An Interview with André M. Weitzenhofer, Ph.D., Sc.B., Sc.M., M.A.

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis,  Jul 2005  by Yapko, Michael D

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The hypnosis world recently lost one of its giant figures, André Weitzenhoffer. Dr. Weitzenhoffer devoted almost his entire professional life to the study of hypnosis and hypnotic phenomena. While almost everyone in the field is familiar with his many professional contributions, not as many had the privilege of hearing the man speak candidly about his career and personal views. This is a transcript of an interview with André Weitzenhoffer conducted by Michael Yapko in 1988. In it he describes his personal history and how his interest in hypnosis began, how the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales came about, why he feels the Scales are irrelevant in clinical practice, his views on Milton Erickson, and a number of other topics of general interest.

Introduction

One of the most knowledgeable researchers and clinicians to ever study and practice hypnosis was André M. Weitzenhoffer, Ph.D. (1921 - 2005). With a strong "hard science" background in Physics, Engineering, and Physiology, and an insatiable appetite for understanding the nature of hypnosis, Dr. Weitzenhoffer gathered and integrated a broad array of hypnosis literature that eventually became his first book, a 1953 classic called Hypnotism: An Objective Study in Suggestibility. After its completion, Dr. Weitzenhoffer was contacted by Dr. Ernest ("Jack") Hilgard, Ph.D., who initiated a collaborative attempt to establish a hypnosis research laboratory at Stanford University, which the two successfully did. Major effort was put forth by the two to co-develop a scale to measure hypnotic responsiveness, and the result was the Stanford Scales of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Forms A, B and C. These scales are widely considered to provide the best "objective" measure of the elusive trait called "hypnotizability," and so continue to be a backbone of the research wing of the field of hypnosis. Dr. Weitzenhoffer published dozens of scientific articles and frequently lectured nationally and internationally. He had been a strong advocate of the need for scientific rigor in the study of hypnosis, and was most persuasive in arguing for continuing the search for what some researchers consider the "Holy Grail" of hypnosis, namely the definitive proof that a measurable state of hypnosis even exists.

The Stanford lab closed over two decades ago, and Dr. Hilgard has also since passed away. Dr. Weitzenhoffer enjoyed his "retirement" by working almost as hard as ever. He recently published the second edition of his comprehensive text, The Practice of Hypnotism (2000, John Wiley & Sons), a critical and detailed view of the most important issues in the field through Dr. Weitzenhoffer's wise eyes.

On a personal level, Dr. Weitzenhoffer was a significant influence on me; it was a privilege to have known him. He occasionally chided me, sometimes seriously, usually playfully, about what he considered my less than fully disciplined thinking and my "misguided" understandings of hypnosis. There were some things we didn't agree on, but many things we did share similar views on. I will never forget the glow I felt when he honored me by writing the Foreword to the second edition of my hypnosis textbook, Trancework.

His emphasis on precision was untiring and wonderfully self-defining for the brilliant man he was. He always encouraged me to go further in my thinking and writing, and to approach issues more scientifically, serving as an inspiring catalyst for me in ways I never failed to appreciate.

This interview was conducted in 1988 during a meeting of the International Society of Hypnosis in The Hague, Netherlands. Some of it was first published in The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newsletter (vol. 9 #2, Summer, 1989) and is now reprinted in the Journal with courtesy of The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc.

An Interesting Life

MY: What I would like to do is have you provide some biographical information about yourself. Can you provide a brief synopsis of your life?

AW I was born in Paris in 1921 and grew up until I was 17 in France, except for about two years I spent with my grandparents, on my father's side. They lived in Oklahoma. They were farmers. I spent two years with them when I was very small. That is where I learned to speak English. Then I went back to France. My father was American, and my mother was French. She became American by marriage, and I became American simply by being born to an American father. I have two sisters, both of whom were born in France.

Most of my family moved to America in 1939 just after the war broke out. My father remained in Paris for awhile in order to take care of the family business.

I had actually come earlier to the United States, in 1938, to study Engineering. I had gone back to France for the summer of 1939, and that's when the war broke out. So I returned to the United States, as I would have anyway, to continue my studies in Engineering. Eventually, I majored in physics instead.

After I got my bachelor's degree from MIT, I went on to Providence, Rhode Island, to Brown University. It was during the war, and I worked part-time, well, more than part time, on defense projects for the Navy, and started graduate work in mathematics. Eventually, T got a Master's in mathematics, and also got experience with the early forms of computers. Then I went on and got a master's degree in biology. I had the idea I wanted to have a good foundation in all of the basic sciences, and I considered biology to be one of them.