ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the subjective experience of hypnosis, and how research into the phenomenology of hypnosis may inform clinical applications. Phenomenology is the study of subjective experience. Hypnosis is a highly subjective experience, for it is highly personal and no two people experience hypnosis in exactly the same way. Much of the research in the field of hypnosis tends to focus on the behavior of the hypnotized person, or the measurable brain changes of the hypnotized person. The recognition that simply observing hypnotic behavior is quite limited in its ability to reveal the qualities of subjective experience has prompted researchers to develop instruments for the specific purpose of getting phenomenological information. Ernest Hilgard’s neo dissociation model of hypnosis conceptualizes hypnosis as a relaxation of or decreased reliance on the executive cognitive functions. The “executive ego,” or “central control structure,” is tasked with planning and monitoring various functions of the personality, including the various cognitive subsystems subservient to the executive ego.
