A Brief History of the Combination of Hypnosis with Behavior Therapy

The chapter provides an insight into the development of scientific hypnosis research, which took place parallel to the theories of behavior. Pavlov's new science of conditioning has close connections with hypnosis from its early beginnings. It is quickly recognized that both behavior therapy and hypnosis are effective not only as symptom therapy. As early as the 1970s, scientific studies and publications dealt with the combination of both methods, but still oriented towards symptoms. From this, the modern behaviorist theories for explaining the effects of hypnosis developed. In a short autobiography, the author shows the development of modern hypnosis in Germany, in which he was involved. In particular, the initial resistance in society to hypnosis becomes clear, until he was ultimately able to develop a useful therapy in a short form.