Suggestion is the psychological process by which a person guides their own or another person's desired thoughts, feelings, and behaviors by presenting stimuli that may elicit them as reflexes instead of relying on conscious effort.

Nineteenth-century writers on psychology such as William James used the words "suggest" and "suggestion" in the context of a particular idea which was said to suggest another when it brought that other idea to mind. Early scientific studies of hypnosis by Clark Leonard Hull and others extended the meaning of these words in a special and technical sense (Hull, 1933).

The original neuropsychological theory of hypnotic suggestion was based upon the ideomotor reflex response that William B. Carpenter declared, in 1852, was the principle through which James Braid's hypnotic phenomena were produced.

Émile Coué 
Émile Coué (1857–1926) was a significant pioneer in the development of an understanding of the application of therapeutic suggestion; and, according to Cheek and LeCron, most of our current knowledge of suggestion "stems from Coué" (1968, p. 60). With the intention of "saturating the cognitive microenvironment of the mind", Coué's therapeutic method approach was based on four non-controversial principles:
 suggestion can produce somatic phenomena;
 specific suggestions generate specific somatic outcomes;
 suggestions are just as efficacious in the treatment of physical or organic conditions as they are for functional or emotional conditions; and
 a successful suggestion-based intervention for a physical condition does not indicate that the original complaint was in any way imaginary. 

Coué's laws of suggestion. Ideomotor and ideosensory effect (Suggestion and Autosuggestion, Baudouin, c. 1920: 117).
1. The Law of Concentrated AttentionIf spontaneous attention is concentrated on an idea, this tends to become realized.
2. The Law of Auxiliary Emotion, also called the Law of dominant effect When a suggestion is supported by emotion it will become stronger than every other suggestion, given at the same moment.
3. The Law of Reversed Effort If conscious will is in conflict with fantasy, the fantasy will win.
4. The Law of Subconscious Teleology When the goal has been traced out the unconscious will find out how to reach it. To be realized an idea must be unconsciously processed and accepted. The mechanism is the same as in motivation.

Hypnosis

Trance and suggestion
Modern scientific study of hypnosis, which follows the pattern of Hull's work, separates two essential factors: "trance" and suggestion. The state of mind induced by "trance" is said to come about via the process of a hypnotic induction—essentially instructing and suggesting to the subject that they will enter a hypnotic state. Once a subject enters hypnosis, the hypnotist gives suggestions that can produce sought effects. Commonly used suggestions on measures of "suggestibility" or "susceptibility" (or for those with a different theoretical orientation, "hypnotic talent") include suggestions that one's arm is getting lighter and floating up in the air, or that a fly is buzzing around one's head. The "classic" response to an accepted suggestion that one's arm is beginning to float in the air is that the subject perceives the intended effect as happening involuntarily.

Scientific hypnotism
Consistent with the views of Pierre Janet—who noted (1920, pp.284–285) that the critical feature is not the making of a 'suggestion', but, instead, is the taking of the 'suggestion'—Weitzenhoffer (2000, passim), argued that scientific hypnotism centres on the delivery of "suggestions" to hypnotized subjects; and, according to Yeates (2016b, p.35), these suggestions are delivered with the intention of eliciting:
 the further stimulation of partially active mental states and/or physiological processes;
 the awakening of dormant mental states and/or physiological processes;
 the activation of latent mental states and/or physiological processes;
 alterations in existing perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviours; and/or
 entirely new perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviours.

Temporal dimensions
Furthermore, according to Yeates (2016b, pp.35–36), 'suggestions' have four temporal dimensions: 
 pre-hypnotic suggestions, delivered prior to the formal induction;
 suggestions for within-hypnotic influence, to elicit specific within-session outcomes;
 suggestions for post-hypnotic influence, to elicit specific post-session outcomes:
 immediate influence ("and, on leaving here today, you'll…");
 shorter-term influence ("and, each time you're…");
 longer-term influence ("and, as time passes, you'll increasingly…"); or
 specific-moment influence (Bernheim's suggestions à longue échéance, 'suggestions to be realised after a long interval'), which are (i) intended "to produce a particular effect at a designated later hour", (ii) have "no influence before the appointed hour", (iii) nor "after it had expired" (Barrows, 1896, pp.22–23), or
 post-hypnotic suggestions, delivered to dehypnotised-but-not-yet-completely-reoriented subjects.

Waking suggestion
Suggestions, however, can also have an effect in the absence of a hypnosis. These so-called "waking suggestions" are given in precisely the same way as "hypnotic suggestions" (i.e., suggestions given within hypnosis) and can produce strong changes in perceptual experience. Experiments on suggestion, in the absence of hypnosis, were conducted by early researchers such as Hull (1933). More recently, researchers such as Nicholas Spanos and Irving Kirsch have conducted experiments investigating such non-hypnotic-suggestibility and found a strong correlation between people's responses to suggestion both in- and outside hypnosis.

Other forms
In addition to the kinds of suggestion typically delivered by researchers interested in hypnosis there are other forms of suggestibility, though not all are considered interrelated. These include: primary and secondary suggestibility (older terms for non-hypnotic and hypnotic suggestibility respectively), hypnotic suggestibility (i.e., the response to suggestion measured within hypnosis), and interrogative suggestibility (yielding to interrogative questions, and shifting responses when interrogative pressure is applied: see Gudjonsson suggestibility scale. Metaphors and imagery can also be used to deliver suggestion.

See also 

Affirmations
Attitude
Autosuggestion
Autogenic training
Crowd manipulation
Echopraxia
Hypnotic susceptibility
Nancy School
Neuro-linguistic programming
Posthypnotic amnesia
Psychosomatic medicine
The Salpêtrière School of Hypnosis
Self-hypnosis
Subconscious
Suggestibility

Footnotes

References
 Barrows, C.M., "Suggestion Without Hypnotism: An Account of Experiments in Preventing or Suppressing Pain", Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol.12, No.30, (1896), pp.21–44.
  V. M. Bekhterev "Suggestion and its Role in Social Life" with a Preface by José Manuel Jara Italian edition, Psichiatria e Territorio, 2013.
 Cheek, D.B., & LeCron, L.M., Clinical Hypnotherapy, Grune & Stratton (New York), 1968.
 Janet, P., "Lecture XIII: The Hysterical Stigmata—Suggestibility", pp.270–292 in P. Janet, The Major Symptoms of Hysteria: Fifteen Lectures Given in the Medical School of Harvard University, Second Edition with New Matter, Macmillan Company, (New York), 1920.
 
 Weitzenhoffer, A.M., The Practice of Hypnotism (Second Edition), John Wiley & Sons (New York), 2000.
 Yeates, Lindsay B. (2005), An Account of Thomas Brown’s Philosophy of the Human Mind, (unpublished manuscript), School of the History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
 Yeates, L.B., James Braid: Surgeon, Gentleman Scientist, and Hypnotist, Ph.D. Dissertation, School of History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, January 2013.
 Yeates, Lindsay B. (2016a), "Émile Coué and his Method (I): The Chemist of Thought and Human Action", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 38, No.1, (Autumn 2016), pp.3–27.
 Yeates, Lindsay B. (2016b), "Émile Coué and his Method (II): Hypnotism, Suggestion, Ego-Strengthening, and Autosuggestion", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 38, No.1, (Autumn 2016), pp.28–54.
 Yeates, Lindsay B. (2016c), "Émile Coué and his Method (III): Every Day in Every Way", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 38, No.1, (Autumn 2016), pp.55–79.

External links

 , Chautauqua Institution
 The Power of Suggestion: What We Expect Influences Our Behavior, for Better or Worse
 Exploring the science behind hypnosis

Hypnosis
Sentences by type
암시(暗示, suggestion)는 한 사람이 다른 사람의 생각, 감정, 행동을 유도하는 심리학적 과정(paychological process)이다.

윌리엄 제임스(William James) 등 19세기 심리학 저자들은, 특정 개념이 다른 개념을 마음 속에 떠올리게 할 때 또다른 것을 '암시한다(suggest)'고 하는 특정한 개념의 맥락 하에, "suggest"와 "suggestion"이라는 단어를 사용하였다. 최면(hypnosis)에 관한 클라크 레오나드 헐(Clark Leonard Hull) 등의 초기 과학 연구들은 특별한 기법상의 의미에서 이러한 단어의 의미를 확장하였다(Hull, 1933).

에밀 쿠에(1857~1926)는 치료적 암시의 이해와 응용을 개발한 중대한 선구자이다.

최면 암시(hypnotic suggestion)에 관한 신경정신학 이론의 원형은, 1852년 윌리엄 카펜터(William Benjamin Carpenter)가 주장한 바, 외과의사 제임스 브레이드(James Braid)가 최면 현상(hypnotic phenomena)을 만드는 원칙이라고 한 관념운동학적 반사 반응(ideomotor reflex response)에 기반한 것이었다.

에밀 쿠에 
에밀 쿠에(Émile Coué, 1857–1926)는 치료 암시(therapeutic suggestion)를 실상에 적용하는 것에 대한 이해를 확산시키는데 있어 선구자와 같은 인물이다. 칙(Cheek)과 르크론(LeCron) 연구에 의히면, 암시에 관한 현재 지식 대부분은 쿠에에서 기원한다(1968, p.60). 마음의 인지적 미세환경(cognitive microenvironment)을 가득 채우려는 의도로, 쿠에의 치료법은 다음 네 가지 반박 여지가 없는 원칙에 기반하였다.
(1) 암시는 신체 현상(somatic phenomena)을 만들 수 있다.
(2) 특정한 암시는 특정한 신체적 결과물을 낳는다.
(3) 암시는 기능이나 정서 관련 증상에 효과가 있는 만큼, 신체나 장기 관련 증상 치료에도 효과가 있다.
(4) 신체 증상에 대한 암시 치료가 효과가 있다고 해서 애초부터 통증이 상상이었다는 것은 아니다.

최면

트랜스와 암시 
최면(hypnosis)에 대한 현대 과학 연구는 헐의 성과를 바탕으로 하는 바, 트랜스(trance)와 암시 두 요소가 있다. 트랜스를 통해 유도되는 마음 상태(state of mind)는 최면 유도(hypnotic induction) 과정을 통해 발생하게 된다. 최면 유도에서는 주로 피최면자에게 최면 상태로 들어가게 된다고 지시하고 암시한다. 피최면자가 최면에 빠지면 최면가(hypnotist)는 추구 효과(sought effect)를 일으킬 수 있는 암시를 한다. 암시성(suggestibility) 혹은 민감성(susceptibility) 측정을 위한, 혹은 최면 재능(hypnotic talent)이라는 것을 가진 이들을 대상으로 흔히 사용되는 암시로는, 팔이 가벼워 지고 있으며 공중에 떠오르게 돤다는 것 혹은 파리가 머리 주변에 맴돌고 있다는 것이 있다. 팔이 떠오른다는 암시를 받는 피최면자의 흔한 반응은 이러한 효과가 비자발적으로 발생한다고 인식하는 것이다.

과학적 최면주의 
주요 특징은 암시를 만드는 것(making of a suggestion)이 아니라 암시를 받아들이는 것(taking of a suggestion)이라고 한
피에르 자네(Pierre Janet)의 관점(1920, pp.284–285)과 동일선상에서, 안드레 뮐러 바이첸호퍼(André Muller Weitzenhoffer)(2000, passim)는 과학적 최면주의(scientific hypnotism)는 피최면자에게 암시를 전달하는 것에 초점을 맞춰야 한다고 주장하였다. 또한 예이츠(Yeates)의 주장(2016b, p.35)에 의하면, 이런 암시는 유도(eliciting)의 의도를 갖고 전달해야 한다.
(1) 부분적으로 활동성 있는 정신 상태(mental state) 혹은 생리학적 과정(physiological process)에 대한 자극(stimulation)
(2) 휴면 상태의 정신 상태 혹은 생리학적 과정에 대한 각성(awakening)
(3) 잠재된 정신 상태 혹은 생리학적 과정에 대한 활성화(activation)
(4) 기존에 가지고 있던 인지(perceptions), 사고(thoughts), 감정(feelings), 행동(behaviours)의 변화(alteration)
(5) 혹은 완전히 새로운 인지, 사고, 감정, 행동

시간적 측면 
또한, 예이츠의 이론(2016b, pp.35–36)에 의하면 암시는 네가지 시간 측면이 있다.
(1) 전최면 암시(pre-hypnotic suggestion) : 본격적인 유도(induction)에 앞서 주어짐
(2) 최면 영향 중의 암시(suggestions for within-hypnotic influence) : 특정한 회기중 산물(within-session outcome) 유도
(3) 후최면 효과용 암시(suggestions for post-hypnotic influence) : 특정한 회기후 산물(post-session outcome) 유도
(i) 즉각 효과(immediate influence) ("그리고, 오늘 이곳을 떠나자마자 당신은 곧 ...")
(ii) 단기 효과(shorter-term influence) ("그리고, 당신이 ... 할 때마다")
(iii) 장기 효과(longer-term influence)("그리고, 시간이 지나면 당신은 점점 ...")
(iv) 특정순간 효과(specific-moment influence) : 베른하임(Bernheim)이 말한 '장리적인 만기일이 있는 암시(suggestions à longue échéance)', 즉 '긴 시간 이후에 깨게 되는 안시(suggestions to be realised after a long interval)'이다. 이는 (i) 훗날 의도된 시간에 특정 효과를 낳도록 설계되거나 (ii) 지정된 시간 전에는 영향이 없거나 (iii) 기한이 끝난 후에도 효과가 없도록 되어 있다(Barrows, 1896, pp.22–23).
(4) 후최면 암시(post-hypnotic suggestions) : 최면이 끝났지만 아직 평소 상태로 돌아오지 않은 피최면자에게 거는 것

같이 보기 
 태도

참고 자료 
 Yeates, L.B., James Braid: Surgeon, Gentleman Scientist, and Hypnotist, Ph.D. Dissertation, School of History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, January 2013.
 Yeates, Lindsay B. (2016a), "Émile Coué and his Method (I): The Chemist of Thought and Human Action", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 38, No.1, (Autumn 2016), pp.3–27.
 Yeates, Lindsay B. (2016b), "Émile Coué and his Method (II): Hypnotism, Suggestion, Ego-Strengthening, and Autosuggestion", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 38, No.1, (Autumn 2016), pp.28–54.
 Yeates, Lindsay B. (2016c), "Émile Coué and his Method (III): Every Day in Every Way", Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 38, No.1, (Autumn 2016), pp.55–79.

각주

외부 링크 
 , :en:Chautauqua Institution
 The Power of Suggestion: What We Expect Influences Our Behavior, for Better or Worse
 Exploring the science behind hypnosis

최면