CHT Hypnotic Phenomena and Depth of Trance 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is an ideomotor response in hypnotherapy?
- A verbal report of trance depth
- An involuntary muscle movement triggered by thought or imagination (Correct answer)
- A post-hypnotic cue used to reinforce suggestions
- A relaxation technique used during induction
Correct answer: An involuntary muscle movement triggered by thought or imagination
Ideomotor responses are small, involuntary muscular movements (such as finger signals) that occur in response to thoughts or internal imagery, without conscious deliberate action.
Question 2: Which scale is most widely used by hypnotherapists to measure hypnotic depth or responsiveness?
- The Beck Hypnotic Index
- The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS) (Correct answer)
- The Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale
- The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale
Correct answer: The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS)
The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS), developed by Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard, is the most widely recognized standardized measure of hypnotic responsiveness.
Question 3: In hypnosis, catalepsy refers to which of the following?
- A deep sleep state from which the client cannot be awakened
- Rigid, waxy muscular immobility that can be elicited in a hypnotic subject (Correct answer)
- Rapid eye movement associated with dreaming
- Spontaneous arm levitation during light trance
Correct answer: Rigid, waxy muscular immobility that can be elicited in a hypnotic subject
Catalepsy is a hypnotic phenomenon characterized by muscular rigidity or waxy flexibility, where a limb remains in whatever position it is placed.
Question 4: Arm levitation during hypnotic induction is a classic example of which type of phenomenon?
- Negative hallucination
- Hypermnesia
- Ideomotor phenomenon (Correct answer)
- Post-hypnotic amnesia
Correct answer: Ideomotor phenomenon
Arm levitation is an ideomotor phenomenon where the suggestion of lightness causes the arm to rise involuntarily as a result of unconscious muscular activity driven by mental imagery.
Question 5: Hypnotic amnesia is best described as which of the following?
- The subject's inability to enter trance
- The inability to recall events or suggestions from a hypnotic session (Correct answer)
- Enhanced memory for emotionally charged material
- A dissociative disorder triggered by induction
Correct answer: The inability to recall events or suggestions from a hypnotic session
Hypnotic amnesia refers to the forgetting of hypnotic experiences or suggestions, either occurring spontaneously or as a result of direct suggestion from the hypnotherapist.
Question 6: The Davis-Husband scale is used in hypnotherapy to assess what?
- Client motivation for change
- The degree of hypnotic depth across multiple stages (Correct answer)
- Contraindications for hypnotic intervention
- Therapist competency and certification readiness
Correct answer: The degree of hypnotic depth across multiple stages
The Davis-Husband scale (1931) is a classic hypnotic depth scale that categorizes trance levels from 0 (insusceptible) through deeper stages including somnambulism.
Question 7: Which hypnotic phenomenon involves a subject being unable to open their eyes despite trying, due to direct suggestion?
- Positive hallucination
- Eye catalepsy (Correct answer)
- Hypermnesia
- Sensory dissociation
Correct answer: Eye catalepsy
Eye catalepsy is a classic test suggestion in which the hypnotist suggests the eyelids are sealed shut, and the subject finds they cannot open them despite effort, indicating a responsive hypnotic state.
CHT Hypnotic Phenomena and Depth of Trance 1
What is an ideomotor response in hypnotherapy?