A history of Hypnosis and NLP – Important dates

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Important dates and Figures in the history of Hypnosis and NLP
The list contains the outstanding events and Characters in the development of Hypnosis

DateEvent / Person
2000 to 1000 BCAncient Egyptian sleep temples.
Ancient periodRomans borrow trance healing practices from the Greeks.
1770sFather Gassner treats illness by “casting out demons” while patients are lying prone.
1775Franz Anton Mesmer treats patients with magnets and suggestion.
1784Marquis de Puységur coins the term “somnambulism” for his sleep-like trance.
1815Abbé José Faria develops the “fixed gaze” method of induction.
1837John Elliotson performs major operations using hypnosis in London.
1840sJames Braid coins the term “hypnosis” after the Greek word “hypnos”, meaning sleep.
1864Dr. Liébeault treats patients hypnotically in Nancy, France.
1878Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot experiments with hypnosis and the treatment of symptoms.
1880Dr. Josef Breuer treats Bertha Pappenheim for hysteria and explores repression, conversion and catharsis.
1886Hippolyte Bernheim publishes Suggestive Therapeutics, a classic hypnosis text.
1885 to 1900sSigmund Freud spends time with Charcot in France and is informed by Breuer’s work on catharsis.
1895Breuer and Freud jointly publish Studies on Hysteria.
1900sÉmile Coué develops his “law of reversed effort” and publishes books on autosuggestion.
1900s to nowStage hypnosis rises as an entertainment form in theatres and music halls.
1930s to 1960sDave Elman teaches hypnosis to hundreds of physicians across the United States.
1950sBritish and American medical associations accept hypnosis as a useful method.
1957Noam Chomsky publishes Syntactic Structures, a major work in linguistics.
1960sHypnotherapy gains popularity and is seen by many as a positive aid in treating emotional and behavioural problems.
1977 to nowRichard Bandler and John Grinder develop NLP, influenced by the work of Noam Chomsky, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson.