The Elucidation of Spontaneous Sensory and Motor Phenomena during Hypnoanalysis*

Many subjects experience a variety of sensations and display motor activity during the induction of hypnosis or within the hypnotic state itself which are frequently by-passed as fortuitous and inconsequential. The fact that they are spontaneous rather than intentionally induced may contribute to this, but perhaps more important is the lack of awareness on the part of the hypnotist that psychodynamic implications may be involved. Actually it appears likely that the majority, if not all such phenomena, are quite psychologically meaningful for the subjects and that with appropriate procedures these meanings may in certain cases be ascertained. Granting the possible role of physiologic alterations in at least some of the sensory and motor phenomena, the presence of psychologic correlates should not be disregarded. A pertinent example is the equilibrium change not infrequently experienced and verbalized by persons in hypnosis.

Ordinarily during hypnotic experimentation and in certain forms of hypnotherapy, the elucidation of such spontaneous phenomena would be unnecessary or even undesirable. Certainly if therapy on an analytic level were contraindicated it would not be done. Aside from experimentation on the nature of such occurrences, their elucidation would be considered mostly in patients in hypnoanalysis. Since there is much to be learned about this form of therapy specific rules regarding choice of phenomena for investigation and time for probing cannot be outlined as yet. The clinical judgment of the therapist is paramount in determining procedure. One may conjecture that the analysis of some sensory and motor patterns would be relatively of incidental interest at times, whereas at others it may prove extremely helpful for the understanding of the patient and in influencing the course of therapy from the view of time and direction. Additional knowledge about this is yet to be acquired. In any event, clarification of the psychodynamic implications of