Drs. Anne Korsen, medical psychologist, licensed psychotherapist and health care psychologist, chairman of the Committee on Education and Training, Nvvh
Drs. Ton Wilken, social psychologist, licensed health care psychologist, co-ordinator of the advanced training program, Nvvh
Abstract: The foundation and history of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Hypnose (Netherlands Society of Hypnosis or Nvvh) are described. The year 2006 marks the 75th anniversary of the Nvvh's creation. The article describes the accomplishments, leadership, and philosophy of the Society across the decades. Current professional and training directions are discussed.
In light of our formal affiliation with the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, and by special invitation of the Editor, we here describe the history of the history of our Society: Nederlandse Vereniging voor Hypnose (Nvvh). Those who are interested in a more detailed account of the history of hypnosis in The Netherlands would be well advised to read the article of van der Hart, Spinhoven, Vermetten, & Vanderlinden. (1998). The history of the Nvvh began in 1931 when the founders affiliated themselves in a Society for physicians and Dentists. The founders were mainly psychiatrists, neurologists and dentists who were using hypnosis in their practice and research. For a long time the Society was little more than an interest group for enthusiasts. In those days there was not an official office and most of the meetings were held at one of the member's home.
The first president of the Society was Berthold Stokvis who for the first 35 years in large part directed the Society’s activities. He gave the first training courses in clinical hypnosis to groups of medical students. In 1955 the Society consisted of 51 members, of whom 6 were psychiatrists.
In 1965 the psychiatrist Wybe Vietor, together with the psychiatrist Harm Kloos and the dentist Dick Coster, resurrected the Netherlands Society of Medical Hypnosis. In the beginning psychologists were not allowed to join the Society because of a law enacted in 1892, which limited the practice of hypnosis to the medical profession. However, in the 1970s it became possible for psychologists to affiliate with the Society. J.T. Barendrecht, who at that time was Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Amsterdam, exercised a great deal of influence in this decision to include psychologists. This development, in 1973, led to a change in the name of the Society to Nederlandse Vereniging voor Hypnotherapie (Netherlands Society of Hypnotherapy). This title was retained until recently. In 1974 the Society was given a Royal approval by the Queen and officially was named: Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Hypnotherapie (the Royal Netherlands Society of Hypnotherapy).
Twenty years later again the question was raised as to whether other professional disciplines could be admitted as members. Although this development is going at a slow pace, since 1995 it became possible for health care workers, like social workers, social psychiatric nurses, and dental hygienists to become members by undergoing specialised training programmes. At the same time the name of the Society, after prolonged discussion, was changed again, to what it is now, the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Hypnose ( Netherlands Society of Hypnosis ). Under the presidency of Richard Van Dyck (1978-1984) an excellent training program was developed. Initially, invited colleagues associated with Milton Erickson, did all the teaching and training. Later this function was handled over to local colleagues.
At the moment there are four divisions of the Society, each with its own membership training requirements. The four divisions are psychotherapy (BP), dentistry (BT), medicine (BG) and health care (BSO). Training is provided on two levels. In 1979 the basic training programme was implemented. This now consists of 28 hours of training, in small groups of 12 participants, focusing on the basics of working with hypnosis: standard induction techniques, hypnotic phenomena, and forms of suggestion. The emphasis in the basic training is on practicing technique..
To make this possible we give our students the 'Dutch treat'. They must read a solid hypnosis textbook and pass a written examination. Then the focus of training moves to hands-on practising instead of lecturing. Further, participants are required to read about 80 pages before each separate day of the training programme. The 28 hours of training usually takes place in a period of several months, with practice sessions and homework assignments interspersed. During this period, participants are advised to use hypnosis only in the therapeutic domains with which they are already familiar (e.g. in relaxation or guided fantasy techniques). The health care division is the only division that has an integrated basic and advanced training programme, consisting of 56 hours (8 days) in total, over about a one year period.
While the basic training programme is the same for all other divisions, and can be given to groups of mixed professionals, the advanced training programme (since its inception in 1981) is differentiated: Psychotherapists do 104 hours of training (16 workshop-days over a two-year period), dentists have 56 hours (8 days), as do physicians. For every professional group the training addresses the specific complaints / problem behaviours / symptoms amenable to hypnosis and the hypnotic techniques / interventions useful for the specific treatment setting, in addition to more general guidelines for treatment planning.
The psychotherapists (including psychologists and psychiatrists) receive the most extensive training. Generally speaking, half of the workshops are oriented around methods of intervention (e.g. metaphors and ego states), the other half around complaints and diagnostic categories (e.g. phobias and dissociative disorders).
In addition to the divisional training programs, clinical supervision is required to become full members. For psychotherapists 20 clinical hours of supervised work is required, for medical doctors and health care workers 10 sessions is required; while dentists need to do 7 hours of supervised practice. In addition the candidate must write a paper describing at least on case intensively.
In 1984 the Nvvh became affiliated to the International Society of Hypnosis, and a little later to the European Society of Hypnosis in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine (ESH).
The Society organised and hosted an international congress on hypnosis twice. The first time was the 11th International Congress of Hypnosis, held in The Hague in 1988, which was an international breakthrough for the Society. The second time was the 8th European Congress on Hypnosis in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, held in Amsterdam/Noordwijkerhout in 1999. The international orientation is also reflected in the fact that three consecutive presidents of the Society, Richard van Dyck, Kees Hoogduin and Erik Hoencamp, were on the ISH and ESH Boards. Several members gained national and international recognition as a result of their activities in the field of hypnosis, either through their therapeutic work or through publications in professional journals.
In 1991 the Society celebrated its 60th anniversary with a highly successful conference on Trauma Soma and Hypnosis, with guest speakers including David Spiegel and Bessel van der Kolk. On this occasion Erika Fromm was made an honorary member. In 1999 the Society formally adopted the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis as its Journal. Prior to that time the Society published a quarterly journal of its own. In the year 2000 Erika Fromm was again honored by the Society in a joint meeting with the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. On this occasion Dr. Fromm responded formally to the Society, and Michael Nash presented some recent findings on the empirical efficacy of hyponsis (e.g. Lynn, Kirsch, I., Barabasz, Cardeña, Patterson, 2000; Montgomery, DuHamel, & Redd , 2000). The Society organises conferences and seminars regularly, sometimes in a joint event with other professional societies. In addition, there are several regional study and peer supervision groups throughout the country.
In sum, the Society began as a small interest group over 60 years ago, and has matured in concert with the field of hypnosis to a membership of over 650 professionals. We take some pride in our history, and our ongoing participation with clinical and scientific hypnosis world-wide.
In ealry 2007 we have celebrated our 75th anniversary!
References:
Lynn, S. J., Kirsch, I., Barabasz, A., Cardeña, E., Patterson, D. (2000).
Hypnosis as an empirically supported clinical intervention: The state of the evidence and a look into the future. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 48, 239-259.
Montgomery, G. H., DuHamel, K. N., & Redd, W. H. (2000).
A meta-analysis of hypnotically induced analgesia: How effective is hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 48, 138-153.
Van der Hart, O., Spinhoven, Ph., Vermetten, E. & Vanderlinden, J. (1998).
Hypnosis in The Netherlands and Belgium. In P. Hawkins & M. Heap (eds), Hypnosis in Europe (pp. 141-157). Whurr Publishers, London.
Past Presidents
1931- B. Stokvis, MD
1965-1970 W Vietor, MD
1970-1978 H. Kloos, MD
1978-1984 R. Van Dyck, MD, Ph.D.
1984-1986 C. Hoogduin, MD, Ph.D.
1986-1989 E. Hoencamp, MD, Ph.D.
1989-1992 O. Van der Hart, Ph.D.
1992-1997 J. Verlinden, MPD
1997- 2001 H. de Berk, MD, Ph.D
2002- 2007 E. Vermetten, MD, PhD.
2007 - A Korsen, MSc