Phenomenological Contributions to Understanding Hypnosis: Review of the Literature

Abstract

This article provides a summary of the available qualitative literature on hypnosis of importance to empirical study of hypnosis. The author advocates a link between phenomenological research and the qualitative research of perceptual theory to deepen an understanding of hypnosis previously missing in the research literature and in debates on the theoretical approaches to hypnosis. The author suggests linking Giorgi's and Wasicsko's research methodologies to advance qualitative research. Researchers could conduct more qualitative research on the experience of hypnosis to expand and explicate subjective experiencing and enhance exploration of individual differences that cannot be captured in artificially controlled environments.