CHT Hypnotic Phenomena and Depth of Trance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the term 'hypermnesia' mean in the context of hypnosis?
- Complete inability to form new memories under trance
- Enhanced recall of memories, sometimes of events not consciously remembered (Correct answer)
- A false memory implanted through suggestion
- Amnesia for the post-hypnotic period only
Correct answer: Enhanced recall of memories, sometimes of events not consciously remembered
Hypermnesia refers to an increase in memory recall during or after hypnosis, allowing a subject to access memories with greater detail than normal waking state recall.
Question 2: A 'negative hallucination' in hypnotherapy means the subject is:
- Experiencing unpleasant imagery during trance
- Unable to perceive something that is actually present (Correct answer)
- Seeing objects that do not exist in the environment
- Reporting pain during an otherwise painless procedure
Correct answer: Unable to perceive something that is actually present
A negative hallucination involves the suggestion that a real object or person is not there, causing the hypnotic subject to fail to perceive it — the opposite of a positive hallucination.
Question 3: Time distortion as a hypnotic phenomenon refers to which of the following?
- The subject's inability to track calendar time after hypnosis
- An altered subjective perception of time — either expanded or compressed — during trance (Correct answer)
- A disorientation causing the client to relive traumatic events in real-time
- The therapist using future pacing to alter the client's timeline
Correct answer: An altered subjective perception of time — either expanded or compressed — during trance
Time distortion is a common hypnotic phenomenon where the subjective experience of time differs significantly from clock time — minutes can feel like hours or hours like minutes.
Question 4: In hypnosis, somnambulism refers to which level or state?
- A light trance characterized by physical relaxation only
- The deepest level of hypnosis involving full responsiveness to suggestion including positive hallucinations (Correct answer)
- Sleepwalking triggered by sleep deprivation
- A hypnotic state contraindicated for therapeutic work
Correct answer: The deepest level of hypnosis involving full responsiveness to suggestion including positive hallucinations
Somnambulism in hypnotherapy is the deepest level of trance, at which subjects can experience positive and negative hallucinations, open-eye trance, and profound amnesia.
Question 5: What is 'automatic writing' as a hypnotic technique?
- The therapist scripting suggestions in advance of a session
- A process in which the subject writes responses that emerge from the unconscious without conscious control (Correct answer)
- A rapid induction technique involving handwriting analysis
- A note-taking method used during clinical assessment
Correct answer: A process in which the subject writes responses that emerge from the unconscious without conscious control
Automatic writing is a dissociative hypnotic technique where the subject's hand writes material that arises from unconscious processes, bypassing conscious censorship or deliberate thought.
Question 6: Which best distinguishes hypnotic analgesia from hypnotic anesthesia?
- Analgesia eliminates all sensation; anesthesia reduces pain only
- Analgesia reduces the perception of pain; anesthesia produces a total loss of sensation in the area (Correct answer)
- There is no clinical distinction between the two in hypnotherapy
- Anesthesia is chemical; analgesia is always hypnotic
Correct answer: Analgesia reduces the perception of pain; anesthesia produces a total loss of sensation in the area
Hypnotic analgesia reduces or eliminates the subjective experience of pain while some sensation may remain, whereas hypnotic anesthesia produces complete loss of sensation (including touch) in the targeted area.
Question 7: The LeCron-Bordeaux depth scale includes which of the following as an indicator of deep trance?
- Rapid eye blinking and muscle twitching
- Complete somnambulism with positive and negative hallucinations (Correct answer)
- Mild relaxation and reduced critical factor
- Mild eye heaviness with retained full conscious awareness
Correct answer: Complete somnambulism with positive and negative hallucinations
On the LeCron-Bordeaux scale, the deepest stages include full somnambulism and the capacity for both positive and negative hallucinations, representing the most profound hypnotic depth.
CHT Hypnotic Phenomena and Depth of Trance 2
What does the term 'hypermnesia' mean in the context of hypnosis?