Hypnosis is one of the oldest healing techniques known to man and has been used throughout history. In 1955 the British Medical Association endorsed the practice of hypnosis in medical school education and many GPs now practice hypnosis. In the year 2000 the deputy secretary of the BMA, M. J. Lowe, declared that “Hypnotherapy and counselling may be considered orthodox treatments” rather than forms of complementary or alternative medicine.