ABSTRACT

Reports on the influence of self-suggestion on the human organism in published works have always been confined to case histories. Studies of voluntary influence on the human organism and the therapeutic application of self-suggestion were first carried out by J. Schultz and co-workers. The investigation of different techniques of self-suggestion during the course of the experiments enabled us to construct four basic exercises that made it possible to learn the techniques of self-suggestion and to develop the capacity for voluntary, directed influence on the organism. After adequate training, the students could influence one or another process of their organism, mainly skin temperature, immediately, without submerging into a state of relaxation. Skin temperature changes occurring in the initial stages of self-suggestion training cannot be used to evaluate its influence, particularly in patients, although it can sometimes be taken as a favorable clinical indication for further treatment by directed self-suggestion.