Vol5no2

Vol. 5 No. 2 September, 1984
HYPNOSIS AND RELIGION
David L. Walker D.D.,
Education Centre for Christian Spirituality,
Randwick, New south Wales

ABSTRACT
Religious issues are often central to a presenting problem and need a focus of attention as a part of the therapeutic process. This article reflects on the role of hypnosis in religious matters and the benefits of co-operation between ministers of religion and therapist in a problem solving situation.

INTRODUCTION
Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of hypnosis is that it is most fully appreciated in its application to different areas of human life. In this article, I will attempt to reflect on hypnosis in terms of its use in the area of religion. I approach this task not so much as one very learned in hypnosis, but rather as one well versed in the study of religion and interested in the application of hypnosis to it. It hardly needs saying that official church bodies have not always looked favourably on the use of hypnosis. This could well be that those who use hypnosis have not themselves given it a very acceptable image. If official religious bodies are to take hypnosis more seriously, it is necessary to present it more positively, and especially to show in an enlightened way its application to religious matters.

The purpose of this article is to offer some thoughts for those who are working professionally with people and may find that religious issues emerge that need attention before a client can adequately cope with other issues. It will also suggest that there is a role for the minister of religion in cases of this type. It may not be the minister of religion who works with hypnosis, but his skill may be needed in working with the religious issue.

DISCUSSION
Religion in this article is meant to be taken in a wide sense. Human tradition over the centuries has pointed to an aspect of human existence which it has designated with the words "spiritual" or "religious". Particular religious bodies can be seen as the embodiment of this spiritual character of human life. In this article, my own Christian background may emerge, but, if the tone is Christian, it does not mean to suggest that what is said is limited to those who believe in Jesus Christ. My contributions are, I believe, applicable to other spiritual situations as well. Before proceeding it is necessary to tease out more clearly what is involved in this "spiritual" dimension of human life. As this is just introductory to the main part of the article, I will not do so in great detail. I hope it will suffice to illustrate the points I want to make by two images, taken from significant representatives of those who have been in touch in a special way with this spiritual aspect of human existence.

The first image is taken from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran theologian, who was executed in a concentration camp towards the end of the Second World War.

There is always a danger of intense love destroying what I might call the "polyphony" of life. What I mean is that God requires that we should love him eternally with our whole hearts, yet not so as to compromise or diminish our earthly affections, but as a kind of "cantus firmus" (bass melody) to which the other melodies of life provide the counterpoint. Earthly affection is one of these contrapuntal themes, a theme which enjoys an autonomy of its own ... Both ground bass and counterpoint are without confusion and yet distinct, in the words of the Chalcedonian formula, like Christ in his divine and human natures. Perhaps the importance of polyphony in music lies in the fact that it is a musical reflection of this Christological truth, and that it is therefore an essential element in the Christian life. All this occurred to me after you were here. Can you see what I'm driving at? I wanted to tell you that we must have a good, clear "cantus firmus". Without it there can be no full or perfect sound, but with it the counterpoint has firm support and cannot get out of tune or fade out, yet is always a perfect whole in its own right. Only a polyphony of this kind can give life a wholeness, and at the same time assure us that nothing can go wrong so long as the "cantus firmus" is kept going. Perhaps your leave and the separation which lies ahead will be easier for you to bear. Please do not fear or hate separation if it should come, with all its attendant perils, but pin your faith on the "cantus firmus". (Bonhoeffer, 1959).

Bonhoeffer is suggesting that the love of God is to life what the “cantus firmus” is to polyphony. Just as the "cantus firmus" enables the various melodies of polyphony to exist separately and individually, in unity and harmony. So it is the love of God, the spiritual aspect of human existence, which enables the various aspects of human existence to flourish separately and individually, but in unity and harmony. The point that I want to draw from the image is that it is the spiritual dimension of human existence that is seen as the principle of unity and harmony. I believe that this insight can be found in many religious traditions. If this is true, those who deal professionally with people need to be attentive to this important aspect of their life. If the principle of unity and harmony is inadequate, then this has repercussions for the whole of life.

The second image comes from an Anglican woman, Evelyn Underhill, a person of deep spiritual insight, and a scholar whose insights into this area have been acclaimed by her peers.

"Nothing in all nature is so lovely and so vigorous, so perfectly at home in its environment, as a fish in the sea. Its surroundings give to it a beauty, quality, and power which is not its own. We take it out, and at once a poor, limp dull thing, fit for nothing, is gasping away its life. So the soul sunk in God, living the life of prayer, is supported, filled, transformed in beauty, by a vitality and a power which are not its own. The souls of the saints are so powerful because they are thus utterly immersed in the Spirit: their whole life is a prayer. The life in which they live and move and have their being gives them something of its own quality. As long as they maintain themselves within it, they are adequate to its demands, because they are fed by its gifts. This re-entrance into our origin and acceptance of our true inheritance is the supernatural life of prayer, as it may be experienced by the human soul. Far better to be a shrimp within that ocean than a full-sized theological whale cast upon the shore." (Underhill, 1932).

Another important element of the human tradition relating to the spiritual aspect of human existence is that the divine or the spiritual is an all-pervading presence. Not only is the spiritual seen as an all pervading presence, it is also understood as a source of power which enables the person to enter fully into life. This latter point relates to that which is contained in the image of Bonhoeffer: the spiritual enables the various melodies of life to exist in unity and harmony. It provides the power that is necessary for the person to live a whole life. The recognition that the spiritual is all-pervading means that education in the spiritual is the opening up of the person to his/her environment, and this actually opens up the person to the power of this environment. Just as the fish draws beauty, quality and power from the sea around it, so the human person draws beauty, quality and power from the divine sea, the spiritual environment in which he/she lives.

Even those who are not committed seriously to the development of the spiritual in their lives can acknowledge the power of it in the lives of those who do cultivate it. I have chosen to focus on this all pervading character of the spiritual, and the tremendous power of it, because I want to suggest that as well as being an obvious power for good, it can also, at times, be a power for evil, or rather a misunderstanding of it, or a lack of appreciation of it, can be a power for evil. I have in mind the phenomena, which is not uncommon, on the committed faith person whose religious living finds expression in ways that many people might consider to be inadequate. In the history of the human race many things have been done by good people in the name of religion, things which later generations, even within that very religion, have recognised to be inadequate, and even wrong. It is easy to think of torture and death, but perhaps the worst crimes have been those which have more subtly destroyed the lives of simple people by distorting their whole life through the communication to them of an inadequate, or even wrong, understanding of the spiritual dimension of human existence. It is on this latter point that I wish to focus, because I think that this continues today, and the contribution I wish to make about hypnosis relates to this very situation. It is quite normal for those committed to the spiritual to be part of a community ordered to the same end. Within such communities, or churches as they are sometimes called, insights relating to the spiritual are passed on, and education in the spiritual is offered to members. However, it sometimes happens that within these communities what is communicated as the spiritual may not be enlightened, or, if it is enlightened, the one receiving it does not understand it or receives it in a way that is not true to its real meaning. this means that we can find committed people, people of faith, who live out their faith in a way that could be considered inadequate. This is so because fundamental concepts relating to the spiritual, which affect their whole life, are not adequate, or are wrong. These could be concepts about God, Church, morality, human life etc. So deeply ingrained and so all pervasive and so powerful are these that they can affect the whole life of the person. This is the problem I wish to consider. How do you help people whose life is being deeply affected by inadequate spiritual concepts? Again, in the interests of being able to say something adequate in a brief article, I would like to focus the issues even more clearly.

Sometimes, therapists are confronted with clients who have a particular problem which, at first sight, seems to be open to being treated in a normal way. However, on closer investigation, it emerges that the apparent problem is rooted in a deeper one which is religious. The apparent problem which is real, cannot be treated because it cannot be worked with until the underlying religious issue, which is its real source, is resolved in some way. For example, issues of sexuality can be linked with inadequate religious concepts relating to sex; poor self image can be related to a false religious presentation of the nature of the human person.

There are two points that I want to draw from the images given above.

Firstly, that the positive development of the spiritual dimension of the human person can exercise a powerful influence for good in that person's life. To foster it is to give meaning to life and provide a framework within which a person can enter positively into life. Such positive education is something that we should expect from those who are professional in the area of religion. The second point is that at times the power of the spiritual can be exercised in the life of the individual in a way that makes it a source of tension and worry for that individual. It would be difficult to question the power of the spiritual in the life of the person. When it goes wrong, or is misdirected, when an inadequate or false emphasis is integrated into the life of the person, then there is within that person a tremendous force that does not provide the unity and harmony for life, but rather is a source of stress and tension, which can lead to a life of misery. It can bring people to do things which it is hard for others to understand. In this article, I would like to focus more on this second aspect which I have drawn out.

I recall a remark by a psychiatrist who commented that many breakdowns were caused by sex, religion or parents. Those who work in the area of religion can understand why he included religion in this list. The comment provided me with an approach to the issue that I want to speak about. I decided to choose the examples of sex and parents, and to show that matters relating to them could be complicated by religion. I have found that occasions can arise when a person with a particular human problem relating to sexuality or parents, a problem for which appropriate treatment does exist, cannot be adequately treated because of the presence of a religious or spiritual dimension that so locks in the particular problem that the therapist is not able to handle it because of the presence of the religious or spiritual dimension. It is as if the particular problem of sexuality and parents is set in the cement of religion, and cannot be worked with until it is removed from it. For example, inadequate attitudes to sexuality, rooted in false or inadequate appreciation of the human body or sexuality within life, can and do affect the life of the person. Any treatment that does not take into account the underlying issues cannot have lasting results. In the case of parents, one could mention the case where a child is assaulted or abused by a parent. It happens that the child, even in adulthood, cannot resolve the tension between the personal revulsion for the parent and the tremendous force of a religious precept to respect, love and be obedient to the parent.

What is apparent here is that religion can at times impose a type of behaviour that is beyond the capacity of the individual to achieve. To work with that behaviour to which they aspire could mean attacking the person's false religious idealism, which is the source of the inadequate concepts of the issues involved. The tensions caused by this conflict between the behaviour demanded and the capacity of the person is difficult to handle until the protective shield of religion which surrounds it is removed, or at least reshaped in a more positive way. What has happened here is that a particular inadequate principle of life has come to be given an authority and a power within the person that stems from its relationship to the divine. It is very difficult for a religious person to respond to something in a negative way when it is presented as the divine will: this is the way that God wants it to be, or has ordered it to be. Such an emphasis gives it a tremendous power in the life of the religious person and it is extremely difficult for the therapist to compete with the power of such a force. It must be treated first. It is as if there is a door with two locks, both of which need to be opened before one can enter. A shoulder against the door might force it open and gain access, but it destroys the door in the process. Therapy cannot afford such a forceful approach.

Because the spiritual dimension is related so intimately to the meaning of life, religious ideas often enter very much into the personal identity of people. When one begins to work with them, one is, in a sense, working with the personally constructed world of the individual. Thoughts, attitudes and presuppositions which relate to this sense of identity are much more difficult to work with, and there can be much more resistance in the persons, even unconsciously, because they feel that they are personally under attack.

The force with which the person has been socialised in religious attitudes and presuppositions must also be considered. To take an example, within the Roman Catholic tradition, many people are reared in a committed and practising religious family; educated within a religious environment in Catholic schools, and, to a certain extent, though less today, raised within the context of a Catholic culture which reaches into every aspect of life, and provides a particular orientation and consciousness towards life. Education within such an environment is not necessarily a bad thing and it does succeed in inculcating into the person strong convictions that go very deep. So much so that one can often find people who have publicly rejected their faith, but in fact continues to act out of many of its presuppositions, even though they no longer formally practise it. The point being made here is that when inadequate religious concepts are presented within this context they are often inculcated deeply into the person, and are a powerful force in that person’s life, and can make it very difficult to help the person come to change in their life. In this context, people can know that some of their religious presuppositions are inadequate, but they are unable to change them, and still act out of them, because they are so deeply ingrained. Any assistance offered to help them in this way must be at the request of the persons themselves and with their full knowledge.

I would like to suggest that there is an ethical question here. A therapist could handle this religious situation by simply destroying the person's religious belief altogether. Such an approach, I consider to be like opening the door with two locks with one's shoulder. It is necessary in therapy to be sensitive to the person, and this means respecting the beliefs and presuppositions of that person. To illustrate that from my own experience, one sometimes finds a situation where full time religious people, such as priests, religious brothers and sisters, who seek therapy to help them resolve tensions arising within their religious situation, are advised that if they left their religious congregation the tensions would cease. Yet the person may not wish to do so, or be wise to do so. A lack of appreciation of the value of this way of life on the part of the therapist could well influence his/her recommendation. It sometimes happens that this advice does not help the client, and the tensions remain, because more basic issues were the real reason for the tension. There is always the possibility that therapists can clone i.e. they can impart to their clients their own ideas, attitudes and presuppositions, with the result that they go away with the outlook of the therapist. I doubt the ethical character of such an approach, and believe that we need to facilitate growth in the person within the framework of their choice.

A better approach, I believe, is to work within the framework from which the person is living. This framework can be a powerful influence and, rather than destroy it, in what might be a damaging conflict, it would be better to redirect it, use its power and influence in the best interests of the client. Rather than meet this powerful force head on, it could be wiser to work to redirect into more positive directions. A more enlightened handling of the whole situation could result in a more lasting resolution of the conflicts in the person's life. The substitution of more adequate religious concepts, within the overall religious framework that the person has, can be far more effective than simply destroying a particular inadequate concept.

There is a risk in simply destroying an isolated religious concept on the ground that it is inadequate. We can forget that it is part of a whole system of consciousness, which can, perhaps, be put aside for a short while, but which is powerfully operative in the life of the person, and can in the long run overcome the particular changed concept. Take an example. A person who is in a particular conflict situation because of his/her religious attitude to a particular issue. In the tensions, excitement, or the euphoria of the moment, the person may well be able to overcome the religious attitude and take on a new way of behaving in this situation. However, the rest of the religious system, which has been overcome or anaesthetised for the moment, will reassert itself. Basic concepts of God, authority etc. which for the moment have been able to be put aside will in the long run return to exert their powerful influence, if the religious attitude that has been changed has not been integrated into them. They will reject it as the body rejects a foreign organism. A small force may win an odd battle against overwhelming odds, but in a long drawn out conflict it would normally be overcome. Life can be a long drawn out conflict in these circumstances, so that a particular action which one can justify and live with for the moment, may not be able to be coped with over a long period when the particular influences of the moment are gone, and a long drawn out conflict with other more basic religious values ensues.

This is not to suggest that we should not work with particular religious issues, but rather to assert that we should always recognise that such issues are not isolated, and the resolution of a religious tension in isolation from the religious framework within which it exists can lead to a solution that is at best temporary, and which could well lead the person into a situation of even greater conflict and tension. In matters relating to sexuality and parents, for example, a new more positive and constructive attitude needs to be imparted which is integrated in some way into the overall religious framework of the person. It is not enough that this new attitude be right in itself. It must in some way be related to the religious consciousness of the person, so that it can be accepted and not be the object of later rejection, and, also, so that the power which stems from the religious consciousness can help the person integrate the new religious attitude into life. I believe it is possible to work with the particular inadequate attitude, to sexuality and parents in our example, and to provide a more positive one within the person's overall religious framework.

If this is done successfully, and the religious attitude to the particular issues is successfully enriched or healed, then the person may not need help with the particular behaviour which originally brought the issue to therapy. With a more positive attitude, he/she can then resolve the tension that was created in the particular area. However, this may not always be the case, and I recognise that sufficient damage may have been done to require counselling in the areas of sexuality and parents, even when a more positive religious attitude has been imparted. Nevertheless, the way to such treatment may now be possible.

This substitution, or development, of an appropriate and positive religious framework calls for some appreciation of the spiritual, and of the particular religion within which the person under therapy actually lives. This is not always present in the therapist, even when the therapist may be a member of that same spiritual tradition. A person's competence in therapy may not be matched by his competence and insight into the religious tradition to which he/she belongs. I would like to suggest that the professional minister of religion has a role to play here. There are several reasons why I believe the minister of religion can play a role. Firstly, he should be able to provide a positive orientation in relation to the spiritual tradition which he represents. I do not wish to suggest that this is true of every minister of religion, but in terms of therapy we would hope that the person selected to deal with the issues in question would have sufficient breadth to be able to broaden and adjust the inadequate religious framework that is the source of stress and tension.

Secondly, it is also true that in many cases the minister of religion has a special power and authority for the client that others do not possess. This could be part of the person's religious consciousness. Inbuilt into some religious traditions is a status for the minister of religion that gives to the words and attitudes that he communicates an authority and power which goes beyond what other people have, and which need not be related to the quality of what is said. Therefore, when it comes to reworking the religious framework, adjusting the religious presuppositions, the person's confidence in the minister of religion may be a very significant force in the relationship which can help individuals to accept an adjustment in religious presuppositions; something which they may not accept as easily from a therapist whom they do not associate with their particular religious tradition. I do not wish to suggest that the minister of religion would work in isolation in this context, as in some places the minister of religion is not authorised to work with hypnosis. However, he could well be part of a team in which the ultimate therapy may be done by another person, with the minister of religion simply working on the framework, and perhaps helping to open up the person to the possibility of more traditional treatment. Sometimes, the inadequate framework of religion may have been communicated and imposed by a minister of religion. He therefore may be the best one to correct it. However, in assessing the role a minister of religion could play, it needs also to be recognised that some members of religious traditions react particularly to its ministers, and would see their words as of less significance than those of the therapist. In the cases mentioned above I am presupposing that the person is a committed member of a religious family and would thus be influenced by it in a positive way.

The treatment of the type of issue described here is not uncommon to ministers of religion. He counsels in this area in the ways that other professional people would counsel in their own areas. As a minister of religion, I have become interested in the role of hypnosis in this particular situation. The real essence of the problem so often lies in the person's conscious fixation on the fact that the issue involved must be the way it is because this is the will of God, i.e. that to go against the situation is to go against that principle of unity and harmony in their life which is central to it through their religious conviction. As has been said above, it is extremely difficult, perhaps even impossible, to break through with normal counselling. I am interested in exploring the role of hypnosis in this situation. The principle issue is the overcoming of the block that is established by inadequate religious presuppositions or attitudes. At times, this is so ingrained in people, that, even when they are aware of it, they are not able to rid themselves of it. It is here that I believe hypnosis could be of assistance. It could help the therapist to communicate to the person a more positive appreciation of their religious conviction. If given with their approval and at their request, by one in whom they had confidence as a religious person, and integrated with the religious convictions that they already possess, it could have a tremendous effect on their whole life. I cannot speak here of practical experience in the use of hypnosis in this area, as I am new to the study of it. But I have come to believe that it could play a very significant role in the hands of someone who can work responsibly in the religious area. I would hope that this article might promote reflection on the area, and encourage those who work in religious counselling to take an interest in the role of hypnosis.

If I may return to the maxim mentioned earlier that many breakdowns come from sex, religion and parents, I think it is true to say that the powerful force which religion is in the lives of some people can create such stress and tension that breakdown can be the result. In what I have said I do not wish to suggest any negativity in relation to-the spiritual dimension of life. I am a full-time and committed religious person. However, just as surely as one finds the religious emphasis in human tradition, so one also finds inadequate expression of it which have adversely affected the lives of people. My personal work in the area of spirituality and religion focuses on helping people integrate their religious faith into their life. It is concerned with the dynamics and processes that are involved when a person's religious commitment is applied to and lived out in the ordinary situations of life. Seven years ago, I founded a Centre to provide a forum for research and study in this area. (The Educational Centre for Christian Spirituality, 14 Frances St, Randwick NSW 2031) For the most part, the people that I work with are not in need of therapy. The development of the spiritual dimension of life is a positive step towards enhancing life and finding meaning to it. I work with committed religious people who are interested in bringing about this development in their life. There is a role for hypnosis in this positive education of the spiritual, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I would like to draw together some of the main points of the article. The first was the importance of the spiritual dimension in the lives of religious people and the tremendous power that it can exercise in their life. This power can be for good or evil, and the latter because inadequate and inappropriate religious concepts can lead to a serious distortion in life. At times inadequate religious presuppositions can make extremely difficult the treatment of what seems to be the obvious issue. In these cases, the underlying religious problem needs to be treated before the therapist can gain access to the more obvious issues. It is in helping with these deeply ingrained and inadequate presuppositions, which create a block to more traditional counselling, that hypnosis can play a role. In this context, I believe there is a special role to play for the minister of religion, who can provide new religious attitudes to the particular issue, attitudes which can be integrated into the overall religious consciousness of the client. Hopefully, this article will prompt its readers to reflect on the role of hypnosis in religious matters, and will encourage ministers of religion especially to consider their role. It may also encourage therapists to seek the co-operation of ministers of religion when religious issues are central to therapy.

REFERENCES
Bonhoeffer, D. (1959). Letters and papers from prison. (pp. 99-100). London: Fontana Books, W. Collins Sons & Co.
Underhill, E. (1932). The golden sequence, a four-fold study of the spiritual life. (pp. 173-174). London: Methuen & Co.