosis and Its Correlation with Religious and Spiritual Phenomena”.
The lecture took plave in the 4th International Congress in Spirituality and Psychiatry, organized by the World Psychiatric Association (specifically, the section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry), in the end of 2019 in Jerusale, Some 350 lecturers from around the world participated in this congress.
The lecture was included in a session on “Spirituality and Psychotherapy”, that Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro co-organized (see following the other lectures’ abstracts). In addition, she was nominated to chair a plennum on “Spritiuality Integrated Psychotherapies”, together with a scholar from the Netherlands, Nathan van der Velde.
Lecture abstract
In light of scientific disputes over the very essence of “hypnosis,” committees held by the American Psychological Association (APA) have offered various definitions of it, in 1993, 2003, and 2014. Differences in definitions are natural, however, the depth of the dispute becomes clear with the rise of voices that dare refute hypnosis’ very existence. Some scientists claim that it can be falsified, that we can never know if someone is truly hypnotized, and that there may even be no difference between hypnotic suggestion and mere suggestion, thus rendering the term “hypnotic state” meaningless.
The verdict on these scholarly disputes has significant implications that affect our understanding of the human psyche, the practice of therapy, and the application of the Israeli criminal law which limits the implementation of hypnosis to a small group of experts.
The fact that this law has led to a fight against alternative-spiritual practitioners is testament that experts on hypnosis consider themselves part of a parallel, rival, and competing field. Accordingly, from a cultural-critical standpoint, this situation can be seen as an expression of the struggle between the different authorities of knowledge and practical expertise in the same field. Thus, this is a rivalry between alternatives – the scientific and the alternative-spiritual – in a field that is, in fact, religious. This, along with the deep-rooted disputes within scientific discourse, calls for the implementation of a critical religious-studies outlook in regard to the scientific discourse (regardless of its validity), which views it as religious discourse – that of a religion which seeks to replace its rivals: the religion of science.
Indeed, contemporary scholarly literature on modern hypnosis claims that its own roots lie in shamanic rituals, trance states of magicians, and the therapeutic activity of mesmerism. However, in order to apply the term “hypnosis” to cases from other times and cultures, we must first understand… what is hypnosis?
Lecturer
Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro
Links
To download the conference’s program – click here.
To download the session’s abstracts including this lecture’s – click here.
For a dispatch on the conference, in the magazine Psychiatry Online – click here.
For an overview on the confernce – click here.
For a Hebrew description of the conference at the website of the Center fot the Human Spirit (University of Haifa) – click here.
Date
December 4th, 2019
Language
English
Academic/Non-academic
Academic item
Bibliographical citation
Ruah-Midbar Shapiro, Marianna , “Science as Religion – A Critical Outlook at the Scientific Discourse of Hypnosis and Its Correlation with Religious and Spiritual Phenomena”, lecture at the 4th Global Meeting in Spirituality and Mental Health (organized by the WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry), December 4th, 2019, Jerusalem.
