Towards a Systemic Psychotherapeutic Analysis of the Phenomenon of Suggestibility

Relevance . A brief historical and analytical review of Russian and European and American research on suggestion and suggestibility over a period of approximately 150 years, from the late nineteenth century to the present, is presented. The main areas of research and their findings are described, and substantial limitations that have hindered the development of a systemic approach to the study and application of the phenomenon of suggestibility are identified. Intention . To describe the principal Russian and international theoretical approaches to the study and application of suggestion, as well as models of suggestibility, based on a comprehensive systemic analysis of heterogeneous clinical and psychological research data on suggestion and suggestibility and methodological materials concerning their psychotherapeutic application. Methodology . Russian and European publications on suggestion and hypnotherapy from the pre-revolutionary period, Russian publications on suggestive psychotherapy from the Soviet period, Russian psychological publications on suggestion and suggestibility from the twenty-first century, and American and European studies of hypnosis, suggestion, and suggestibility conducted in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries were analyzed. Results and discussion . Approaches to suggestion and suggestibility developed within the schools of I.P. Pavlov and V.M. Bekhterev were examined, and the outcomes of the development of suggestive psychotherapy during the Soviet period were evaluated. The development of Soviet clinical suggestology within the Pavlovian reflexology tradition is described, based on studies of the physiological, psychological, and psychotherapeutic effects of suggestion. B.F. Porshnev’s model of suggestion–counter-suggestion–counter-counter-suggestion is presented, and its contemporary relevance is evaluated in the context of findings from Russian psychological studies of suggestibility and international and European research on suggestion. Approaches to the study of suggestion and suggestibility in contemporary Russian psychology and pedagogy, including selected empirical findings, are described. A substantial body of American theories of hypnosis and suggestion is reviewed. European research on suggestibility within the framework of the arreflective nature of suggestive thinking is analyzed. Conclusion . A number of predominantly cognitive American theories of hypnosis are evaluated, and a tendency to conceptualize the traditional set of hypnotic suggestions as theories of hypnosis is identified. The potentially most promising Russian and European models of suggestibility are identified, with their specific features, significance, and limitations assessed.