Sydney James Van Pelt

Sydney James Van Pelt (born February 1, 1908 in Melbourne ; † January 7, 1976 ) was an Australian doctor and pioneer of modern hypnotherapy or medical hypnosis and president of the British Society of Medical Hypnotists (for life).

Life

Youth / study time

Sydney James van Pelt grew up as the only child of a wealthy family. He graduated from Sydney Medical School and became the commandant of the Royal Navy . Van Pelt graduated from Melbourne in 1933 . He later founded the British Journal of Medical Hypnotism . In 1952 he was appointed by the British Minister of Health, the Home Office and the National Association of Mental Health to help pass the Hypnotism Bill .

Establishment of medical hypnosis

While serving on an aircraft carrier, he began using medical hypnosis in relation to pilot performance. He realized the enormous potential of hypnosis and was the first full-time hypnosis doctor to open a medical hypnosis practice at 126 Harley Street in London after the war , at a time when people were still suspicious of hypnosis as a treatment method. At the same time he married his wife Bobbie, who became his constant companion and the love of his life.

President of the British Society of Medical Hypnotists

Van Pelt was President of the British Society of Medical Hypnotists, a position he held until his death, and founded the British Journal of Medical Hypnotism in September 1949 and was its Editor-in-Chief from its inception until its publication ended after 17 complete years 1966 was discontinued. The British Journal of Medical Hypnotism was the oldest medical hypnosis journal still in circulation at the time; it was considered the most respected medical journal for hypnosis worldwide and appeared in over 150 major medical libraries. The magazine also outlived the longest running publication of its kind: Zoist , a medical journal on hypnosis published by John Elliotson since the late 19th century.

As the world's first modern full-time medical hypnotist, Van Pelt managed to give medical hypnosis a good reputation at a time when the rest of the world was very suspicious of the new method. Van Pelt was largely responsible for the UK's banning of show hypnosis and the British Medical Association's acceptance of medical hypnosis in 1955. It was this acceptance that led the American Medical Association to conduct a three-year study on behalf of the Council on Mental Health , which led to his method being recognized by the American Medical Association in 1958.

Van Pelt has been a visiting professor at the American Institute of Hypnosis on several occasions , including the first international course in medical hypnosis in November 1959 aboard the MS Kungsholm , a Caribbean cruise ship, at an international conference in Hawaii and on various occasions in Europe.

Private and final

Van Pelt was friends with William J. Bryan Junior , who often visited him on his estate in Maidenhead on the Thames. In the last few years of his life, Van Pelt moved out of his Harley Street practice in London and spent his time reading scientific literature on hypnosis, giving guest lectures and hobbies: boating on the Thames and with his dogs. At that time he also developed a roulette game based on hypnosis.

Van Pelt died of an embolism on January 7, 1976, leaving no relatives. By this time Van Pelt had written more scientific articles on hypnosis than any other doctor in the world.

plant

Sydney James Van Pelt is recognized as the leading authority on medical hypnosis worldwide. Among his most famous articles are three "editorials" about

• Hypnosis and space travel from 1955,
• Hypnosis Concerning the Brain Barrier from 1956, and
• the role of hypnotic suggestion in the etiology and treatment of psychoneurotic and psychosomatic disorders (lecture at the Fourth International Psychiatric Congress in Barcelona 1958).

Van Pelt also wrote articles on new clinical pictures which he identified and described (such as the slipped personality ). He wrote about the connection between hypnosis and panic , about the treatment of anxiety neuroses and travel anxiety . Some of his lectures were groundbreaking in understanding the relationship between hypnotic suggestion and fear, as well as in understanding hobophobia . Van Pelt was a master of conciseness .

Van Pelt was a member of the British Medical Association .

Fonts (selection)

• Hypnotism and the power within ; Wehman Bros, 1951 ( preface or excerpts )
• How to conquer nerves ; Roy Publishers, 1954
• Hypnotic suggestion, its role in psychoneurotic and psychosomatic disorders: A thesis ; Philosophical Library, 1956
• Medical hypnosis handbook ; Wilshire Book Company, 1965
• Secrets of Hypnotism ; Wilshire Book Company, 1974; ISBN 0-87980-135-2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lectuur-repertorium: 1952–1966 Supplement bij de Tweede Uitgave. Vol. 3. Algemeen Secretariaat voor Katholieke Poekerijen, Antwerp 1970.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 17, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} HELEN BOYLE. In: British medical journal. Volume 2, Number 5056, November 1957, pp. 1310-1312, PMID 13479708 , PMC 1963203 (free full text).
4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.