Toward convergent inquiry into self-hypnosis

Abstract

From both theoretical and therapeutic perspectives, there is a need to expand and integrate current lines of research into the phenomenon of self-hypnosis and its clinical application. Some issues and research implications are outlined that concern the need to (a) delineate the phenomenon, (b) convergently assess it through behavioral and phenomenological techniques, and (c) investigate the consequences of its private use. Behavioral, experiential, and consequential measures of self-hypnosis are seen as methodologically distinct ways of convergently assessing the phenomenon. The adoption of multiple strategies of inquiry into the nature and function of self-hypnosis may allow a better understanding of it from the respective viewpoints of those who seek to understand, to teach, and to use the technique.