Controversy

[braindev]

When I studied the subject I was amazed at how many people do not consider hypnosis to be a reliable form of getting information or understanding an individual. Growing up I had seen it in television shows and had just accepted it as legitimate, however there seems to be some controversy with it. Apparently you can lead the patient to say what you want, or coax them to act the way you believe they will. Therefore the results will be skewed and could be inaccurate.

[shreyasvista]

Yes...

Thats what is happening in major cases involving BIG guys..
In India there was a huge dispute regarding a similar police case where the culprit was a son of a politician and the witness's hypnosis was forged similar to this and it lead to a huge contoversy..

[freud]

I like the idea of hypnosis, but psychologists are trained professionals and should be capable of administering  hypnosis without allowing for their own ideas to have an affect on the process. That is what they are trained and paid to do. Therefore I do not see anything wrong with it. It gets the job done after all.

[SWM]

because hypnosis has not been properly accepted my medical science yet, hypnosis has become a bit of a back street treament.
in the 50's and 60's when todays top hypnotherpists where training they had to learn from stage hypnotists. currently in the UK the only work you would find in the National Health Service with hypnosis skills is for pain management in palliative care. this is a great diservice to a very ancient psychological art.

the mind can be influenced very easily by people who have not been trained properly and even more easily by those who have.

[freud]

Hypnosis has been proven to be quite effective at getting one to open up in regards to suppressed memories and so on. I feel that because of this, hypnosis should be taken from the back burner and applied in this science even today. All means should be taken to help out a patient who has come to you for that very thing.

[Vicenzo]

I strongly agree that hypnosis is something of a back street treatment. It can't be considered a medical science yet since the application is not widely used.

[jamesjames]

hypnosis opens up someone to suggestion. that's what defines hypnotism: the social interaction of suggestion that certain actions, perceptions, behaviors, or feelings will occur. how can it be expected to get any better information out of somebody?

[voodoo scientist]

Because it is actually your information, and thus no new information is obtained.

Hypnosis is very useful for giving out information because people are very suggestible during hypnosis, but almost worthless as a tool for getting unbiased information for the same reason. I don't understand why anyone would assume that a state of mind where someone is more suggestible would make them more likely to tell the truth, since environmental factors are what make us lie, including to ourselves, in the first place.

[sure]

even secret service prescripes hypnosis.