Rapid induction of hypnosis by finger elongation: A brief communication

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Oct 2006 by Wickramasekera, Ian II

Eitner, S., Wichmann, M., Schlegal, A., & Holst, S. (2006). Rapid induction of hypnosis by finger elongation: A brief communication. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 54(3), 245-261. This article describes a novel hypnotic induction procedure in which participants are encouraged to imagine that their fingers are growing in length.

The authors have previously used this finger elongation induction within several different clinical interventions and wanted to test whether the procedure actually resulted in measurable increases in finger length beyond the participants' phenomenological perception of their fingers growing. Sixteen participants volunteered for this pilot study in which relative and absolute measures of finger length were taken during a five phase experimental protocol. The measured finger length did increase significantly during the hypnosis condition. The authors speculate that the measured finger elongation may have occurred as a result of increased relaxation of the muscles, joints, and tendons during the hypnosis condition although they recommend that further investigation is needed to understand the phenomena. Address for reprints: Dr. S. Eitner, Department of Prosthodontics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. Email address for reprints: seitner@prothetik-erlangen.de.