Hypnotic Ego-Strengthening Procedure

Hypnotherapeutic procedure

Part of a series on
Psychology
  • Outline
  • History
  • Subfields
Basic psychology
  • Psychology portal
  • v
  • t
  • e

The Hypnotic Ego-Strengthening Procedure, incorporating its constituent, influential hypnotherapeutic monologue — delivering an incremental sequence of both suggestions for within-hypnotic influence and suggestions for post-hypnotic influence[1] "[that were] designed to remove tension, anxiety and apprehension, and to gradually restore the patient's confidence in himself and his ability to cope with his problems"[2] — was developed and promoted by the British consultant psychiatrist, John Heywood Hartland (1901–1977) in the 1960s.

It was originally created, by Hartland, to (pre-therapeutically) strengthen his patients' inner resources[3][4] — "analogous to the medical setting in which a patient is first strengthened by proper nutrition, general rest, and weight gain before a radical form of surgery is performed" (Torem, 1990, p. 110) — and, specifically, to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of his (subsequent) symptom-removal hypnotherapy. Hartland later discovered that his "ego-strengthening procedure" could successfully address a wide range of clinical circumstances, on its own, as the sole form of therapy.[5]

Hartland's 1965 article, "The Value of "Ego-Strengthening" Procedures Prior to Direct Symptom-Removal under Hypnosis" was significant for positioning the concept of "ego-strengthening";[6] and "ever since then, the concept could be unequivocally named, identified, investigated, productively discussed, and generally understood by all concerned".[7] The article was also significant for introducing the convention of ". . ." to indicate pauses in the operator's delivery of the monologue.

"Ego-strengthening suggestions are designed to increase the patient’s ability to cope with his difficulties or to encourage him to stand on his own feet. There are three kinds of ego-strengthening suggestions: (a) general ego-strengthening suggestions, (b) specific ego-strengthening suggestions to facilitate the discovery and enhancement of the patient’s inner coping strategies, and (c) specific suggestions to foster the patient’s sense of self-efficacy. ..."
"Ego-strengthening suggestions, while seemingly simplistic, are quite valuable. Hartland and many others believe that in certain instances ego-strengthening suggestions alone can bring about a successful treatment outcome without [any need to resort to either] symptomatic or dynamic hypnotherapy. Some patients experience spontaneous alleviation of symptoms when they feel strong enough to cope without the symptoms. Direct suggestions for coping, therefore, are sometimes more effective than direct suggestions for symptom change." (Brown & Fromm, 1986, pp. 194, 195)

Emile Coué and la méthode Coué

Émile Coué (1923).

The insights, observations, technical developments, and procedural innovations of Émile Coué (1857-1926), the scientist,[8] apothecary (i.e, both a first-contact prescribing pharmacist and a dispensing chemist),[9] hypnotist, and psychotherapist in relation to his understanding, conceptualization, realization, and application of hypnotherapeutic suggestion have greatly influenced the theories and practices of hypnotism throughout the English-speaking world.[10][11][12]

"Continuously, unjustly, and mistakenly trivialised as just a hand-clasp, some unwarranted optimism, and a 'mantra', Coué's method evolved over several decades of meticulous observation, theoretical speculation, in-the-field testing, incremental adjustment, and step-by-step transformation. It tentatively began (c.1901) with very directive one-to-one hypnotic interventions, based upon the approaches and techniques that Coué had acquired from an American correspondence course. As his theoretical knowledge, clinical experience, understanding of suggestion and autosuggestion, and hypnotic skills expanded, it gradually developed into its final subject-centred version—an intricate complex of (group) education, (group) hypnotherapy, (group) ego-strengthening, and (group) training in self-suggested pain control; and, following instruction in performing the prescribed self-administration ritual, the twice daily intentional and deliberate (individual) application of its unique formula, "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better". (Yeates, 2016c, p. 55)

Liébeault and "Suggestive Therapeutics"

Brown's "Affections of the Mind",
as discussed in his Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind.[13]

In 1885, Coué's father-in law, Victor Lemoine, introduced him to Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault,[14] a medical practitioner in nearby Nancy, France. Liébeault, who had earlier dabbled with animal magnetism, and who, now, promoted what he termed "suggestive therapeutics" — "an imperfect re-branding of the 'dominant idea' theory that James Braid had appropriated from [his Edinburgh teacher,] Thomas Brown" (Yeates, 2016a, p. 12)[15][16] — based, in part, on an extended, laborious, monotonous, "sleep, sleep, sleep" induction of "hypnosis", and the consequent state of "charme" (i.e., "spellbound") that it produced. Greatly impressed, Coué emloyed a manager for his pharmacy, moved to Nancy, and studied with Liébeault in 1885 and 1886 (Baudouin, 1920, p.13). He returned to Troyes in 1886, and resumed his pharmacy (which had declined in his absence). Convinced of the value of Liébeault's "suggestive therapeutics", he began to experiment with Liébeault's "hypnosis" with his Nancy clientele.[17] Having soon discovered that Liébeault’s techniques were hopeless in practice,[17] he abandoned Liébeault’s "sleep"-based "hypnosis", and hypnotherapy altogether.[17][18]

Correspondence Course

In 1901, fifteen years later, with the hope of improving his Apothecary business, Coué sent for an advertised free book, Hypnotism as It is (Sage, 1899), which offered to disclose "secrets [of the] science that brings business and social success" and "the hidden mysteries of personal magnetism, hypnotism, magnetic healing, etc.”. His dormant interest in hypnotism reawakened, he purchased the associated correspondence course material produced by the stage hypnotist, "Professor Xenophon LaMotte Sage, A.M., Ph.D., LL.D.", of Rochester, New York (i.e., E. Virgil Neal, the US entrepreneur).[19][20][21]

Neal's course, which was firmly based upon Braid's (Cartesian-reflex) upwards and inwards squint induced "hypnotism" (rather than the dormez, dormez, dormez suggestion-induced "hypnosis" of Bernheim and Liebeault),[22] and the "mental therapeutics" of Thomson Jay Hudson (see Hudson, 1893, 1900, 1903), continuously stressed that suggestion produced outcomes.[23][24] Its approach was entirely consistent with both Braid's "psycho-physiology" and Hudson's "mental therapeutics", and concentrated entirely on the transformative power of the subject's mind.[25]

This was the complete opposite of the Liébeault/Bernheim approach,[26] which was centred on the view that, rather than amplifying the effectiveness of suggestion, "hypnosis" made suggestion inescapable,[27] and, consequently, it was an approach which concentrated entirely on the coercive power of the operator's suggestion. Their approach was characterized by Yeates as "secular exorcism" (2002, pp. 10-11); he also notes that, "[those] therapeutic interventions (secular exorcisms) that assume humans are illness-prone and seek to identify and expel disease (goal: 'disease-free') are driven by a vastly different mind-set from those interventions (secular invocations) that view humans as robust and health-sustaining, and seek to locate and invigorate the good (goal: 'robust health')" (2016a, pp. 8-9).

Stott, W.R.S. (1922),
"The Apostle of Auto-Suggestion at Work in his Garden 'Clinic' at Nancy".

John Hartland

John Heywood Hartland (1901–1977), B.Sc. (Birmingham, 1921), M.B. Ch.B. (Birmingham, 1925), M.R.C.S. (England, 1925), L.R.C.P. (London, 1925), was initially a G.P., practising in West Bromwich, a town in the industrial West Midlands region of England. He later became a consultant psychiatrist, and served as vice-president of the British Society for Medical and Dental Hypnosis, and as editor of the British Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.[28][29]

Hartland was convinced that hypnotherapy could be usefully applied, by G.P.s, to a wide range of clinical conditions, regardless of their familiarity with hypnotic theories and practices,[30] At a time that "for many, hypnotism was far from respectable, regardless of whether delivered by a medical practitioner, or not" (Yeates, 2014a, p. 5),[31][32] Hartland delivered lectures, demonstrations, and seminars (towards the end of his career) throughout the U.K., France, Sweden, Australia, USA, and Singapore.[28][33][34]

Lewis Wolberg and "symptom removal"

Hartland was greatly influenced by Lewis Wolberg, whose strategy of "symptom removal by hypnotic command" (Wolberg, 1948c, p. 1) was derived from the work of Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault and Hippolyte Bernheim of Nancy, France.[35]

"Wolberg’s interventions were strong and authoritarian; involving a dramatic induction procedure (to enhance therapist prestige), followed by direct (prestige) suggestions[36] that the subject’s symptoms would disappear upon de-hypnotizing".[37]

Wolberg's "symptom removal" approach (Wolberg, 1948c, passim) was widely used by practising hypnotherapists until, at least, the 1980s: see, for instance, Meares (1960), Slater and Flores (1963), Clawson (1964), Weitzenhoffer (2002), Weitzenhoffer (2004), and Ball (2006), etc.

Lewis Wolberg and "ego strength"

Assuming the "appropriateness" of the approach and technique chosen by the operator (i.e., their technic),[38] Wolberg (1948a, p. 430) attributed most "therapeutic failures" to (a) "inadequate time", (b) "inadequate motivation", or (c) "diminutive ego strength.[39] From this, Wolberg observed, the appropriateness of the operator's chosen "therapeutic program" was contingent upon three dimensions:

  • The patient's "existing motivations": "what the patient actually seeks out of treatment".[40]
  • The patient's "ego strength or weakness": namely, "the equipment with which the patient can function in treatment".[40][41]
  • The operator's choice of "technic": "the kind of technic [the patient] will be able to utilize most effectively within set limits of time and finances.[40]

Given the importance that he attributed to the dimension of "ego strength" as a significant predictor of therapeutic success,[42] Wolberg was also well aware that,

"The ego strength is more difficult to estimate [than motivation] since adequate criteria have not yet been established. To some extent we may estimate limitations in ego strength from developmental failures of the individual, the incompetence of past and present psychobiologic adaptations, absence of a real precipitating factor, the difficulties in his relations with people, the intensity of dependency, the diminutiveness of self esteem and the inadequacy of his prevailing defenses against anxiety."[40]

Brian Lake and "ego strength"

In 1985, the British psychiatrist, Brain Lake (1922-2008),[43] observed that "the concept of ego strength is recognised by most psychiatrists, used by some, and defined by few ... [and,] as with the notion of "mental health", many clinicians have a image of ego-strength, but no-one seems fully satisfied with any one else's definition"; "nevertheless, [he continued,] ample evidence exists in textbooks and research articles that the dimension of ego strength and weakness is used as a significant predictor of outcome for psychotherapy, despite its components often being dissimilarly identified, described, and measured" (Lake, 1985, p. 471).

He suggested (p. 473) solving this apparent problem by sidestepping this issue and, simply, presenting the (otherwise ambiguous) "ego strength" as if it were a combination of "personal competence" and "social competence". He identified nine "competencies" (pp. 474-477) which, he claimed, could be objectively observed as present or absent; and, if present, could be "measured in approximate terms of rank ordering, ranging from very much to very little" (p. 477). However, in doing so, Lake warned, whilst competence, i.e., "an overall measure of the ego’s ability to interact efficiently with the environment and to perform its adaptive tasks", signified "sufficient strength to perform a task", strength, in and of itself, "[did] not necessarily signify competence" (p. 474).

Hartland and "psychotherapy"

According to his own account, Hartland had regularly used "hypnosis" since the early 1940s,[44] "to facilitate the treatment of various psychosomatic complaints" that were presented in his general practice,[45] with his "main object being the removal or alleviation of symptoms [in order] to achieve the rehabilitation of the patient and his early return to work".[45] Given the common-sense understanding of the extent to which "psychological and behavioral factors may adversely affect the course of medical conditions in almost every major disease category",[46] Hartland’s interventions addressed two inter-connected psychological issues:

(a) "Those arising as a consequence of the illness itself, such as anxiety, fear, tension and agitation";[47] and
(b) "Those arising from defects in [the patient's] own personality, such as nervousness, lack of confidence, dependence and maladjustment".[47]

Because the time pressures of his busy general practice clearly "excluded any serious attempt to employ hypno-analytical techniques" — and, having discovered that "direct symptom removal [was] both difficult and unsatisfactory in many cases" — he set about "[trying] to evolve a series of standard psychotherapeutic suggestions which [he] could employ at every session before trying to tackle the main symptoms".[45] Taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the UK's adoption of the National Health Service in the late 1940s, Hartland was appointed as a consulting psychiatrist to the Hallam Hospital, in West Bromwich in the early 1950s.

At Hallam, Hartland began working with "six half-day sessions per week in its psychiatric out-patient department", directing his professional efforts towards "the more serious psycho-neurotic illnesses",[45] with his initial (conventional) treatment approach, consisting of 20 half-hour sessions,[48] with 7-8 minutes of suggestions each hypnotherapy session.[49] Because these interventions demanded a considerable hypnotic "depth", Hartland spent the first three to four of those 20 sessions ensuring that his patients were appropriately trained,[50] and had been convinced that they were talented subjects,[51][52][53][54] ensuring that they could, later, "be induced deeply enough to enter the hypnotic state immediately it was suggested that they should do so" (1971b, p. xiv).[55]

In 1966, Hartland stated that, "for many years now, I have used this ["ego-strengthening"] technique in every case that I treat and have found it to pay handsome dividends. Not only does the patient obtain relief from his symptoms, but he displays improvements in many other ways. He becomes more self-reliant, more confident, and more able to adjust to his environment, and is thus much less prone to relapse".[56] In 1971, in relation to his "ego-strengthening" monologue, Hartland reported that, at Hallam, "when [his] employment of hypnoanalytical techniques was preceded by the same routine sequence of suggestions that had proved so successful in [his] general practice, not only was the average length of treatment substantially shortened, but the need for the more involved analytical techniques was also greatly reduced".[57]

Hartland’s "ego-strengthening" monologue

Wolberg

Despite Wolberg’s constant references to the extent to which "ego strength/weakness" predisposed any hypnotherapeutic intervention to success/failure, there are no suggestive sequences (apart from the odd random sentence) in any of transcripts of the thirty recorded sessions of the three "illustrative cases" provided by Wolberg at (1948c, pp. 40-133), at (1948d, pp. 218-304), and at (1948e, pp. 366-502), that are specifically directed at strengthening "the ego".

Coué

Hartland, the medical student and emerging hypnotist, would have been very familiar with Coué, the content and rationale of Coué's "Methode", and Coué's contributions to an understanding of "suggestion".

Coué had visited England (conducting group clinical sessions, demonstrations, and lectures) on at least eight occasions between November 1921 and November 1925 (Rapp, 1987). The translation of his Nancy Clinic’s hand-out (1922a) was widely available (1922b, pp.  5-35), with an abridged, rapidly-delivered versions of his presentation available as gramophone recordings (1923a). A further, detailed explanation/elaboration of the rationale behind his "ego-strengthening" suggestions was provided at Coué & Orton, 1924, pp. 80-88. Also, in addition to the many newspaper/magazine reports, a wide range of Coué-centred items were readily available for Hartland’s edification, including reports of Coué’s lectures,[58] eye-witness accounts of visits to Coué’s clinic at Nancy and observations of his interactions with his patients,[59] more detailed accounts of his methode by followers,[60] plus the items associated with the Coué-Orton Institute.[61]

Hartland

The first version of Hartland's approach/procedure, and its constituent monologue, was published in 1965 (Hartland, 1965),[62] and reprinted in 1966 (Hartland, 1966).[63] His second version was published in 1967 (Hartland, 1967).[64] The third and final version of his monologue was revealed in a 1970 lecture (Hartland, 1971c); and was reprinted (with appropriate variations for British readers) in the second edition of his textbook (Hartland, 1971b),[65] where the history, structure, rationale, and clinical delivery of his approach were also described.[66] His third version of the monologue was reprinted, without change, in the two posthumous editions of his textbook: viz., Waxman (1989, pp. 219-224), and Heap & Aravind (2001, pp. 127-129).

Alternate versions of Hartland’s "ego-strengthening" monologue

Hartland was emphatic that the published version of his "ego-strengthening" monologue (a direct transcription of one of his interventions) was provided to deliver an understanding of the incremental suggestive sequence (its critical feature),[67] and that alone — a guide to the "principles underlying the construction and usage of this type of technique" (viz., the "important factors" worth "attention").[68] He stressed that it must never be used exactly as published.[69][70]

"It is certainly not intended that this [transcript] should be adopted in the precise form that has been described. It is the principle that is worthy of attention, and the sequence [I have] outlined should be regarded simply as a guide to the individual therapist in framing his own suggestions to conform with his own personality, method of approach and style of delivery. It is impossible to suggest here the varying inflections of the voice, but the same cardinal rules of construction, stresses and pauses etc. should be used in order to maintain a rhythmical quality from start to finish."
"In the construction of an ego-strengthening technique, quite apart from the actual suggestions themselves, it is essential that particular attention should be paid to such significant factors as ‘rhythm’, ‘repetition’, the interpolation of appropriate ‘pauses’, and the ‘stressing of certain important words and phrases’. …[also, in order to] avoid excessive monotony … you will notice that [within my version] repetition is often achieved by expressing the same fundamental idea in two or three different ways." — Hartland (1971b), pp.203, 198 (emphasis in original).[71]

"Improved" versions of Hartland's monologue

A number of "improved" versions of Hartland's "ego-strengthening" monologue have been published — with, perhaps, the most extraordinary being the "Poetic Hypnogram" of Samuel Silber, M.D. (1900–1988), the "Poet Laureate of the American Society of Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine"[72] — including, for example, those of Gorman (1974), Stanton (1975), Stanton (1977), Gibbons (1979a), Hutchison (1981, pp. 72-73), Pratt, Wood, and Alman (1988, p. 122-123), Gregg (1990), and Heap (Heap & Aravind, 2001, pp. 129–130), etc., etc.

"Improvisations" upon a theme suggested by Hartland's monologue

A number of different versions of the "ego-strengthening" monologue, better understood as "improvisations", have also been published: including, for example, those of Jabush (1976), Susskind (1976), Gibbons (1979b), Stanton (1979), Stanton (1989), Barber (1990a), Barber (1990b), Carich (1990), Garver (1990), Torem (1990), Watkins (1990), Wilson and Barber (1990), McNeal and Frederick (1993), Stanton (1997), Milne (1994, pp. 114-117), and Herber (2006, pp. 55-64), etc., etc.

Evaluation

The American Psychological Association (APA)'s 2002 policy on "treatment guidelines" ("specific recommendations about treatments to be offered to patients"),[73] recommended that treatments be evaluated from two perspectives:

  • Treatment Efficacy: "the systematic and scientific evaluation of whether a treatment works";[74] and
  • Clinical Utility: "the applicability, feasibility, and usefulness of the intervention in the local or specific setting where it is to be offered".[74]

Treatment efficacy

Although there's a lot of anecdotal evidence suggesting that Hartland's approach is effective, it has never been rigorously evaluated using scientific methods. This is because — entirely due to the absence of an operationalized definition of "ego-strength" and the lack of a widely accepted "ego-strength" rating scale — no well-designed and productive experiments have ever been conducted. It is not because existing experiments have failed to find evidence of its effectiveness.[75]

Conceptual issues of "measurement"

Assuming that whatever "measurement" (presence, absence, degree of change) made of an object/attribute has been made with a reliable, accurate device, and that the measuring device has delivered a precise value of so-and-so, two important conceptual issues arise in relation to abstractions such as "ego-strengthening":[76]

  • to what degree is the precise value produced by the device (e.g., the height of a column of mercury in a sphygmomanometer) an accurate measure of the attribute (e.g., blood pressure) in question?
  • to what extent is the accurately measured value of the selected attribute (blood pressure) an index of the abstract concept (e.g. ego-strength) that is the ultimate item of interest (or not)?[77][78]

Given the wide range of substantially different meanings, conceptualisations, and applications to which the expression "ego-strengthening" has been applied by its many different users (each operating from a different theoretical orientation),[79][80] any appraisal of the efficacy of "ego-strengthening" involves two embedded questions:

  • "What is it that is being strengthened?"; which immediately demands recognition of the expression’s overall equivocality:[81]
    • Is "ego-strengthening" a generic (somewhat antiquated) qualitative, umbrella term that broadly identifies an overall approach of mobilizing an individual's inner resources such that they "experience greater inner strength, mastery, self-esteem, and self-confidence" (McNeal, 2020, p. 403) — a valuable, productive therapeutic approach, the modern theoretical, practical, and linguistic character of which, Michael Yapko argues (2019a, 2019b), is more accurately and appropriately denoted by the generic descriptor "empowerment".
    • Is "ego-strengthening" a specific, quantitative term, with "ego" modifying (as a sub-set) the activity denoted as "strengthening".
      • Does it centre upon the inappropriate "reification" (in the manner of Whitehead's "fallacy of misplaced concreteness")[82] of the abstract concept, "ego"?
      • Is the intervention being delivered from an operator mind-set that seeks the reduction of a perceived "ego" deficit, or is with one seeking the enhancement of whatever "ego" strength is currently present?[83]
  • "How is the strength of that entity being measured?"; which immediately raises a number of concerns:
    • To what extent is the attribute being measured (e.g., self-esteem) related to the concept ("ego-strength") under scrutiny?[84]
    • To what extent is the measured attribute (e.g., self-esteem) a reliable and valid index of the concept ("ego-strength") under scrutiny?[78][85]
    • To what extent is the (before- and after-intervention) rating of the measured attribute (e.g., self-esteem) a reliable and valid measure of the (before- and after-intervention) "strength" of the concept ("ego") under scrutiny?

Experimentation

Setting aside the complex issues of determining precisely how a "genuinely productive experiment" might (or might not) possibly be constructed to measure its efficacy — or how, where, and upon whom a relevant, informative, and useful study might (or might not) be designed and performed — and, further, if were to be conducted, how its results might be measured and appraised, there is the even-more-significant question of the extent to which any such findings could have any practical application at all, due to the differences in contexts identified by Gorman (1974):

  • Subjects of "hypnosis under experimental conditions" are "participating voluntarily" in an experiment, have "a detached state of mind", and are not "intimately and vitally" affected by the results of the experiment.[86]
  • Subjects of "hypnosis under therapeutic conditions" are undergoing therapy, and are "acutely aware of the fact that the results of therapy may have a most important effect upon [their] subsequent feelings of well-being"; "[their] state of mind is therefore not detached, but, on the contrary, [they are] both anxious and critical".[86][87]

In 1977, in perhaps the only investigation that ever attempted to measure the efficacy of Hartland's monologue within a clinical setting,[88] Calnan's study reported that the ten psychiatric patients (test population: 40) who had received Hartland's monologue, under hypnosis, 12 times in 6 weeks, demonstrated (per medium of "psychological tests") considerable progress (i.e., compared to the other 30);[89] the most interesting/relevant outcome of his interventions was that:

"[all of the] subjects who received Hartland’s entire treatment procedure … reported feeling more relaxed and self-confident. Very often they described their changes in exactly the same words as those used by Hartland in his ego strengthening suggestions and yet none of the subjects mentioned or seemed aware of their origin." (Calnan, 1977, p. 117, emphasis added).

Clinical utility

Hartland's overall "ego-strengthening" approach, clinical strategies, explanations, and his descriptions of the suggestive sequences (for within-hypnotic influence and post-hypnotic influence) he delivered in practice, have made a considerable contribution to modern hypnotherapeutic practice. Despite the obvious difficulties in determining its clinical efficacy, Hartland's approach clearly satisfies the APA's tripartite criteria for clinical utility:[90]

  • Generalizability: "the extent to which an effect of a treatment is robust and therefore will be replicated even when details of the context ... [such as] patients’ characteristics, health care professionals’ characteristics, [etc.] ... are altered."[91]
  • Feasibilty: "the extent to which a treatment can be delivered to patients in the actual setting", including considerations such as "the acceptability of the intervention to potential patients", "patients' ability and willingness to comply with the requirements of the intervention", and "the ease of administration of the intervention".[92]
  • Cost considerations: these include "the direct, indirect, short-term, and long-term costs to the patient, to the professional ... [including] the cost of any technology or equipment involved in the intervention, and the cost of training ... and to the health care system, as well as the costs associated with withholding treatment" as well as the "cost savings" that might accrue from the intervention's "prevention of future disorders" or its "mak[ing] other treatments unnecessary".[92]

Hartland's overall approach

There are many reports of hypnotherapeutic interventions, directed at a wide range of conditions,[93] that describe the valuable contribution that the adoption of an overall ego-strengthening approach has made to their treatment outcomes, in relation to building confidence, enhancing self-esteem, facilitating behavioural change, arousing dormant resources, promoting overall well-being, increasing a sense of self-efficacy and self-empowerment, and strengthening the sense of an internal locus of control: including, for instance, Gardner (1976); Stanton (1977); Stanton (1979); Newey (1986); Stanton (1989); Barber (1990a); Barber (1990b); Hammond (1990b); Hammond (1990c); Watkins (1990); Darken (1992); Stanton (1993); Bennett (1994); Vanderlinden & Vandereycken (1994); Moss & Oakley (1997); Daniel (1999); Frederick & McNeal (1999); Hornyak (1999); Linden (1999); Lynch (1999); Mutter (1999); Barber (2001); Phillips (2001); Lavertue, Kumar & Pekala (2002); Stafrace (2004); McNeal (2007); Gafner (2016); Moss & Willmarth (2017); Daitch (2018); and Shenefelt (2018), etc., etc.

Hartland's published monologue

The literature also contains many reports of Hartland's published ego-strengthening monologue being successfully applied, precisely as written, to a wide range of complaints: including, for instance, Rose (1967); Basker, Anderson and Dalton (1978); Wakeman and Kaplan (1978); Freeman and Baxby (1982); Gould and Tissler (1984); Finkelstein (1991); Torem (1995); and Spiegel (1996), etc., etc.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "The true therapeutic value of hypnosis lies in the suggestions made during it." (Freud, 1891/1966, p. 111)
  2. ^ Hartland (1971b, p.196); Hartland also noted that this was the "principle upon which was based the subsequent development of the ego-strengthening technique.
  3. ^ According to van Dyck & Spinhoven (1994), ego-strengthening hypnotic techniques (collectively) have certain "common characteristics"; namely, "they aim at suppressing feelings of demoralization or discouragement, at stimulating hope of improvement and finally at supporting efforts to make further progress" (p. 149). Further, they argue, in general terms, the techniques can also be understood as increasing both Franks' (1976) sense of "mastery" and Bandura's (1977) sense of "self-efficacy" (p. 150).
  4. ^ Stafrace (2004) characterized Hartland's technique as “the application of hypnosis to the enhancement of self-esteem" (p. 24).
  5. ^ "In my own psychiatric practice some 70% of my patients recover as a result of the "ego-strengthening" technique alone, usually well within Wolberg’s suggested limit of 20 sessions of short-term psychotherapy". (Hartland, 1971c, p. 8)
  6. ^ "Ego strengthening [is] the bedrock upon which [most] other [hypno-analytical] techniques are structured” (McNeal and Frederick, 1993, p. 170).
  7. ^ Yeates (2014a), p.4.
  8. ^ "[Coué] could read Latin, spoke fluent German and English, and had both B.A. and B.Sc. degrees before he was 21" (Yeates, 2016a, p. 6).
  9. ^ Initially apprenticed to an Apothecary in Troyes in 1876, where "he learned to examine and diagnose; prescribe and compound medicines; regulate, control, and operate a chemical laboratory; and promote, market, and sell proprietary medicines and his employer’s concoctions", Coué won a government scholarship in 1879 to the prestigious Collège Sainte-Barbe, graduating, with First Class Honours, top of his class, he then "spent six months as a pharmaceutical intern at Paris’s Necker Hospital", before returning to Troyes to take over the operation of the town's largest Apothecary, where he "constantly interacted with people who were, often, extremely sick, involving consultations, diagnosis and prescription, appraisal of treatment efficacy, deciding next treatment, etc." (Yeates, 2016a, pp. 6-7).
  10. ^ Yeates, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c.
  11. ^ According to David Cheek and Leslie LeCron, "Coué made a study of suggestion and learned much about it and how to use it most effectively. Much of our current knowledge of this subject stems from Coué's observations". (Cheek & LeCron, 1968, p. 60; emphasis added to original)
  12. ^ For the francophone world, see Guillemain (2010), Westphal & Laxenaire (2012), etc.
  13. ^ Yeates (2005), p. 119.
  14. ^ See: Gauld, (1992), pp. 319-324; Carrer (2002).
  15. ^ See: Brown (1851), and Yeates (2005); Braid (1843), Carpenter (1852), Carpenter (1853), Braid (1855, p. 852), and Carpenter (1874); Bramwell (1897a), and Bramwell (1897b); Bernheim (1897), and Bramwell (1898).
  16. ^ Also see Bramwell’s "Points of Difference between Braid and the Nancy School as to Suggestion", at pp. 338-339 of Bramwell (1903).
  17. ^ a b c Yeates, 2016a, p.12; 2016c, pp. 56-57.
  18. ^ By, at least, 1913, Coué was observing that Liébeault had been vague, imprecise, and "lacked method" (Baudouin, 1923, pp.18-21); and, further (in 1926) was remarking that, whilst, "in many cases, [Liébeault] got good effects ... he lacked a theoretically correct method, [and, as a consequence,] worked blindly” (Coué, 1926, p.21).
  19. ^ Orton (1935), pp. 59-69.
  20. ^ Sage (1900a/1900b), Sage (1900c/1900d), (Sage 1907/1902); Sage & Adkin (1900a/1900b); and Neal & Clark (1900a/1900b).
  21. ^ Conroy (2014).
  22. ^ According to Yeates (2016a, p. 13), "The [course] materials were unparalleled in their precision, clarity, and direct relevance to the needs of distance-learning students. Students developed presence, confidence, and authority from its exercises (Sage, 1900a/1900b, pp.8-24), and were guided through a number of efficient, Braid-style, upwards and inwards squint induction techniques and efficacious applications of incremental suggestion."
  23. ^ In 1910, Edward B. Titchener (1910, p. 450) stressed that there’s no a priori difference "between [a] suggestive idea and any other idea" — and that, simply put, a "suggestive idea" can only be classed as "suggestive" retrospectively (i.e., only because it has produced a response).
  24. ^ In his 1906 Harvard lectures, Pierre Janet (1920, pp. 284-285) remarked on the significant difference between the operator making a suggestion, and a subject actually taking the suggestion.
  25. ^ By 1855, Braid's on-going, deliberate, and extended clinical experience of the wider applications of hypnotism and its associated phenomena (ever since his initial discovery of hypnotism in November 1841) had convinced him that, rather than the "communicat[ion of] any surcharge of a magnetic, odylic, electric, or vital fluid or force, from [the operator's] own body to that of the patient", being the "the real and efficient cause of the efficient cause of the phenomena that follow [hypnotization], in [the] altering or modifying physical action, or curing disease", it was that the operator, who was merely "the engineer" (i.e., not the "engine"), "by various modes, exciting, controlling, and directing the vital forces within the patient’s own body", according to the laws which regulate the reciprocal action of mind and matter upon each other, in the present state of our existence."
    From this, he proposed, a "more appropriate ... generic term" for the enterprise in question would be "psycho-physiology" (Braid, 1855, p. 852, emphasis in original).
  26. ^ As observed by Tuckey (1891, pp. 42-46), and described by Bernheim (1889, pp.206-207).
  27. ^ Bernheim (1889), p.207; COICC (I) (1926), p. 22.
  28. ^ a b Heap & Aravind (2001, front matter).
  29. ^ D.T.B. & S.N.T. (1978).
  30. ^ See Hartland's articles (1965, 1967, 1968, 1970a, 1971a, 1971c, and 1972); and, in particular his two text-books (1966, 1971b) — which (collectively), included a wide range of induction, deepening, trance ratification, and de-hypnotizing procedures, and (over and above his "ego-strengthening" monologue) a number of additional condition-specific monologues.
  31. ^ Upshaw (2006).
  32. ^ It was not until the late 1950s that national medical associations began to officially endorse the therapeutic applications of hypnotism by their members; see, for instance: British Medical Association (1955a, 1955b), American Medical Association (1958), and Canadian Medical Association (1958).
  33. ^ Noting that Hartland's "ideas and practices were disseminated worldwide", (Yeates, 2014a, p.4) also observes that, from a disciplinary perspective, "Hartland was both medical practitioner and psychiatrist ([which made] him, in a manner of speaking, doubly legitimate)".
  34. ^ "Psychiatrist denies Peril in Hypnosis, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, (Friday, 22 Oct 1965), p. 15". Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  35. ^ According to Charles Lloyd Tuckey (1891, pp. 43-44), who had visited Liébeault and Bernheim at Nancy, Liébeault's treatment "consisted essentially in directing the [hypnotized] invalid’s attention on the part affected, and suggesting an amelioration or disappearance of the morbid condition and symptoms".
  36. ^ "Prestige suggestions" are those directives/suggestions the persuasiveness of which are derived from the "prestige" of the individual that delivers them; they are not suggestions that are 'prestigious' within themselves.
  37. ^ Yeates, 2014a, p. 7.
  38. ^ Wolberg, 1948a, p. 206.
  39. ^ As Lake (1985, pp.473-475) stresses, Wolberg's notion of a diminished "ego strength" was precisely that: impaired (less robust, less coherent, etc.) in relation to what it was before, for that particular individual; not what it currently is for that individual, compared with that of an average (or ideal) individual; and, as Yeates (2014a, p. 9) observes, "often the impairment was due to factors other than the treated condition: unassociated illness, surgical intervention, physical injury, previous psychotherapy, stressful life events (Holmes and Rahe, 1967), prescribed medication, recreational drugs, etc.".
  40. ^ a b c d Wolberg, 1948a, p. 230.
  41. ^ Based upon Wolberg's theoretical position, that treatments delivered to subjects with stronger "egos" would prove to be more efficacious, Frank Barron developed a rating scale — the Barron Ego Strength Scale (BESS) (Barron, 1953a, 1953b) — that claimed to measure a subject's overall "adaptability" and "personal resourcefulness", and, therefore, according to Barron, provided a measure of predicting those subjects that might benefit from psychotherapy (and, as well, according to Barron, could be considered to be index of "ego-strength") (1953b, pp. 327, 333).
  42. ^ A view also strongly held by Kernberg (1972).
  43. ^ Mindham, R.H.S. & Sims, A.C.P. (2008), "Brian Lake: Formerly Consultant Psychotherapist, Leeds", Psychiatric Bulletin, 32(8), p. 319. doi:10.1192/pb.bp.108.021618
  44. ^ In Hartland (1966, p. xvii), he notes that, rather than being "a complete treatise upon hypnosis", his Medical and Dental Hypnosis and Its Clinical Applications (1966) "is deliberately restricted to a limited field and is based upon a personal experience of some 25 years, much of it gained in general practice and the rest from conducting psychiatric clinics and from lectures and demonstrations given throughout this period". (emphasis added to original).
  45. ^ a b c d Hartland, 1971c, p. 1.
  46. ^ Stoudemire (1995), p. 187.
  47. ^ a b Hartland 1965, p. 190.
  48. ^ According to Barrios (1970), standard psychotherapy in the 1960s, such as Lewis Wolberg’s "short term psychotherapy" and Joseph Wolpe's "behavior therapy", typically involved 20 to 22 sessions.
  49. ^ Hartland, (1971b), pp. xiv, 203.
  50. ^ In similar vein, although he "frequently did brief therapy" (Hammond, 1984, p. 242), Milton Erickson, based upon his "personal experience extending over 25 years with a total of well over 3,500 hypnotic subjects", reported that he routinely engaged his own subjects in "four to eight hours of initial induction training" before commencing any treatment (1952, p. 76). In his 1957 "Ocean Monarch Lectures", Erickson stated that he had "seen patients for as long as 16 consecutive hours"; and, depending on their condition, the frequency of his regular (2-4 hour) consultations ranged from "from once a month to [as many as] seven sessions per week" (Erickson and Rossi, 1981, pp. 18-19). Moreover, in 1974, Erickson stated that, even after "after hours of previous hypnotic training ... [he] rarely [gave] therapeutic suggestions [to his subject] until the trance [had] developed for at least 20 minutes" (Erickson & Rossi, 1974, p. 238).
  51. ^ In doing so, Hartland was following Wolberg's directive: "Hypnoanalysis presupposes the fulfillment of a number of requirements on the part of both the patient and the therapist. The patient must be hypnotizable and must have been trained to reach as deep a trance state as possible. The therapist must understand unconscious dynamisms and must know how to manipulate the hypnotic interpersonal relationship in the interest of therapeutic objectives." (Wolberg, 1945, p. 170, emphasis added)
  52. ^ Hartland (1966), pp. 110-111; Hartland (1971b), pp. 116-117; and Waxman (1989), pp. 151-152.
  53. ^ "Suggestions are carried out very much better where the patient is convinced that hypnosis can have a potent influence on his functions. It may therefore be advisable to delay giving therapeutic suggestions until he achieves as deep a trance as possible, and until he gains confidence in his ability to experience the phenomena suggested to him. ...
    The employment of therapeutic suggestions at a time when the patient is skeptical about his ability to comply, and before he has gained sufficient confidence in himself and in the physician, may end in failure and add discouragement and panic to the patient's difficulties. A deep trance seems to increase therapeutic effectiveness in most patients." (Wolberg, 1948c, p.30)
  54. ^ "Trance ratification refers to the process of providing the patient with a convincer, that is, an experience or experiences that ratify for patients that they have been in an altered state of consciousness. It is interesting that sometimes even highly talented hypnotic subjects do not believe they have been hypnotized until they have a ratifying experience. ... Through eliciting various (ratificatory) hypnotic phenomena, patients may come to realize that they have undiscovered potentials beyond their conscious capacities. This realization increases patients' sense of self-efficacy and confidence that they have the inner resources needed to change (Bandura, 1977)." — Hammond, 1990c, p. 15.
  55. ^ This meant that, "by their first "ego-strengthening" session, Hartland had co-operative, well-trained, highly receptive patients, who had undergone at least three intense sessions of pre-treatment conditioning (1971b, p.xiv), had their hypnotic talent and propensity to respond to suggestion appraised, had a suitable hypnotic induction determined (Hartland had no 'standard' induction), experienced hypnotizing, deepening and de-hypnotizing processes several times (plus suggestions for future responsiveness), and been convinced, by trance ratification, that they were good hypnotic subjects. These [preparatory] sessions addressed concerns about hypnotism (1971b, p. 202), and also increased confidence in Hartland and familiarity with his clinical approach (especially, his manner of speaking)." (Yeates, 2014b, p. 22)
  56. ^ Hartland (1966), p. 190, emphasis added.
  57. ^ Hartland (1971c), pp. 1-2.
  58. ^ Huxley, 1922; Littell, 1923, etc.
  59. ^ Kirk, 1922; Aram, 1923; Baird 1923; Glueck, 1923; Stowe, 1923; Noble, 1924, etc.
  60. ^ Baudouin, 1920; Bennett, 1922; Duckworth, 1922; Kirk, 1922; Macnaghten, 1922; Baudouin, 1923; Brooks, 1923, Brooks & Charles, 1923; Mayo, 1923; Orton, 1935, etc.
  61. ^ See Coué & Orton, 1924; COI, 1926; COIC (I)-(VI), 1926; and Orton, 1935, 1942.
  62. ^ The first version of his monologue was approx. 390 words.
  63. ^ This version of the ego-strengthening monologue is at Hartland (1966), pp.191-193. The 1966, first edition of Medical and Dental Hypnosis was published simultaneously in London, by Baillière, Tindall & Cassell, and in Baltimore, by the Williams and Wilkins Company.
  64. ^ This rather different version of his monologue, with certain aspects of the first missing, was approx. 380 words.
  65. ^ This extended final version of his monologue was approx. 750 words.
  66. ^ This version of the ego-strengthening monologue is at Hartland (1971b), pp.199-203. The 1971, second edition of Medical and Dental Hypnosis was published simultaneously in London, by Baillière Tindall, and in Baltimore, by the Williams and Wilkins Company.
  67. ^ According to McNeal (2020, p.395), Hartland's incremental sequence of suggestions were designed to "reinforce progress and help build self-confidence and self-reliance", enhance "general coping abilities", reduce "anxiety and worries", and develop "a positive self-image", and were specifically directed at "physical strength, alertness, reduced self-consciousness, mental clarity, emotional stability and security, optimism and cheerfulness".
  68. ^ Hartland, 1971c, p. 8.
  69. ^ This is entirely consistent with Wolberg's insistence on an 'individual approach":
    "[In giving suggestions,] it is essential to adapt one’s language to the patient’s intelligence and to his education. Many failures in symptom removal are due to the fact that the patient does not clearly comprehend what the hypnotist is trying to convey to him." (Wolberg, 1948b, p. 3).
  70. ^ For a detailed analysis of the extensive, counterproductive, negatively-expressed language issues within his published transcript — i.e, issues with Hartland's "verbalisation", rather than issues with his overall strategy, embedded principles, and clinical procedure (such as those expressed by Heap (1985), Ross (1985), and Gibson & Heap (1991, pp. 66-67)) — see Yeates (2002) and Yeates (2014b).
  71. ^ In the same vein, stressing the importance of the individual practitioner adapting his [Hartland's] approach to their own circumstances, Hartland observes that, "although I use this scheme [of four preliminary sessions] daily, I do not suggest that it will prove ideal in everybody's hands, or that it should be adopted in its entirety. Anyone who wishes to succeed with hypnosis must formulate his own individual technique through painstaking trial and error, but it is hoped that my experience with this routine may afford some assistance to those who are trying to develop their own particular methods." (Hartland, 1966, p. 111; Hartland, 1971b, p. 117; emphasis added. to original)
  72. ^ Yeates (2014b), pp.32-33; Silber (1980).
  73. ^ APA (2002), p. 1052; as distinct from "practice guidelines" ("recommendations to professionals concerning their conduct and the issues to be considered in particular areas of clinical practice").
  74. ^ a b APA (2002), p. 1053.
  75. ^ Yeates (2014a), p. 14.
  76. ^ See, for instance, Viswanathan (2005), pp. 1-10.
  77. ^ Precise, accurate measurement is never enough: for instance, despite the objective, precise accuracy of their cranioscopic measurements, none of the assertions made by phrenologists — that a cranium's topography (so-measured) was an index of a particular individual's propensities, traits, and faculties, etc. — have ever been substantiated.
  78. ^ a b The principle of the identity of indiscernibles, widely known as Leibniz's Law, tells us that, to the extent that A and B are the same, whatever you observe about A also obtains to B.
  79. ^ ""Ego strength" is not necessarily a homogeneous entity. Certain parts may be strong at the same time that others are weak. Because it depends on the relationship between various functions, its strength can be viewed from two perspectives:
    (a) the degree to which the functions continue to operate when placed under load; and
    (b) the degree to which impaired functions are restored to efficiency" (Yeates, 2014a, p. 9).
  80. ^ See, for instance, Kernberg (1972) for instances of that wide range.
  81. ^ For instance, does the expression "the German teacher" refer to a school’s Berlin-born teacher of Geography, or to its Edinburgh-born teacher of the German language?
  82. ^ Namely, the (mistaken) belief that, "[just] because there are certain words, there must necessarily be certain "things" that correspond to them" (Caldwell, 1990, p. 30).
  83. ^ Yeates (2014a), p. 9.
  84. ^ In his examination of "Self-Esteem, Hypnosis, and Ego-Enhancement", Stafrace (2004, pp.29-30) noted that, despite there being evidence that "high self-esteem [was] associated with adaptive functioning and personal competence", and evidence that there was "an association between low self-esteem and a number of clinical and dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours", the crucial question of whether the significance of "self-esteem [was] as a predisposing, precipitating, or maintaining factor" in these outcomes had never been satisfactorily determined.
  85. ^ According to Viswanathan (2005, pp.5-10), the "conceptual distance" between an abstract concept and its measurement has a direct bearing on the reliability and veracity of that measurement. For instance, the "conceptual distance" between the length of a pencil and the marks on the edge of the steel ruler used to "measure" it is much smaller than, say, the "conceptual distance" between an attitude to an issue and whatever has been chosen to measure it — and, as Viswanathan warns (p. 7), these "larger distances ... have at least two implications, As the distance increases, so, too, do measurement error and the number of different ways in which something can be measured."
  86. ^ a b Gorman (1974, p. 209.
  87. ^ In contrast to experimental situations — wherein operators apply the processes under scrutiny in the same, standard way to all subjects — the operators in therapeutic situations variously apply the processes to their individual subjects, according to the circumstances of the moment, in an intuitive and spontaneous way (van Dyck & Spinhoven, 1994, p.149).
  88. ^ See McNeal (2020) for a comprehensive survey of the wide range of investigations that have been made into the theories, practices, and outcomes of "ego-strengthening" (however that might be understood) according to a wide range of abstract conceptualizations, theoretical definitions, and clinical applications.
  89. ^ The four groups of 10 were: (a) "ego strengthening" suggestions plus hypnosis, (b) hypnosis only, (c) "ego strengthening" suggestions without hypnosis, (d) no treatment (Calnan, 1977, p. 109). Calnan also noted that "those on medication had been stabilised on chemotherapy for some time and no changes in dosage were made during the research" (p. 110).
  90. ^ APA (2002), pp. 1056-1058.
  91. ^ APA (2002), pp. 1056.
  92. ^ a b APA (2002), pp. 1057.
  93. ^ See, for instance, McNeal (2020).

References

  • American Medical Association (1958), "Council on Mental Health: Medical Use of Hypnosis", Journal of the American Medical Association, 168(2), pp. 186-189. doi:10.1001/jama.1958.03000020048010
  • American Psychological Association (2002), "Criteria for Evaluating Treatment Guidelines", American Psychologist, 57(12), pp. 1052–1059. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.57.12.1052 PMID 12617064
  • Aram, G.V. (1923), "Emile Coué and His Method of Healing by Conscious Auto-Suggestion: An Interview with M. Coué", pp. 3-14 in G.V. Aram, E. Towne, & W.E. Towne, The Gist of Coué: Self Healing by Auto-Suggestion, Holyoke, MA: The Elizabeth Towne Company, Inc.
  • Baird, Alice (1923), The Realm of Delight, London: Adlard & Son & West Newman.
  • Ball. T.S. (2006), "Reassessment of Hypnotic Symptom Removal by Freud and Bernheim", International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 54(4), pp. 480-487. doi:10.1080/00207140600856988
  • Bandura, A. (1977), "Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change", Psychological Review, 84(2), pp. 191–215. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
  • Barber, J. (2001), "Freedom from Smoking: Integrating Hypnotic Methods and Rapid Smoking to Facilitate Smoking Cessation", International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 49(3), pp. 257-266. doi:10.1080/00207140108410075
  • Barber, Theodore X. (1990a), "Positive Suggestions for Effective Living", pp. 113–118 in D.C. Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Barber, Theodore X. (1990b), "Suggestions for Raising Self-Esteem", pp. 118–119 in D.C. Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Barrios, A.A. (1970), "Hypnotherapy: A Reappraisal", Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(1), pp. 2-7. doi:10.1037/h0086544
  • Barron, Frank (1953a), "Some Test Correlates of Response to Psychotherapy", Journal of Consulting Psychology, 17(4), pp. 235-241. doi:10.1037/h0062081
  • Barron, Frank (1953b), "An Ego-Strength Scale Which Predicts Response to Psychotherapy", Journal of Consulting Psychology, 17(5), pp. 327-333. doi:10.1037/h0061962
  • Basker, M.A., Anderson, J.D. & Dalton, R. (1978), "Migraine and Hypnotherapy", pp. 239–245 in F.H Frankel & H.S Zamansky (eds), Hypnosis at its Bicentennial: Selected Papers, New York, NY: Plenum Press. ISBN 978-1-4613-2861-2
  • Baudouin, C. (1920) (E. & C. Paul, trans.), Suggestion and Autosuggestion: A Psychological and Pedagogical Study Based on the Investigations made by the New Nancy School, London: George Allen & Unwin.
  • Baudouin, C. (1923), Emile Coué and his Life-Work, New York, NY: American Library Service.
  • Bennett, C. (1994), "Treatment of an Adolescent Boy with Eating Difficulties using Hypnotherapy and Systematic Desensitization", Contemporary Hypnosis, 11(1), pp. 33–36.
  • Bennett, F.S.M. (1922), M. Coué and his Gospel of Health, Chester: Phillipson & Golder.
  • Bernheim, H. (Herter, C.A. trans.) (1889), Suggestive Therapeutics: A Treatise on the Nature and Uses of Hypnotism (De la Suggestion et de son Application à la Thérapeutique, Deuxième édition, 1887), New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
  • Bernheim, H. (1897), "A propos de l'étude sur James Braid par le Dr. Milne Bramwell, et de son rapport lu au Congrès de Bruxelles [With Regard to the Study of James Braid by Dr. Milne Bramwell, and his Report Read to the Congress at Brussels]", Revue de l'Hypnotisme Expérimentale & Thérapeutique, Vol. 12, No. 5, (November 1897), pp. 137–45.
  • Braid, J. (1843), Neurypnology or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep Considered in Relation with Animal Magnetism Illustrated by Numerous Cases of its Successful Application in the Relief and Cure of Disease, London: John Churchill: N.B. Braid's Errata, detailing a number of important corrections that need to be made to the foregoing text, appears on the un-numbered page following p. 265.
  • Braid, J. (1855), "On the Nature and Treatment of Certain Forms of Paralysis", Association Medical Journal, 3(141), pp. 848-855.
  • Bramwell, M. (1897a), "James Braid: son œuvre et ses écrits [James Braid: His Work and Writings]", Revue de l'Hypnotisme Expérimentale & Thérapeutique, Vol. 12, No. 1, (July 1897), pp. 27–30; No. 2, (August 1897), pp. 60–63; (September 1897), pp. 87–91.
  • Bramwell, M. (1897b), "La Valeur Therapeutique de l'Hypnotisme et de la Suggestion [The Therapeutic Value of Hypnotism and Suggestion]", Revue de l'Hypnotisme Expérimentale & Thérapeutique, Vol. 12, No. 5, (November 1897), pp. 129–137.
  • Bramwell, J.M. (1898), "James Braid et la Suggestion: Réponse à M. le Professeur Bernheim (de Nancy) par M. le Dr. Milne-Bramwell (de Londres) [James Braid and Suggestion: A Response to Professor Bernheim (of Nancy) from Dr. Milne-Bramwell (of London)]", Revue de l'Hypnotisme Expérimentale & Thérapeutique, Vol. 12, No. 12, (June 1898), pp. 353–361.
  • Bramwell, J.M. (1903), Hypnotism: Its History, Practice and Theory, London: Grant Richards.
  • British Medical Association. (1955a), "Supplementary Annual Report of Council, 1954-55: Medical Use of Hypnotism", Supplement to the British Medical Journal, (Saturday, 23 April 1955), pp. 190-193. JSTOR 20363379
  • British Medical Association (1955b), “Hypnotism”, British Medical Journal, 1(4920), pp. 1019-1020. JSTOR 20363323
  • Brooks, C.H. (1922), The Practice of Autosuggestion by the Method of Émile Coué (Revised Edition), New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company.
  • Brooks, C.H. & Charles, E. (1923), Christianity and Autosuggestion, New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc.
  • Brown, D.P. & Fromm, E. (1986), Hypnotherapy and Hypnoanalysis, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 978-0-8985-9783-7
  • Brown, T. (1851), Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind (Nineteenth Edition), Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black.
  • Caldwell, F. (1990), "Symptom Substitution: The Reification of Metaphor", The Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis, 11(1), pp. 29-32.
  • Calnan, R.D. (1977), "Hypnotherapeutic Ego Strengthening: A Clinical-Experimental Study with Psychiatric Out-Patients", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 5(2), pp. 105-118.
  • Canadian Medical Association (1958), "Hypnotism and Medicine", Canadian Medical Association Journal, 78(5), pp. 367-368.
  • Carich, P.A. (1990), "Ego Strengthening: Encouragement via Hypnosis", Individual Psychology: Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 46(4), pp. 498–502.
  • Carpenter, W.B. (1852), "On the Influence of Suggestion in Modifying and directing Muscular Movement, independently of Volition", Notices of the Proceedings at the Meetings of the Members of the Royal Institution, London: The Royal Institution of Great Britain, 1, pp. 147–153.
  • Carpenter, W.B. (1853), "Electro-Biology and Mesmerism", The Quarterly Review, 93(186), pp. 501-557.
  • Carpenter, W.B. (1874), "Of Unconscious Cerebration", pp. 515-567 in W.B. Carpenter, Principles of Mental Physiology, with their Applications to the Training and Discipline of the Mind, and the Study of its Morbid Conditions. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
  • Carrer, L. (2002), Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault: The Hypnological Legacy of a Secular Saint, College Station, TX: Virtualbookwork.com. ISBN 978-1-5893-9259-5
  • Cheek, D.B. & LeCron, L.M. (1968), Clinical Hypnotherapy, New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.
  • Clawson, T.A. (1964), "Hypnosis in Medical Practice", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 4(3), pp. 232-236. doi:10.1080/00029157.1964.10402349
  • [COI] Coué-Orton Institute (1926), The Marvels of Couéism, London: Coué-Orton Institute
  • [COICC] Coué-Orton Institute (1926), Correspondence Course, London: Coué-Orton Institute.
    • (I): Coué, E., The World’s Greatest Power, How to Make the Most of It.
    • (II): Coué, E., Conscious Auto-Suggestion in Everyday Life.
    • (III): Coué, E., The Key to Complete Living.
    • (IV): Orton, J.L., Personality: Its Nature, Operation & Development.
    • (V): Coué, E. & Orton, J.L., The Coué-Orton System of Vocal Culture.
    • (VI): Coué, E. & Orton, J.L., Hygienic Therapy.
  • Conroy, M.S. (2014), The Cosmetics Baron You’ve Never Heard Of: E. Virgil Neal and Tokalon (Third Edition), Englewood, CO: Altus History LLC. ISBN 978-0-9826-3142-3
  • Coué, E. (1912), "De la suggestion et de ses applications ('Suggestion and its Applications')", Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire Naturelle et de Palethnologie de la Haute-Marne, 2(1), pp. 25-46.
  • Coué, E. (1922a), La Maîtrise de soi-même par l’autosuggestion consciente: Autrefois de la suggestion et de ses applications ('Mastery of One’s Self through Conscious Autosuggestion: Formerly "Suggestion and its Applications"'), Nancy: E. Coué.
  • Coué, E. (1922b), Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion, New York, NY: American Library Service.
  • Coué, E. (1923a), "Emile Coué’s Own Method of Self-Mastery" (Serial nos. A-3840 and A-3841), New York, NY: Columbia Gramophone Company.
  • Coué, E. (1923b), "La Maîtrise de Soi-Même par L’autosuggestion Consciente" (Serial nos. A-3842 and A-3843), New York, NY: Columbia Gramophone Company
  • Coué, E. (1923c), How to Practise Suggestion and Autosuggestion, New York, NY: American Library Service.
  • Coué, E. (1923d), My Method: Including American Impressions, London: William Heinemann, Ltd.
  • Coué, E. (1926), The World’s Greatest Power, How to Make the Most of It: Coué-Orton Intensive Course, Branch I, London: Coué-Orton Institute.
  • Coué, E. & Orton, J.L. (1924), Conscious Autosuggestion, New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company.
  • Daitch Carolyn (2018), "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, and Hypnosis as Treatment Methods for Generalized Anxiety Disorder", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 61(1), pp. 57-69. doi:10.1080/00029157.2018.1458594
  • Daniel, S. (1999), "The Healthy Patient: Empowering Women in Their Encounters with the Health Care System", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 42(2), pp. 108-114. doi:10.1080/00029157.1999.10701727
  • Darken, R. (1992), "Hypnosis in the Treatment of Survivors of Sexual Abuse", Australian Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 20(2), pp. 105-109.
  • D.T.B. & S.N.T. (1978), "John Heywood Hartland, B.Sc., M.B., B.S. (Obituary)", British Dental Journal, 144(2), p. 56. doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4804028
  • Duckworth, J.H. (1922), Autosuggestion and its Personal Application, New York, NY: The James A. McCann Company.
  • Erickson, M.H. (1952), "Deep Hypnosis and Its Induction", pp. 70-114 in L.M. LeCron (ed.), Experimental Hypnosis: A Symposium of Articles on Research by Many of the World's Leading Authorities, New York, NY: Macmillan.
  • Erickson, M.H. & Rossi, E.L. (1974), "Varieties of Hypnotic Amnesia", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 16(4), pp. 225-239. doi:10.1080/00029157.1974.10403687
  • Erickson, M.H. & Rossi, E.L. (1981), Experiencing Hypnosis: Therapeutic Approaches to Altered States, New York, NY: Irvington Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8290-0246-1
  • Finkelstein, S. (1991), "Hypnotically Assisted Preparation of the Anxious Patient for Medical and Dental Treatment", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 33(3), pp. 187–191. doi:10.1080/00029157.1991.10402928
  • Frank, Jerome D. (1976), "Psychotherapy and the Sense of Mastery", pp. 47-56 in Robert L. Spitzer & Donald F. Klein (eds.), Evaluation of Psychological Therapies: Psychotherapies, Behavior Therapies, Drug Therapies, and their Interactions: Proceedings of the Sixty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Psychopathological Association, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Frederick, C. & McNeal, S. (1999), Inner Strengths: Contemporary Psychotherapy and Hypnosis for Ego-Strengthening, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 978-0-8058-2573-2
  • Freeman, R. M. & Baxby, K. (1982), "Hypnotherapy for Incontinence Caused by the Unstable Detrusor", British Medical Journal, 284(6332), pp. 1831–1834. doi:10.1136/bmj.284.6332.1831
  • Freud, Sigmund (1891/1966), "Hypnosis", pp. 103-114 in J. Strachey (ed. and trans.), The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume I (1886-1899): The Pre-Psycho-Analytic Publications and Unpublished Drafts, London: Hogarth Press.
  • Gafner, G. (2016), "A Case for Ego-Strengthening", Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 41(1), pp. 110-114.
  • Gardner, G.G. (1976), "Hypnosis and Mastery: Clinical Contributions and Directions for Research", The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24(3-4), pp. 202-214. doi:10.1080/00207147608416202
  • Garver, R.B. (1990), "Ego-Strengthening Suggestions", p. 132 in D.C. Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Gauld, Alan (1992), A History of Hypnotism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-5213-0675-1
  • Gibbons D.E. (1979a), "Ego Strengthening", pp. 174–176 in D.E. Gibbons, Applied Hypnosis and Hyperempiria, New York, NY: Plenum Press. ISBN 978-0-3064-0271-5
  • Gibbons D.E. (1979b), "Emotional Enrichment", pp. 176–180 in D.E. Gibbons, Applied Hypnosis and Hyperempiria, New York, NY: Plenum Press. ISBN 978-0-3064-0271-5
  • Gibson, H.B. & Heap, M. (1991), Hypnosis in Therapy, Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 978-0-8637-7155-2
  • Glueck, B. (1923), "New Nancy School", The Psychoanalytic Review, 10, pp. 109-112.
  • Gorman, B.J. (1974), "An Abstract Technique of Ego-Strengthening", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 16(3), pp. 209–211. doi:10.1080/00029157.1974.10403679
  • Gould, S.S. & Tissler, E.M. (1984), "The Use of Hypnosis in the Treatment of Herpes Simplex II", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 26(3), pp. 171–174. doi:10.1080/00029157.1984.10404159
  • Gregg, D.M. (1990), "Cycle of Progress", pp. 150–151 in D.C. Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Guillemain, H. (2010), La Méthode Coué: Histoire d’une Pratique de Guérison au XXe Siècle ('The Coué Method: History of a Twentieth Century Healing Practice'), Paris: Seuil. ISBN 978-2-0209-9342-5
  • Hammond, D. Corydon (1984), "Myths About Erickson and Ericksonian Hypnosis", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 26(4), pp. 236-245. doi:10.1080/00029157.1984.10402571
  • Hammond, D. Corydon (ed.) (1990a), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Hammond, D. Corydon (1990b), "Ego-Strengthening: Enhancing Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Confidence, pp. 109–151 in D. Corydon Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Hammond, D. Corydon (1990c), "Formulating Hypnotic and Posthypnotic Suggestions", pp. 11-44 in D. Corydon Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Hartland, J. (1965), "The Value of "Ego-Strengthening" Procedures Prior to Direct Symptom-Removal under Hypnosis", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 8(2), pp. 89–93. doi:10.1080/00029157.1965.10402470
  • Hartland, J. (1966), Medical and Dental Hypnosis and Its Clinical Applications, London: Baillière, Tindall & Cassell.
  • Hartland, J. (1967), "The General Principles of Suggestion", The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 9(3), pp. 211–219. doi:10.1080/00029157.1967.10402554
  • Hartland, J. (1968), "Education in Hypnosis", The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 11(2), pp. 119-124. doi:10.1080/00029157.1968.10402015
  • Hartland, J. (1970a), "Clinical Applications of Hypnosis in General Practice", Postgraduate Medicine, 48(4), pp. 76–80. doi:10.1080/00325481.1970.11697552
  • Hartland, J. (1970b), "Hypnosis in Dermatology", British Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1(2), pp. 2-7.
  • Hartland, J. (1971a), "The Approach to Hypnotherapy — "Permissive" or Otherwise?", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 13(3), pp.153-154. doi:10.1080/00029157.1971.10402102
  • Hartland, J. (1971b), Medical and Dental Hypnosis and Its Clinical Applications (Second Edition), London: Baillière Tindall.
  • Hartland, J. (1971c), "Further Observations on the Use of "Ego-Strengthening" Techniques", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 14(1), pp. 1–8. doi:10.1080/00029157.1971.10402136
  • Hartland, J. (1972), "The Clinical Application of Hypnosis in Psychologic Illness", Postgraduate Medicine, 51(3), pp. 152–156. doi:10.1080/00325481.1972.11698174
  • Hawkins, P.J. (2006), Hypnosis and Stress: A Guide for Clinicians, Chichester, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. ISBN 978-0-4700-2687-8
  • Heap, M. (1985), "Ego-Strengthening: Further Considerations", pp. 77-80 in M. Heap (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of the British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, London: British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis.
  • Heap, M. & Aravind, K.K. (2001), Hartland’s Medical and Dental Hypnosis, Fourth Edition, Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 978-0-4430-7217-8
  • Herber, Thomas John (2006), The Effects of Hypnotic Ego Strengthening on Self-Esteem, (M.A. Dissertation), College of Education, Washington State University.
  • Holmes, T.H. & Rahe, R.H. (1967), "The Social Readjustment Rating Scale", Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), pp. 213-218. doi:10.1016/0022-3999(67)90010-4 PMID 6059863
  • Hornyak, L.M. (1999), "Empowerment Through Giving Symptoms Voice", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 42(2), pp. 132-139. doi:10.1080/00029157.1999.10701730
  • Hudson, T.J. (1893), The Law of Psychic Phenomena: Systematic Study of Hypnotism, Spiritism, Mental Therapeutics, etc., Chicago, IL: A.C. McClurg & Company.
  • Hudson, T.J. (1900), "The Fundamental Principles of Hypnotism", pp. 140-145 in E.V. Neal & C.S. Clark (eds.), Hypnotism and Hypnotic Suggestion: A Scientific Treatise on the Uses and Possibilities of Hypnotism, Suggestion and Allied Phenomena by Thirty Authors, Rochester, NY: New York State Publishing Co.
  • Hudson, T.J. (1903), The Law of Mental Medicine: The Correlation of the Facts of Psychology and Histology in their Relation to Mental Therapeutics, Chicago, IL: A.C. McClurg & Company.
  • Hutchison, Richard A. (1981), Ego Strengthening Hypnotic Suggestions Versus Specific Hypnotic Suggestions in the Treatment of Obesity, (Ph.D. Dissertation), Department of Psychology, Utah State University.
  • Huxley, J.S. (1922), "M. Coué: Some General Considerations", The Beacon, 1(3), pp. 192-196.
  • Jabush, M. (1976), "Ego Exhilarative Techniques in Hypnotherapy", pp. 330–334 in E. Dengrove (ed.), Hypnosis and Behavior Therapy, Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.ISBN 978-0-3980-3336-1
  • Janet, Pierre (1920), "Lecture XIII: The Hysterical Stigmata—Suggestibility", pp.270-292 in Pierre Janet, The Major Symptoms of Hysteria: Fifteen Lectures Given in the Medical School of Harvard University (Second Edition with New Matter), New York, NY: Macmillan Company.
  • Kernberg, O.F. (1972), "Summary and Conclusions", pp. 181-198 in O. Kernberg, E. Burstein, L. Coyne, A. Appelbaum, L. Horwitz & H. Voth (1972), "Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis: Final Report of the Menninger Foundation’s Psychotherapy Research Project", Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 36(1/2), January 1972, pp. 1-275.
  • Kirk, E.B. (1922), My Pilgrimage to Coué, New York, NY: American Library Service.
  • Lake, B. (1985), "Concept of Ego Strength in Psychotherapy", The British Journal of Psychiatry, 147(5), pp. 471-478. doi:10.1192/bjp.147.5.471
  • Lavertue, N.E., Kumar, V.K. & Pekala, R.J. (2002), "The Effectiveness of a Hypnotic Ego-Strengthening Procedure for Improving Self-Esteem and Depression", Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30(1), pp. 1-23.
  • Linden, J.H. (1999), "Discussion of Symposium Enhancing Healing: The Contributions of Hypnosis to Women's Health Care", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 42(2), pp. 140-144. doi:10.1080/00029157.1999.10701731
  • Littell, R. (1923), "Émile Coué", The New Republic, 33(425), pp. 224-225.
  • Lynch, D.F. (1999), "Empowering the Patient: Hypnosis in the Management of Cancer, Surgical Disease and Chronic Pain", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 42(2), pp. 122-130. doi:10.1080/00029157.1999.10701729
  • Macnaghten, H. (1922), Emile Coué: The Man and His Work, New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company.
  • Mayo, G. (1923), Coué for Children, New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company.
  • McNeal, S. (2007), "Healthy Narcissism and Ego State Therapy", International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 56(1), pp. 19-36. doi:10.1080/00207140701672987
  • McNeal, S. (2020), "Hypnotic Ego-strengthening: Where We’ve Been and the Road Ahead", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 62(4), pp. 392–408. doi:10.1080/00029157.2019.1709151
  • McNeal, S. & Frederick, C. (1993), "Inner Strength and Other Techniques for Ego Strengthening", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 35(3), pp. 170–178. doi:10.1080/00029157.1993.10403001
  • Meares, A. (1960), "The Technique of Suggestive Therapy", pp. 260-271 in A. Meares, A System of Medical Hypnosis, New York, NY: W.B Saunders Company.
  • Milne, Gordon (1994), Hypnosis and the Art of Self-Therapy, Melbourne: Lothian Books. ISBN 978-0-8509-1624-9
  • Moss, D. & Willmarth, E. (2017), "Ego-Strengthening", pp. 535-545 in G.E. Elkins (ed.), Handbook of Medical and Psychological Hypnosis, New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8261-2486-9 doi:10.1891/9780826124876.0058
  • Moss, G.J. & Oakley, D.A. (1997), "Stuttering Modification using Hypnosis: An Experimental Single‐Case Study, Contemporary Hypnosis, 14(2), pp. 126-131.
  • Mutter, K.L. (1999), "Empowering Strategies: The Physician's Point of View", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 42(2), pp. 116-120. doi:10.1080/00029157.1999.10701728
  • Neal, E.V. & Clark, C.S. (eds.) (1900a), Hypnotism and Hypnotic Suggestion: A Scientific Treatise on the Uses and Possibilities of Hypnotism, Suggestion and Allied Phenomena by Thirty Authors, Rochester, NY: New York State Publishing Co.
  • Neal, E.V. & Clark, C.S. (eds.) (1900b), Hypnotisme et suggestion hypnotique. Traité Scientifique sur l’Emploi et les Ressources de l’Hypnotisme, de la Suggestion et des Phénomènes qui les accompagnent, par Trente Auteurs, Rochester, NY: New York State Publishing Co.
  • Neal, E.V. & Clark, C.S. (eds.) (1900c), Hypnotism and Hypnotic Suggestion: A Scientific Treatise on the Uses and Possibilities of Hypnotism, Suggestion and Allied Phenomena by Seven Authors, Rochester, NY: New York State Publishing Co.
  • Newey, Anthony B. (1986), "Ego State Therapy with Depression", pp. 197-203 in Bernie Zilbergeld, M. Gerald Edelstein & Daniel L. Araoz (eds.), Hypnosis: Questions & Answers, New York, NY: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-3937-0018-3
  • Noble, Lady, of Ardkinglas (1924). M. Coué and Auto-Suggestion, Chatham, Kent: Parrett & Neves.
  • Orton, J.L. (1935), Émile Coué: The Man and His Work, London: The Francis Mott Company.
  • Orton, J.L. (1942), Hypnotism Made Practical (Third Edition), London: Thorsons Publishers Limited.
  • Phillips, M. (2001), "Potential Contributions of Hypnosis to Ego-Strengthening Procedures in EMDR", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 43(3-4), pp.247-262. doi:10.1080/00029157.2001.10404280
  • Pratt, G.G., Wood, D.P. & Alman, B.M. (1988), A Clinical Hypnosis Primer (Expanded & Updated), New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-4716-1384-8
  • Rapp, D.R. (1987), ""Better and Better—": Couéism as a Psychological Craze of the Twenties in England", Studies in Popular Culture, 10(2), pp. 17-36. JSTOR 23413989
  • Rose, S. (1967), "A General Practitioner Approach to the Asthmatic Patient", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 10(1), pp. 30–32. doi:10.1080/00029157.1967.10401942
  • Ross, P.J. (1985), "Ego-Strengthening: A Critical View", pp. 74-76 in M. Heap (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of the British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, London: British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis.
  • Sage, X.L. (1899), Hypnotism: As It Is: A Book for Everybody (Second Edition), Rochester, NY: The National Publishing Co.
  • Sage, X.L. (1900a), A Correspondence Course in Personal Magnetism, Hypnotism, Magnetic Healing, Suggestive Therapeutics, Psycho-Therapeutics, Self-Development, Development of the Will, Success-Thought, Etc., Etc, by X. LaMotte Sage. A.M., Ph.D., LL.D. (Revised Edition), Rochester, NY: New York Institute of Science.
  • Sage, X.L. (1900b), Un Cours Par Correspondance Sur Le Magnetisme Personnel, Hypnotisme, Mesmérisme, Calmánt Magnétique, Thérapeutiques Suggestives, Psycho-Therapeutique, Etc, Etc. par by X. LaMotte Sage, A.M., Ph.D., LL.D., Rochester, NY: New York Institute of Science.
  • Sage, X.L. (1900c), A Higher Course in Personal Magnetism, Hypnotism, Suggestive Therapeutics and Magnetic Healing by X. LaMotte Sage, A.M., Ph.D., LL.D., Rochester, NY: New York Institute of Science.
  • Sage, X.L. (1900d), Cours Supérieur Traitant du Magnétisme Personnel, de l'Hypnotisme, de la Thérapeutique Suggestive, et de la Guérison pour le Magnétisme, par X. LaMotte Sage, AM, Ph.D., LL.D., Rochester, NY: New York Institute of Science.
  • Sage, X.L. (1902), Philosophie de l’Influence Personnelle: Traité scientifique sur les usages et possibilités du Magnétisme Personnel, Hypnotisme, Mesmérisme, Thérapeutique Suggestive, Soulagement Magnétique et Phénomènes y ayant rapport: ainsi qu’un chapitre sur la "Manière d’Acquérir la Puissance", Illustré de scènes actuelles d'hypnotisme, Rochester, NY: New York Institute of Science.
  • Sage, X.L. (1907), The Philosophy of Personal Influence: A Scientific Treatise on the Uses and Possibilities of Personal Magnetism, Hypnotism, Mesmerism, Suggestive Therapeutics, Magnetic Healing and Allied Phenomena: Together with a Chapter on "How to Acquire the Power", Rochester, NY: New York Institute of Science.
  • Sage, X.L. & Adkin, T.F. (1900a), Instruction for Entertainments: Scenes in Hypnotism: With Thirty Illustrations Giving Positions and Costumes Worn by the Subjects, Rochester, NY: New York State Publishing Co.
  • Sage, X.L. & Adkin, T.F. (1900b), Scènes d’Hypnotisme et Comment Les Produire, Rochester, NY: New York State Publishing Co.
  • Shenefelt, P.D. (2018), "Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Hypnotherapy and Skin Disorders", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 61(1), pp. 34-44. doi:10.1080/00029157.2017.1419457
  • Silber, S. (1980), "Induction of Hypnosis by Poetic Hypnogram", The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 22(4), pp. 212–216. doi:10.1080/00029157.1980.10403230
  • Slater, R.C. & Flores, L.S. (1963), "Hypnosis in Organic Symptom Removal: A Temporary Removal of an Organic Paralysis by Hypnosis", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 5(4), pp. 248-255. doi:10.1080/00029157.1963.10402303
  • Spiegel, S.B. (1996), "Uses of Hypnosis in the Treatment of Uncontrollable Belching: A Case Report", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 38(4), pp. 263–270. doi:10.1080/00029157.1996.10403350
  • Stafrace, S.P. (2004), "Self-Esteem, Hypnosis, and Ego-Enhancement", Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 32(1), pp. 1-35.
  • Stanton, H.E. (1975), "Ego-Enhancement Through Positive Suggestion", The Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 3(2), pp. 32–36.
  • Stanton, H.E. (1977), "The Utilization of Suggestions Derived From Rational-Emotive Therapy", International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25(1), pp. 18–26. doi:10.1080/00207147708415959
  • Stanton, H.E. (1979), "Increasing Internal Control Through Hypnotic Ego-Enhancement", Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 7(3), pp. 219–223.
  • Stanton, H.E. (1989), "Ego-Enhancement: A Five-Step Approach", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 31(3), pp. 192–198. doi:10.1080/00029157.1989.10402888
  • Stanton, H.E. (1993), "Ego-Enhancement for Positive Change", Australian Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 21(2), 59–64.
  • Stanton, H.E. (1997), "Gurdjieff and Ego-Enhancement: A Powerful Alliance", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 40(1), pp. 376–384. doi:10.1080/00029157.1997.10403406
  • Stowe, L.B. (1923), "The Druggist from Nancy: I. Monsieur Coué at Home", The Outlook, 133(3), pp. 122-123.
  • Stoudemire, A. (1995), "Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Conditions: Summary", pp.187-192 in Alan Stoudemire (ed.), Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Conditions, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. ISBN 978-0-8804-8708-5
  • Susskind, D.J. (1976), "The Idealized Self-Image and the Development of Learned Resourcefulness", pp. 317–329 in E. Dengrove (ed.), Hypnosis and Behavior Therapy, Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.ISBN 978-0-3980-3336-1
  • Titchener, E.B. (1910), A Text-Book of Psychology, New York, NY: The Macmillan Company.
  • Torem, M.S. (1990), "Ego-Strengthening", pp. 110–112 in D.C. Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Torem, M.S. (1995), "A Practical Approach in the Treatment of Self-Inflicted Violence", Journal of Holistic Nursing, 13(1), pp. 37–53. doi:10.1177/089801019501300
  • Tuckey, C.L. (1891), Psycho-Therapeutics; or, Treatment by Hypnotism and Suggestion (Third Edition), London: Baillière Tindall and Cox.
  • Upshaw, W.N. (2006), "Hypnosis: Medicine’s Dirty Word", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 49(2), pp. 113-122. doi:10.1080/00029157.2006.10401563
  • van Dyck, R. & Spinhoven, P. (1994), "Cognitive Change through Hypnosis: The Interface Between Cognitive Therapy and Hypnotherapy", Psychotherapy, 31(1), pp. 146-153. doi:10.1037/0033-3204.31.1.146
  • Vanderlinden, J. & Vandereycken, W. (1994), "The (Limited) Possibilities of Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Obesity", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 36(4), pp.248-257. doi:10.1080/00029157.1994.10403084
  • Viswanathan, M. (2005), "What Is Measurement?", pp.1-95, in Madhu Viswanathan, Measurement Error and Research Design, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1-4129-0642-5
  • Wakeman, R.J. & Kaplan, J.Z. (1978), "An Experimental Study of Hypnosis in Painful Burns", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 21(1), pp. 3–12. doi:10.1080/00029157.1978.10403952
  • Watkins, H.H. (1990), "Suggestions for Raising Self-Esteem", pp. 127–130 in D.C. Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Waxman, D. (1989), Hartland’s Medical and Dental Hypnosis (Third Edition), London: Baillière Tindall. ISBN 978-0-7020-1323-2
  • Weitzenhoffer, A.M. (2002), "Symptom Removal: The Nineteenth Century Experience", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 45(2), pp. 129-136. doi:10.1080/00029157.2002.10403510
  • Weitzenhoffer, A.M. (2004), "Symptom Removal: The Twentieth Century Experience", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 46(3), pp. 229-238. doi:10.1080/00029157.2004.10403602
  • Westphal, C. & Laxenaire, M. (2012), "Émile Coué: Amuseur ou Précurseur?" ('Émile Coué: Entertainer or Forerunner'), Annales Médico-Psychologiques, Revue Psychiatrique, 170 (1), pp. 36-38. doi:10.1016/j.amp.2011.12.001
  • Wilson, S.C. & Barber, T.X. (1990), "An Example of Positive Suggestions for Well-Being", pp. 112–113 in D.C. Hammond (ed.), Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-3937-0095-4
  • Wolberg, L.R. (1945), Hypnoanalysis, New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.
  • Wolberg, L.R. (1948a), Medical Hypnosis (Volume I): The Principles Of Hypnotherapy, New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.
  • Wolberg, L.R. (1948b), Medical Hypnosis (Volume II): The Practice Of Hypnotherapy, New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.
  • Wolberg, L.R. (1948c), "Hypnosis in Symptom Removal", pp. 1-133 in L.R. Wolberg, Medical Hypnosis (Volume II): The Practice of Hypnotherapy, New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.
  • Wolberg, L.R. (1948d), "Hypnosis in Psychobiologic Therapy", pp. 134-304 in L.R. Wolberg, Medical Hypnosis (Volume II): The Practice of Hypnotherapy, New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.
  • Wolberg, L.R. (1948e), "Hypnosis in Psychoanalytic Therapy (Hypnoanalysis)", pp. 305-502 in L.R. Wolberg, Medical Hypnosis (Volume II): The Practice of Hypnotherapy, New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.
  • Yapko, M.D. (2019a), "Where’s the Strength in Ego Strengthening? (Plenary Address: 2019 American Society of Clinical Hypnosis Annual Meeting)", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 61(1–2), p. 426. doi:10.1080/00029157.2019.1583961
  • Yapko, M.D. (2019b), "Letter to the Editor", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 62(1–2), pp. 168–170. doi:10.1080/00029157.2019.1609845
  • Yeates, L.B. (2002), "The "MORE TEST": A Mechanism for Increasing the Efficiency of Suggestion, Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 23(1), pp. 1-17.
  • Yeates, Lindsay B. (2005), An Account of Thomas Brown’s Philosophy of the Human Mind, (unpublished manuscript), School of the History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Yeates, L.B. (2014a), "Hartland’s Legacy (I): The Ego-Strengthening Procedure", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 36(1), pp. 4-18.
  • Yeates, L.B. (2014b), "Hartland’s Legacy (II): The Ego-Strengthening Monologue", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 36(1), pp. 19–36.
  • Yeates, L.B. (2016a), "Émile Coué and his Method (I): The Chemist of Thought and Human Action", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 38(1), pp. 3-27.
  • Yeates, L.B. (2016b), "Émile Coué and his Method (II): Hypnotism, Suggestion, Ego-Strengthening, and Autosuggestion", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 38(1), pp. 28-54.
  • Yeates, L.B. (2016c), "Émile Coué and his Method (III): Every Day in Every Way", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 38(1), pp. 55-79.