Normal suggestion. An analysis of the phenomenon and its role in psychotherapy

In the present paper, it is argued that suggestive forms of influence are ubiquitous in human interaction, and represent a neglected phenomenon in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. This phenomenon, which is referred to as 'normal suggestion', is analysed as an interpersonal priming process, whereby one person (the 'suggestor') influences another (the 'suggestant') to respond, feel, or think in a way that is congruent with the suggestor's feelings, intentions, beliefs, or desires. Suggestion may be intentional or unintentional on the part of the suggester, but it always relies on automatic information processes in the suggestant. The paper discusses the psychological processes which take place in the suggestant, and in the suggester. A theoretical framework is sketched where each social situation (including each psychotherapeutic treatment) is assumed to be characterized by a certain 'suggestive climate', as a function of the frequency with which various ideas, intentions, feelings, etc, are primed. It is also assumed that each person has a certain 'suggestibility profile' as a function of his or her cognitive-affective meaning structures. Finally, it is argued that it is impossible to engage in suggestion-free psychotherapy, and that the recognition of this basic fact may improve psychotherapeutic practice and minimize the potentially damaging influence of suggestion in psychotherapy. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.