as an "observer." The exact situation happens when the stage
hypnotist is hypnotizing subjects on the stage. Many times a person in
the audience who had no intention of becoming hypnotized becomes
influenced in the same manner. Incidentally, these individuals make the
best subjects.

There are interesting theories as to why a subject responds or does not
respond to hypnosis. I think the reader would find some of these
theories interesting and perhaps gain some insight into his own hypnotic
behavior. These theories are based primarily on a psychoanalytical
approach to hypnosis.

The most prevalent theory is that the hypnotist represents either the
father image (paternal or fear hypnosis) or the mother image (maternal
or love hypnosis). The father usually represents an authoritarian
figure. The subject's identification can be on a conscious or
subconscious level. Let us suppose the subject has ambivalent feelings
toward his father. Because of this, he may not respond. Here is an
opportunity to frustrate the authoritative (father) figure. The only
trouble with this theory is that if there is an excellent relationship
between the father and subject, it doesn't necessarily mean that the
subject will respond easily. The stage hypnotist invariably uses a
strong, authoritative approach with a great deal of success, but this
approach generally does not work best in private practice.

I have found that for the majority of subjects the maternal approach
works best. Perhaps the process of hypnosis awakens early unconscious
memories of being put to sleep as a child. Some techniques that are used
in hypnosis are quite similar to this. The subject, who is lying down,
is told to close his eyes and is spoken to in a quiet, reassuring,
monotonous tone of voice. The hypnotist is seated near him. The
hypnotist even uses the same words that the subject has heard as a
child: "Sleep. Go to sleep. When you awaken, you'll feel wonderfully
well." In fact, I use some special music that I had recorded for
inducing hypnosis. The first musical selection is Brahms' "Lullaby."
Children's music boxes invariably contain this selection, and the melody
cannot help but activate a pleasant nostalgia. It is a memory associated
with love and tenderness. This brings us to the fact that hypnosis may
offer the subject a chance to escape from the reality of pressing
problems into a state of complete irresponsibility. In fact, one theory
of hypnosis equates th