The rationale for the use of hypnosis in medical practice is the beneficial effect of restriction of the patient’s attention to those items of behavior and function pertinent to his well-being. To clarify by an example, lay a wooden plank 25 feet long and 20 inches across on the level ground. Anybody in a state of ordinary, conscious awareness can walk that 25 feet easily. But place that same plank at an elevation of 200 feet in the air and the problem of walking its length becomes greatly changed for the person, even though the actual task is unchanged.

In the ordinary state of conscious awareness performance is too often limited by considerations which may actually be unrelated to the task. Walking that wooden plank with transparent flooring on both sides, but the ground plainly visible 200 feet below, would still remain a nerve-racking task for many persons who could do it easily on the ground. Ideas, understandings, beliefs, wishes, hopes and fears can all impinge easily upon a performance in the state of ordinary, conscious awareness-disrupting and distorting even those goals which may have been singly desired. But in a state of hypnosis the field of conscious awareness is limited and tends to be restricted to exactly pertinent matters, other considerations being irrelevant.

To cite another illustration, a badly burned patient is in desperation for pain relief. He does not want to be presented with ideas and suggestions about his pain. He is not interested in taking fluids and food. He has no appetite as a result of his suffering. He cannot sleep because of pain, fear, and anxiety about the outcome of his condition. Under hypnosis, by contrast, the badly burned patient is open to suggestion. He is as ready to accept suggestions of hypnotic anesthesia and analgesia as he would be to accept morphine. He is also ready to accept suggestions of thirst and hunger and to respond readily to them, something that would be impeded by drug administration, as would likewise the elimination of toxins be retarded by medication for pain. Further, he enjoys natural, physiological sleep rather than a narcotic sleep.