André Muller Weitzenhoffer was one of the most prolific researchers in the field of hypnosis in the latter half of the 20th century, having authored over 100 publications between 1949 and 2004. He was the recipient of several professional and academic awards, including the Distinguished Contributions to Scientific Hypnosis Award of the American Psychological Association in 1992.
Weitzenhoffer claimed that he became interested in hypnosis at age 12 after seeing a demonstration by a summer camp counselor and subsequently witnessing a stage hypnosis show.
Weitzenhoffer & Erickson
Weitzenhoffer and Milton Erickson were friends and at times collaborators, with a mutual respect for each other's work. However, Weitzenhoffer was critical of certain aspects of Erickson's theory and practice, and especially critical of those who subsequently claimed to represent Erickson's views.
We were, I think, good friends even though separated by a considerable age difference, and had a mutual high respect for each other as professionals. As associate editor of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis for some years, I worked closely with him in its publication. I was also his consultant for a number of his published papers in the 1960s. We had differences of opinion as well as goals, but these differences never were a source of friction between us. As the years have gone by, since his death, Erickson has become an increasing living legend, as will happen with legends, an increasing amount of more or less fictitious lore began to accumulate about him.
Weitzenhoffer elaborates in detail upon various points of contention regarding Erickson's theory and practice, and the claims of others regarding his life's work, in The Practice of Hypnotism, and elsewhere.
At Stanford University, Weitzenhoffer collaborated with Ernest R. Hilgard in developing the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales and the Stanford Profile Scales of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Forms I and II which are considered the most widely referenced research tools in the field of hypnosis.
Publications
Weitzenhoffer published his first paper, "The Production of Anti-Social Acts Under Hypnosis" in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology for 1949, and subsequently authored over 100 journal articles, books, etc., on hypnosis. Weitzenhoffer published his first book on hypnosis, Hypnotism: An Objective Study in Suggestibility in 1953. He authored one of the most widely read scientific and clinical textbooks on hypnotherapy, The Practice of Hypnotism, a second, revised edition of which came out in 2000.
