INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL HYPNOSIS

2020, VOL. 68, NO. 4, 409–411

https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2020.1803639

GUEST EDITORIAL

Hypnosis: New Generation Articles

In this special issue of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
(IJCEH), mostly young colleagues share their experiences with hypnosis or suggestion
techniques in various fields. The majority of the articles were presented at a conference
entitled “Hypnosis: New Generation” (HNG) held from May 30 to June 1, 2019, in
Budapest, Hungary. At this meeting, primarily a new generation of researchers and thera­
pists in the fields of hypnosis, suggestions, and altered states of consciousness presented
their findings.
The idea of organizing a conference specifically for this new generation of the field came
when, at a “big” international hypnosis conference, the treasurer reported that half (!) of the
income of the organization goes to the big hotel-chain where the meetings take place. At
that moment, I sat in the last row of the room. Looking at the audience from behind, I saw
nearly only bald or gray-haired heads. Where were the young colleagues?
So, the main motive of the HNG conference was to get “fresh blood” into the field and
not restrict ourselves with the limitations of conference venues or the “musts” (more nicely,
traditions) of inviting only “big names” as keynote speakers. Practically, we had unlimited
possibilities in time and rooms and were very open to providing opportunities for present­
ing to our young colleagues. About 40 international students also participated in the
meeting as volunteers for half of the time but freely participating in the event as “full
rights” visitors of the programs.
This goal was further supported by the opportunity provided by the IJCEH – one of the
nominal sponsors of the meeting, along with the European Society of Hypnosis, the
International Society of Hypnosis, and Eötvös Loránd University. The possibility of an
IJCEH special issue with the HNG conference participants was offered – and has now
become a reality.
A surprisingly popular program of HNG was the question and answer session with the
IJCEH on hypnosis research and publication by the chief- and managing editors: Gary
Elkins and Lynae Roberts. It was obvious that the representatives of the new generation do
want to publish and have many things to share.
At HNG, it was very clear that young professionals follow a fresh style and live at
a different tempo: Short lectures, fast talks, poster presentations, and hypno-hackathons
were new elements of the meeting, suggested by the young colleagues. HNG did include
mentors and experienced colleagues, as well. One of the most popular sessions was “meet
the mentors,” where anyone could have a 5-minute free talk with an experienced
colleague.
This special issue reflects many very valuable aspects of hypnosis that I fell in love with
nearly 40 years ago and that still keep me enthusiastic today.

● Hypnosis is a field where you can theorize about the most inspiring topics, like
consciousness (De Benedittis, 2020), the mechanism of the process (Moss, 2020), or
introduce new concepts (e.g., pretraumatic growth, Ziss, 2020).
© International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
410 EDITORIAL

● You can also be very practical: treating individuals (Delaitre et al., 2020; Hammer
et al., 2020) or groups (Fisch et al., 2020), even individuals in groups (Fabre Robles,
2020)
● The process can be based on formal hypnosis (Fisch et al., 2020) or you can utilize
suggestive techniques based on the “ready-made” altered (or trance) state (Tan et al.,
2020; Ziss, 2020). The session itself can be based on traditional, relaxational hypnosis
or a dynamic, active-alert trance (Kasos et al., 2020).
● Another favorable aspect of hypnosis (or more generally suggestive techniques) is that
it is a potent tool for various professionals: not only medical doctors, psychologists, or
dentists can apply it but anyone who is working with people in trance state.
● Hypnosis can be implemented into a wide range of areas of life, from high-level sport
(Mattle et al., 2020) to the treatment of the critically ill (Tan et al., 2020). That tells me
that we could approach it another way round: in all areas of life, we should be aware of
the nuances of communication, the importance of interpersonal relationships, and the
power of suggestions.
● Hypnosis also can be a key element of experimental work (Kasos et al., 2020), just like
that of applied fields can be standardized (Fisch et al., 2020) or completely free and
intuitive (Fabre Robles, 2020).
● We should also stress that the articles of this issue also demonstrate that hypnosis is
very effective and quick; as short as a daily 7-minute suggestive therapy with intensive
care patients (Tan et al., 2020) or 10 to 15 minutes in sport performance (Mattle et al.,
2020), hypnosis intervention can lead to detectable results. A single session for
individual psychotherapy (Fabre Robles, 2020) provides promising results for various
somatic problems in only six sessions (Delaitre et al., 2020). And we can further
enhance this effectiveness, for example, by implementing physiological monitoring
(Moss, 2020).

The topic of hypnosis is now part of the curriculum of more and more universities. In
this issue, we also have articles from postgraduate education, or doctoral school. There is no
doubt that those who experience the benefit of hypnosis as a self-experience, managing their
own stress, will probably be an advocate of this technique during their careers.
All in all, in this special issue we have theoretical articles, laboratory experiments, clinical
studies, and case vignettes representing various somatic, psychotherapeutic problems or
applications to improve human performance. It is nice to see that the new generation – and
their mentors – are not simply preserving the richness of the field of hypnosis but also
enriching it.

References
De Benedittis, G. (2020). From quantum physics to quantum hypnosis: A quantum mind perspective.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 433–450. https://doi.org/10.
1080/00207144.2020.1799380.
Delaitre, L., Denis, J., & Maillard, H. (2020). Hypnosis in treatment of atopic dermatitis: A clinical
study. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 412–418. https://doi.org/
10.1080/00207144.2020.1788391.
Fabre Robles, C. (2020). Ericksonian family constellation work with metaphoric objects: An integra­
tion of brief approaches that protect and expedite psychotherapeutic processes. International
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL HYPNOSIS 411

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 483–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.

2020.1802734.
Fisch, S., Binting, S., Roll, S., Cree, M., Brinkhaus, B., & Teut, M. (2020). Group hypnosis for stress
reduction—A feasibility study. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4),
493–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2020.1781537.
Hammer, C. M., Scholz, M., Bischofsberger, L., Paulsen, F., & Burger, P. H. M. (2020). Feasibility of
clinical hypnosis for test anxiety in first-year medical students. International Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 511–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2020.1799379.
Kasos, E., Kasos, K., Költő, A., Józsa, E., & Varga, K. (2020). Phenomenological experiences during
active-alert hypnosis: Comparison of hypnotist and subject. International Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 451–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2020.1802733.
Mattle, S., Birrer, D., & Elfering, A. (2020). Feasibility of hypnosis on performance in air rifle shooting
competition. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 521–529. https://
doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2020.1799655.
Moss, D. (2020). Physiological monitoring to enhance clinical hypnosis. International Journal of
Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2020.
1790992.
Tan, Y., Gajic, O., Schulte, P. J., Clark, M. M., Philbrick, K. L., & Karnatovskaia, L. V. (2020).
Feasibility of a behavioral intervention to reduce psychological distress in mechanically ventilated
patients. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 419–432. https://doi.
org/10.1080/00207144.2020.1795663.
Ziss, M. (2020). Pre-trauma growth under terror threat: Suggestive communication method in antici­
patory trauma. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(4), 475–482. https://
doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2020.1799712.

Katalin Varga
Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary