Anesthetics in one form or another have been around for millennia. But the from that we’re used to today became popular in the late 1800’s. In 1846, “On October 16, William T. G. Morton (1819-1868) made history by being first in the world to publicly and successfully demonstrate the use of ether anesthesia for surgery. This occurred at what came to be called "The Ether Dome," at Massachusetts General Hospital on patient Edward Gilbert Abbott.”**
Before that, people who needed surgery, a tooth removed, or an amputation to prevent deadly infection, had to drink some alcohol and bite a leather belt. Can you imagine? Have you ever had surgery? I’ve had a couple knee surgeries and my kids have been put under with anesthesia as well. I was scared but it was no big deal. I could never have had these surgeries without anesthesia.
When anesthesia was first introduced for public use, it was super controversial. “Dr. Benjamin Rush, the famous physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was convinced that “the more dangerous the disease, the more painful the remedy.” Thus, for many physicians after Rush, the infliction of pain by surgeons and the bearing of it by patients were deemed heroic virtues.”**
I’m really glad Rush’s voice didn’t rule the day! I’d still be limping around with a bad knee- because I do not possess those ‘heroic virtues’!! I’m so very grateful for modern medicine! It’s not perfect, but it sure beats the old way.
Religious people back then believed anesthesia was unnecessary. They said people needed to suffer because the bible said that was the curse of sin. And that when a person was “under” in anesthesia, Satan might be able to put bad thoughts in their head.
Some doctors were justifiably scared because of the fact that if doses weren’t carefully calculated, people died. That’s a legit concern. But the answer was to become more educated, not avoid further research. Others were mad because Morton was a common dentist. To them, he wasn’t smart enough and was serving “populist sentiments”.
Yes, yes he was. Because the populist sentiment was “I’d like to have surgery so that my body can operate well, without excruciating pain. Please and thank you.” Those pesky populist sentiments!
The bottom line is this- anesthesia helps millions of people everyday have pain free surgeries. For many of these people these are life-saving surgeries and procedures. It wasn’t totally understood or accepted at first, but now we can’t imagine a world without it.
Where am I going with all this? I believe hypnosis is to emotional healing, what anesthesia is to surgery. This has been a picture in my head since the day I learned about Rapid Transformational Therapy. There are so many parallels. When you have an emotional issue that’s holding you back, you need to find the cause. With my knee, it was that the meniscus was torn. Even more important than knowing what’s wrong however, is correcting it. That’s what I do with my clients. This is where hypnosis comes in.
Hypnosis is just a relaxed state. Afraid of it? Don’t be. You already operate in this state every day. When you’re watching TV, right before you go to sleep, or when you’re driving somewhere and zone out, you’re in the same state of mind as you’d be in a session of RTT. Here’s a video if you’d like more info about this. This state is very relaxing and that’s key to facing your past so you can move forward. For me, there was trauma in my past I needed to look at to heal. When I did this on my own before RTT, it was painful and ineffective. I went home and cried in my room and felt low for days. The past still controlled my life. When I had a session of RTT, I was able to go back in peace, and see clearly how these things were still messing with my life. Then release them! You can’t release what you can’t see. This is so crucial.
Rapid Transformational Therapy is the answer for a pesky populist sentiment of our modern age: “I’d like to have relief from emotional pain, anxiety, addiction, and trauma quickly with less pain, so I can get on with my life and not waste tons of time and money.”
If this is a sentiment that you share, please visit www.cyrinatalbott.com to see if RTT is a good fit for you, and hear from others who have benefited already.
If you’d like to get on the email list CLICK HERE. I’d love to keep in touch!
**Resources
https://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/history-of-anesthesia/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/past_mor4.htm
https://daily.jstor.org/19th-century-anesthesia-and-the-politics-of-pain/