THE ARROGANT FINGER
How To Hypnotize – Bradford Chambers
Published in New York, USA, in 1959, this is a simple, practical, and generously photographic guide to hypnotism for medical practitioners and interested persons. The back cover sales matter features testimonials from US clinical psychologists, to further appeal to a professional readership.
Bradford Chambers, our author, is a bit of a mystery man… He introduces the subject of hypnotism, but not himself. A foreword, written by a Dr Kenneth S MacLean, simply calls him a “recognized writer on scientific subjects,” and applauds his ability to communicate “readily understood and followed” instructions on the page as well as as a hypnotist.
I found a British doctor of the same name online, but MacLean’s foreword is penned from New York, and there’s nothing to suggest Chambers isn’t American from his writing. (He also draws a google blank aside from book purchase links.) The point is, the pair may have just been involved in a one-off hypno-publication project – an amenable doctor lending their name to a “science” writer turned hypnotist, perhaps – rather than upcoming stars of the New York medical hypnotherapy scene.
Chambers has a straightforward approach to hypnosis that would have appealed to medical professionals of the time seeking a standard and replicable process. The patient/subject is seated and follows the hypnotist’s instructions, complying with a trance state. It’s a process reliant on a power dynamic, which he acknowledges… whilst betraying its limitations: “The ideal relationship between hypnotist and subject is that of teacher and pupil. There is some controversy as to exactly what part prestige plays in trance induction. Of course, rapport and mutual respect are fundamental.”
The photos show ideal female and male patient/subject interactions and handling techniques. Chambers is mindful of the prestige, the professionalism, the aesthetic – he strikes me as a details-oriented person who is sharing hard-won hypnotherapy rapport tips. For instance, he recommends simulating eye contact by staring at your hypnotee’s nose radix, between their eyes, instead of maintaining true eye contact. And his note about the efficacy of a forward-falling sway test with women in heels is given in earnest rather than as a cheap, cynical, sexist trick!
The book would be devoid of character were it not for Chambers’s lamentations concerning stage hypnotism – and who can blame him?! Learning to cultivate a hypnotic gaze and coax ladies into a trusting ‘trance’ state for good is galling when said lady might just as gamely strip nude and start jibbering into her stilettos as if they’re telephones with one determined glare from the stage hypnotist. He isn’t alone in lobbying against entertainment and performance hypnotism, but it is as if he wishes all the deference and awe of the stage experience be wiped from our collective consciousness and transferred to behind-closed-door doctor’s office feats. Here’s his summary of the typical late 50s New York and US stage hypnotism show:
“The stage hypnotist performs under background conditions that are seemingly incredible. Subjects must stand under the glare of blazing lights, and if they are allowed to sit down at all it is in uncomfortable, straightback chairs. The auditorium holds hundred of people, perhaps thousands. The acoustics are appalling, and sometimes there is all the din and hubbub of a side show carnival. Even in a small auditorium there is the shuffling of feet, the clatter of chairs as members of the audience lean forward for a better view. The hypnotist holds a microphone and through it he bellows his instructions; while the subjects on the platform, already made acutely self conscious by the peremptory commands of the performer, become the focal point of the spectators’ eyes that are constantly upon them.”
Chambers grumbles that these are “hardly ideal conditions for bringing about that delicate mental shift – the hypnotic trance.” And yet stage hypnotism’s infuriating effectiveness is basically the book’s subtext! Maybe he had a New York City Hypnotic Nemesis?! “And when the subjects are properly dazed and psychologically off guard, the hypnotist jumps in and literally throws them into a trance.” He resents The Stage Hypnotist for favouring fast-n-dirty results and producing what he implies is an inferior form of hypnosis – describing it as “very poor” and “very bad” hypnosis.
In covering the dangers of hypnotism, he later comments that “many European countries and some states in the United States have legislated against public demonstrations of hypnotism.” The risk of getting stuck in hypnotic slumber (not A Thing) is, according to this book, greater in the hands of stage and amateur players. Even his photograph-led description of waking up your hypnotee is opportunity to upstage his imaginary foe:
“Never startle your subject into awakening. The arrogant finger snapping and hand clapping of the stage hypnotist may impress an audience, but these gestures are unnecessary and may disturb the subject.”
PS – Kev says visit YouTube channel ‘How To Hypnotise’ because that’s how online rabbit holes work, types the writer-hypnotist.
