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become more and more effective the more frequently they are repeated. (Pavlov,
1927, Lecture 23) Braid had emphasized the law of sympathy and imitation
whereby hypnotic subjects seem to show an enhanced ability to imitate the
behavior of others.
Pavlov pre-empts later social theories of learning by
acknowledging the role of this mechanism in hypnotherapy.
Obviously we deal with a certain degree of inhibition of some parts of the cortex a
state in which the more complicated forms of normal activity are excluded and
replaced by responsiveness to immediate stimuli. This partial inhibition allows of or
even favours the establishment and reinforcement of the physiological connections
between certain stimuli and certain activities, e.g., movements. In this manner, in
hypnosis all activities based on imitation are accentuated and we see revealed the
long-submerged reflex which in all of us in childhood forms and develops the
complicated individual and social behavior. (Pavlov, 1927, Lecture 23)
Pavlov conceived of hypnotic suggestion as a complex example of a conditioned
reflex, fundamental to human nature,
Among the various aspects of the hypnotic state in man attention may be drawn to
suggestion so-called and its physiological interpretation. Obviously for man
speech provides conditioned stimuli which are just as real as any other stimuli. At
the same time speech provides stimuli which exceed in richness and manysidedness any of the others, allowing comparison neither qualitatively nor
quantitatively with any conditioned stimuli which are possible in animals. Speech,
on account of the whole preceding life of the adult, is connected up with all the
internal and external stimuli which can reach the cortex, signaling all of them and
replacing all of them, and therefore it can call forth all those reactions of the
organism which are normally determined by the actual stimuli themselves. We can,
therefore, regard suggestion as the most simple form of a typical conditioned
reflex in man. The command of the hypnotist, in correspondence with the general
law, concentrates the excitation in the cortex of the subject (which is in a condition
of partial inhibition) in some definite narrow region, at the same time intensifying
(by negative induction) the inhibition in the rest of the cortex and so abolishing all
competing effects of contemporary stimuli and of traces left by previously received
ones. This accounts for the large and practically insurmountable influence of
suggestion as a stimulus during hypnosis as well as shortly after it. The command
retains its effect after the termination of hypnosis, remaining independent of other
stimuli, being impermeable to them, since at the time of primary introduction of the
stimulus into the cortex it was prevented from establishing any connection with the
rest of the cortex. The great number of stimuli which speech can replace explains
the fact that we can suggest to a hypnotized subject so many different activities,
and influence and direct the activities of his brain. (Pavlov, 1927, Lecture 23)
Pavlov considers the question as to why hypnotic suggestions should be more
effective stimuli than the imagery experienced in dreaming, a point which could be
made in comparing hypnosis with ordinary daydreaming or reverie as well.
It could be questioned why does suggestion carry in itself such a commanding
influence as compared with dreams, which are usually forgotten and only have a
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very small vital significance? But dreams are due to traces, generally of very old
stimuli, while suggestion is a powerful and immediate stimulus. Moreover, hypnosis
depends upon a smaller intensity of inhibition than sleep. Suggestion, therefore, is
doubly effective. Still further, suggestion as a stimulus is brief, isolated and
complete, and therefore vigorous, while dreams are generally linked up into chains
of various, sometimes inconsistent or antagonistic, traces of stimuli. (Pavlov, 1927,
Lecture 23)
Soviet Hypnotherapy (Platonov)
Following Pavlovs seminal physiological research, which concluded that hypnosis
was a form of artificial (conditioned) sleep, Platonov and other Soviet researchers
began employing hypnotherapy on a massive scale. They developed a form of
hypnotherapy which employed extended periods of suggested sleep in a manner
resembling Victorian Mesmerism but based on laboratory research on conditioning.
Indeed, Platonov subtitled his book on hypnotherapy The Theory and Practice of
Psychotherapy according to I.P. Pavlov. (1959).
In the Soviet approach, subjects were left to sleep for around an hour following a
hypnotic induction without any further suggestions, i.e., in total silence so that they
could rest without any disturbance whatsoever.
We have always used long-continued suggested sleep as an auxiliary therapeutic
method. It is usually employed in more or less grave conditions as a concluding
method after a course of psychotherapy and serves the purpose of restoring the
function of the cortical cells and consolidating the therapeutic effect obtained.
Even short suggested sleep not infrequently exerts a positive influence on the
patients nervous system. This is indicated by very numerous observations of many
authors, as well as our own and those of our associates. In a number of cases even
a state of light suggested sleep produces a certain therapeutic effect of itself,
without any special suggestions.
Thus, upon awakening from the very first
suggested sleep some of our patients frequently report the disappearance of pain or
unpleasant sensations. (Platonov, 1959: 234)
Sleep induced by suggestion often seems considerably more restful and
recuperative than normal, nocturnal sleep. Platonov cites research by Petrova, one
of Pavlovs research team, supporting this observation experimentally (Platonov,
1959: 234). Platonov applied this method to the prevention of hypertension,
treatment of ulcers, and other physical conditions, but also in the treatment of
neuroses.
However, Platonov also found physiological evidence that the
recuperative function of hypnosis was significantly deepened when explicit
suggestions of a state of absolute rest, e.g., were used instead of the normal
procedure, merely suggesting that the subject was sleeping deeper, etc.
(Platonov, 1959: 77-78).
These studies have led us to the recognition of the extraordinarily great importance
of a special physiological state of deep rest specially created by verbal suggestion.
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It must be especially emphasized that natural sleep does not always put all the
organs and systems of man into a state of complete rest. [] It is precisely for this
reason that it is necessary to exert special influence on the subjects cerebral cortex
by a verbal suggestion that his organism is in a state of complete rest during
which all of the experienced emotions have been fully eliminated, while his brain
and all organs and tissues are rapidly regaining their functions. Thus the first step
in the verbal suggestion [sleep, sleep deeper, etc.] puts the person from his
usual waking state into a state of suggested sleep, while the second step in the
suggestion [rest completely] creates special conditions for deep rest during this
suggested sleep. (Platonov, 1959: 78).
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During the last, fifth, session I no longer felt my body at all, as if I had none. Nor
could I think of anything. I had no thoughts at all. I heard various external sounds
which did not concern me in the least. During suggestions I heard everything
clearly, but my mind failed to work, and the words of suggestion relating to my
former experiences in no way affected me.
At the words of awakening, I begin to awaken at first from the head, as it were:
thoughts rise in my mind, I begin to think about how to move, to get up; I
understand everything that takes place around me, but begin to feel my body
somewhat later; as my consciousness clear up, I begin to feel a heaviness
throughout my body, which subsequently dissipates upon complete awakening.
(Platonov, 1959: 73)
At a time when psychoanalysis was struggling to achieve success with roughly twothirds of patients despite taking many hundreds of sessions, Platonov and his
colleagues reported 78% success rates in just 5-6 sessions by using Pavlovian
hypnotherapy with tens of thousands of patients presenting with a variety of
psychiatric and general medical conditions in Soviet polyclinics and hospitals.
This approach is obviously impractical for modern clinical practice. Clients may
resent paying for a session in which they are merely left to relax in silence.
However, a similar technique might be used in different settings, e.g., during group
workshops or between sessions with the aid of a self-hypnosis CD.