(2017-11-29, 06:47 PM)Chris Wrote: I'm just curious about the statement that the results go way beyond the possible effects of suggestion, because very strong claims are made for the efficacy of hypnotic suggestion, including cures which don't seem explicable in conventional terms. I wonder whether it's possible that this man's technique has a lot in common with hypnotic suggestion.
I've watched several episodes of his show (The Healer), and the procedure is very quick and informal, with no hypnotic suggestions or induction technique, and the patient isn't placed in any sort of altered consciousness. Of course the very situation amounts to suggestion as far as the patient is concerned, but the relief of pain is usually instant, after just a couple of minutes with Goldsmith. Susceptibility to hypnotic suggestion is supposed to be relatively rare in the population, whereas most of Goldsmith's patients obtain very good results. It just doesn't look like hypnotic suggestion, but I suppose anything is possible.