This paper is a contribution to the study of the interesting phenomenon that hypnotizability is not a static property of an individual but seems to be a fairly

fluid characteristic. Ehrenreich describes a case which demonstrates the unconscious factors responsible for a patient's inability to respond to certain hypnotic suggestions. In this instance the patient who could be brought into a deep hypnotic trance was unable to accept the suggestion that her hands would remain stuck fast together. Ehrenreich hypnotized the patient on thirteen different occasions and finally discovered that the patient's inability to keep her hands clasped was based on a highly traumatic sexual experience in her childhood. This leads him to conclude that hypnosis is experienced in a highly personal fashion and that the major missing links in our understanding of hypnotizability are probably to be found in the unconscious needs, wishes, prohibitions, etc. of the individual.