Hypnosis in Fiction

Accounts of hypnosis in novels are often inaccurate. However, here are nine novels in which hypnosis is skillfully described. (Yes, I know I advertise "Seven Best" but I couldn't resist copying all nine from my site where you'll find new entries from time to time).

Blood Memory
by Greg Iles

A masterpiece of suspense and gut-wrenching insight into the sexual abuse of children it is riveting in its plot, admirable in its characterizations and impressive in its accuracy of detail.

What a magnificent imagination Greg Iles enjoys. You'll be amazed at the twists in this mystery as the first-person heroine -- forensic odontologist Catherine Ferry -- struggles with issues of love, abandonment, bipolar disorder and revenge all the while tracking down a serial killer.

Would make a great teaching tool for therapists unfamiliar with the horrific effects of childhood sexual abuse. A clear exposition of the abused child's mechanism of survival -- dissociation -- is followed by an evil psychiatrist claiming that hypnosis to retrieve buried memories of abuse has been largely discredited because "inexperienced clinicians have implanted too many false memories" using hypnosis. He goes on to say he uses whatever works, including hypnosis and EMDR. [Which, of course, is hypnosis by another name]

Iles displays his writing genius as he captures the twin barriers to exposure of child sexual abuse: guilt and secrecy. [See my article about Overcoming Childhood Sexual Abuse ]

The plot unfolds with every detail wrapped up satisfactorily. But this book is definitely not for the squeamish reader. It will make you think of teeth in a whole new way.

What a great talent Greg Iles possesses and how fortunate we are that he writes such marvellous books.

Deliver Us from Evil
by Philip Luber
Fawcett Books.

Here is an excellent mystery written by a forensic psychologist. The story is told from the first person viewpoint of psychiatrist, Dr Harry Kline. While ostensibly a novel about a hit and run crime, this is actually a complex work which delves particularly into the convoluted, often poignant, relationships between fathers and daughters. And everyone's need for love.

Dr Kline, like all the characters in the book, is well-drawn. He displays weaknesses and oversights, as well as strengths. The author is less charitable toward a malpracticing psychologist. In contrast, he portrays a social worker as warm, wise and professional (which, as a former social worker myself, I appreciated).

Characterization of scene matches the vividness of characterization of people. The reader certainly gets to know the Concord, Mass., area. Minor quibbles are that there is too much repetition about men thinking with their penises, too much repetition about the origins of the American Revolution (perhaps as a Brit I'm a mite too sensitive) and the author should have checked whether Bibles are really publicly available in Catholic churches.

The writing is lively. Therapists will delight in the fictional psychiatrist's observations, some of which I have taken the liberty of quoting below. There are acute observations on the so-called False Memory debate, as well as insights into issues such as confidentiality -- and the frailty of therapists who are, after all, human.

To quote Dr Kline: "In my professional life, I encourage people to take risks and talk about what's bothering them. In my personal life, I can be as reluctant as anyone else to face problems head-on."

The butterfly motif (it appears on the cover and is intimately linked to two of the daughters in the text) seems to contain a multitude of meanings, ranging from a flight from, to a branding of, evil.

Tears came to my eyes when I read a moving passage in the book between the hero's daughter, whose mother is dead, and her grieving grandfather.

There's also humor in the book. The exchanges between Dr Kline and his best friend, a lawyer, brought several chuckles. Welcome relief to the serious context surrounding these men who strive to be honorable.

Hypnotic recall of trauma receives a drubbing. Luber certainly makes his points that hypnosis is no truth serum, that memory is malleable and that the human imagination is awesome.

Two quotations from Dr Kline, aka Philip Luber, with which most therapists would agree:

"When you make a decision for a patient, you damage the sense of confidence and independence that you should be helping him build."

"Psychiatrists can't read minds. We study the chemistry of the brain; we give medications to alter it. We listen to our patients' words; we classify them. We observe our patients' behaviors; we codify them. We match their complaints and impairments against esoteric theories of psychological development, and we come up with diagnoses and labels that fool us into thinking we understand that which is, ultimately, incomprehensible by man: the human spirit."
Amen.

The Programs by Greg Hurwitz

Inside a mind-programming cult. Excellent expositions of hypnosis and how it differs to brainwashing.

The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid

Fast becoming one of my favourite writers, Val McDermid has a fine grasp on all things therapeutic. Check the accuracy of a hypnosis session, for instance, on page 304.

The Last Temptation

by Val McDermid

No praise is too high for McDermid's mysteries. Here again she excels in portraying the thinking, drives and weaknesses of men (especially as portrayed by Tony Hill, psychiatrist) in a mystery packed with complexities to satisfy even a jaded mystery-lover. More satisfying accurate descriptions of forensic hypnosis.

Garnet Hill by Denise Mina

A delight for the anti-psychiatrist reader. Unethical behaviour, scandals, abuse. Also determined courage by a betrayed client. Gives a fresh meaning to the so-called False Memory Syndrome.

Blood Trance by R.D. Zimmerman

How's this for an original detective? She's not just female, but blind and paraplegic. Zimmerman's creation of forensic hypnotherapist Maddy who works through her brother and best hypnotic subject, Alex, is unforgettable. Apart from her tendency to ask leading questions, Maddy offers some interesting examples of using hypnosis to solve crimes.

Lost Light by Michael Connelly

For a pretty good (and simple) hypnotic technique check pages 140 - 142. Probably the best book in the series that features detective Harry Bosch.

Fast Forward by Judy Mercer

Several pages of accurate information about hypnosis and psychotherapy are refreshing. Couple that with an intriguing mystery about memory and identity plus an excellent rendition of a hypnotherapy session and you have a novel to delight even the severest critic.