Advancing Research and Practice: The Revised APA Division 30 Definition of Hypnosis

TLDR

The definitions are presented within the article. This article describes the history, rationale, and guidelines for developing a new definition of hypnosis by the Society of Psychological Hypnosis, Division 30 of the American Psychological Association, aiming to be concise, heuristic, and open to alternative mechanism theories. The definition of hypnosis, along with related terms such as hypnotic induction, hypnotizability, and hypnotherapy, is presented, and the definition was crafted to be concise, heuristic, and to accommodate alternative mechanism theories. The implications for advancing research and practice are discussed.

Abstract

This article describes the history, rationale, and guidelines for developing a new definition of hypnosis by the Society of Psychological Hypnosis, Division 30 of the American Psychological Association. The definition was developed with the aim of being concise, being heuristic, and allowing for alternative theories of the mechanisms (to be determined in empirical scientific study). The definition of hypnosis is presented as well as definitions of the following related terms: hypnotic induction, hypnotizability, and hypnotherapy. The implications for advancing research and practice are discussed. The definitions are presented within the article.