Nancy School
Encyclopedia
The Nancy School was an early French
suggestion-centred school of psychotherapy
founded in 1866 by Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault
, a follower of the theory of Abbé Faria
, in the city of Nancy.
It is referred to as the Nancy School to distinguish it from the antagonistic Paris School that was centred on the hysteria-centred hypnotic research of Jean-Martin Charcot
at the Salpêtrière Hospital
in Paris.
significantly amplified the efficacy of the suggestions so offered.
Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault delivered a sequence of suggestions in a monotonous but penetrating a tone regarding subjects' health, digestion, circulation, coughing, etc. He had hundreds of cures.
Initially sceptical of Liébeault's theories, methods and clinical results, the French neurologist, Hippolyte Bernheim
eventually joined Liébeault and they conducted a clinic and further research together. In 20 years, they treated over 30,000 patients using suggestions under hypnosis.
to examine their methods and study under them (students included Émile Coué
and Sigmund Freud
).
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
suggestion-centred school of psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
founded in 1866 by Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault
Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault
Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault was a French physician universally acknowledged as the founder of the famous school that became known as the "Nancy School", or the "Suggestion School", and he is considered by many to...
, a follower of the theory of Abbé Faria
Abbé Faria
Abbé Faria , or Abbé José Custódio de Faria, , was a colourful Goan Catholic monk who was one of the pioneers of the scientific study of hypnotism, following on from the work of Franz Anton Mesmer...
, in the city of Nancy.
It is referred to as the Nancy School to distinguish it from the antagonistic Paris School that was centred on the hysteria-centred hypnotic research of Jean-Martin Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He is known as "the founder of modern neurology" and is "associated with at least 15 medical eponyms", including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis...
at the Salpêtrière Hospital
Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital is a teaching hospital located in Paris, France. Part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, it is one of Europe's largest hospitals...
in Paris.
Suggestive therapeutics
Whilst its work centred on the application of what they termed "suggestive therapeutics", they also maintained that hypnosisHypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
significantly amplified the efficacy of the suggestions so offered.
Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault delivered a sequence of suggestions in a monotonous but penetrating a tone regarding subjects' health, digestion, circulation, coughing, etc. He had hundreds of cures.
Initially sceptical of Liébeault's theories, methods and clinical results, the French neurologist, Hippolyte Bernheim
Hippolyte Bernheim
Hippolyte Bernheim was a French physician and neurologist, born at Mülhausen, Alsace. He received his education in his native town and at the University of Strasbourg, where he was graduated as doctor of medicine in 1867...
eventually joined Liébeault and they conducted a clinic and further research together. In 20 years, they treated over 30,000 patients using suggestions under hypnosis.
Influence
People came from all over EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to examine their methods and study under them (students included Émile Coué
Émile Coué
Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie was a French psychologist and pharmacist who introduced a method of psychotherapy and self-improvement based on optimistic autosuggestion....
and Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
).
Œuvres des membres de l'École de Nancy
- Ambroise-Auguste LiébeaultAmbroise-Auguste LiébeaultAmbroise-Auguste Liébeault was a French physician universally acknowledged as the founder of the famous school that became known as the "Nancy School", or the "Suggestion School", and he is considered by many to...
, Du sommeil et des états analogues considérés surtout du point de vue de l'action du moral sur le physique, Paris, Masson, 1866 - Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault, Ébauche de psychologie, 1873
- Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault, Étude du zoomagnétisme, 1883
- Hippolyte BernheimHippolyte BernheimHippolyte Bernheim was a French physician and neurologist, born at Mülhausen, Alsace. He received his education in his native town and at the University of Strasbourg, where he was graduated as doctor of medicine in 1867...
, De la Suggestion dans l'État Hypnotique et dans l'État de Veille, Paris, Doin, 1884, (réed. L'Harmattan, 2004) - Jules Liégeois, « De la suggestion hypnotique dans ses rapports avec le droit civil et le droit criminel », Séances des travaux de l'Académie des sciences morales et politiques, 1884, p.155
- Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault, Confessions d'un médecin hypnotiseur, 1886
- Hippolyte Bernheim, De la Suggestion et de son Application à la Thérapeutique, Paris, 1886 (réed. L'Harmattan, 2005)
- Henri Beaunis, Le Somnambulisme provoqué. Études physiologiques et psychologiques, Paris, Baillière, 1886 (réed. L'Harmattan, 2007)
- Jules Liégeois, La question des suggestions criminelles, ses origines, son état actuel, 1897
- Jules Liégeois, La suggestion et le somnambulisme dans leurs rapports avec la jurisprudence et la médecine légale, 1899
- Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault, Thérapeutique suggestive, 1891
- Hippolyte Bernheim, Hypnotisme, suggestion, psychothérapie, 1891 (réed. Fayard, 1995)
- Hippolyte Bernheim, Le docteur Liébeault et la doctrine de la suggestion, 1907
Contemporary studies
Clark Leonard Hull, Hypnosis and Suggestibility, New York, 1933 Theodore Barber, Hypnosis: A Scientific Approach, 1969- Léon ChertokLéon ChertokLéon Chertok , was a French psychiatrist known for his work on hypnosis and psychosomatic medicine.-Biography:...
, Résurgence de l'hypnose, 1984 - Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen et Léon Chertok, Hypnose et psychanalyse, Dunod, 1987
- Jacqueline Carroy, Hypnose, suggestion et psychologie. L'invention de sujet, Paris, PUF, 1991
- Daniel Bougnoux (Dir.), La suggestion. Hynose, influence, transe, Les empêcheurs de penser en rond, 1991
- François Roustang, Influence, Minuit, 1991
- François Duyckaerts, Joseph Delbœuf philosophe et hypnotiseur, 1992
- Bertrand Méheust, Somnambulisme et médiumnité, Les Empêcheurs de penser en rond, 1999
- Mikkel Borch-JacobsenMikkel Borch-JacobsenMikkel Borch-Jacobsen , is Professor of Comparative Literature and French at the University of Washington in Seattle. Born to Danish parents, he began his studies in France and emigrated to the United States in 1986. He is the author of many works on the history and philosophy of psychiatry,...
, Folies à plusieurs. De l'hystérie à la dépression, 2002 - Isabelle Stengers, L'hypnose entre magie et science, 2002
- Alexandre Klein, "Et Nancy devint la capitale de l'hypnose" http://www.estrepublicain.fr/fr/philosophie/info/5262459-Et-Nancy-devint-capitale-de-l-hypnose
- Alexandre Klein,« Nouveau regard sur l’Ecole hypnologique de Nancy à partir d’archives inédites », Le Pays Lorrain, 2010/4, p. 337-348.
- Alexandre Klein,« “Lire le corps pour percer l’âme” : outils et appareils à l’aube de la psychologie scientifique à Nancy », Guignard, L., Raggi, P., Thévenin, E., (dir.), 2011, Corps et machines à l’âge industriel, Rennes, PUR, p. 41-54.
See also
- History of hypnosisHistory of hypnosisThis article is about the development of concepts, beliefs and practices related to hypnosis and hypnotherapy from prehistoric to modern times.Although often viewed as one continuous history, the term hypnosis only gained widespread use in the 1880s, initially amongst those influenced by the...
- HypnosisHypnosisHypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
- HypnotherapyHypnotherapyHypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....
- Post-hypnotic suggestionPost-hypnotic suggestionA Post-hypnotic suggestion is a behavior or thinking pattern that presumably will manifest after a subject has come out of the so-called "hypnotic state" .According to a psychologist at the University of New South Wales:...
- PsychotherapyPsychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
- SuggestibilitySuggestibilitySuggestibility is the quality of being inclined to accept and act on the suggestions of others.A person experiencing intense emotions tends to be more receptive to ideas and therefore more suggestible. Generally, suggestibility decreases as age increases...
- SuggestionSuggestionSuggestion is the psychological process by which one person guides the thoughts, feelings, or behaviour of another. Nineteenth century writers on psychology such as William James used the words "suggest" and "suggestion" in senses close to those they have in common speech—one idea was said to...
- Subconscious mind