DAVE ELMAN

Legendary Master Hypnotist, Healer and Educator

“The ways of inducting hypnosis are almost countless. And while some methods take longer than others, they can all be used to produce the deep state known as somnambulism... The methods of achieving the trance state are limited only by your own imagination. There is no way in which you cannot hypnotize a patient, provided you know the art of suggestion... Since eye-closure is the first goal at which you must aim, all you need is a device that will cause it. Any (Emphasized by Elman) device will cause it, provided you know the art of suggestion and provided the person expects to be hypnotized... This applies even to patients who have never been previously conditioned.” (Findings In Hypnosis P. 57)

Dave Elman was born May 6, 1900 in Park River, North Dakota and died on December 5, 1967. His interest in hypnosis was stimulated at an early age by his father who was an accomplished hypnotist. When Dave was 8 years old he began to realize the vast possibilities of hypnosis in the relief of pain. This occurred when his father was dying of cancer and a family friend relieved the intractable pain quite rapidly with hypnosis, This friend was a well-known hypnotist with an enviable fame for performing outstanding feats. Young Dave never forgot how his Dad was afforded relief not available from traditional medical procedures. In his early teens, Dave started working in show business during his school vacations, usually as a comic. One season he did a hypnosis act, but soon gave it up when he found that parents objected to their daughters dating him. They were actually afraid of the "power" he'd wield over them. Dave, who was an accomplished musician, specializing in saxophone and violin, loved show business. He wrote all his own material as well as songs. One season he tried New York and worked in night clubs for a while. He didn't enjoy this type of work so he gave it up and got a job working for music publishers. It was at this time that Dave became acquainted with the famous W. C. Handy, with whom he worked for some years, writing quite a few songs together. In fact, years after Dave had given up this phase of his work, Handy sent him a contract for royalties on a couple of songs that they had written, W.C. and other members of the Handy family became Dave's close friends. It was while working with Handy that Dave met the woman who was to share his life, the future Pauline Elman. During the years 1923-1928, Dave was so anxious to break into radio that he made a living at a daytime job and worked for free on various radio networks in the evenings and on holidays and weekends. In 1928, he got his first paying job with radio station WHN. Soon after, he was hired by Columbia Broadcasting System and worked on every major radio station in the metropolitan New York area, where he became known as an idea man. He wrote, produced, directed and performed in his own shows as well as others. Dave worked with many of the great names in radio and one season took his Hobby Lobby Show to California to replace the Jack Benny show when that group wanted a vacation. He wrote a number of Kate Smith shows and worked with all the major advertising agencies. Many show people do charitable work and Dave was no exception. He would often get a group of his friends together to put on a show for some worthy cause. In 1948, he arranged such a benefit and a few days before the show date was informed that the group would not be back in town in time for the performance. Elman was on the spot; it would be impossible to get another group together on such short notice. What could he do? How could he entertain an audience for a couple of hours? He hit on the idea of a hypnosis show, something he hadn't done in years. The performance was a success and afterward he was approached by a group of doctors who asked him to teach them what he knew about hypnosis. Apparently, though they had taken courses, they had all tried it but failed. Dave agreed to teach them and gave a course to a group of twenty physicians. When that course was over, the doctors had another group of twenty waiting for another course, and so it grew.

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HYPNOTHERAPY
By Dave Elman
Hard Cover 336pp - $49.95

Hailed as a classic in its field. Elman's major work is a forceful and dynamic

presentation of hypnosis as a lightning-fast and amazingly effective tool in

a wide range of therapies. A useful and practical summation of one of the

pioneers in hypnotherapy.
Elman trained more physicians to use hypnosis than anyone before or since.

These extraordinary session in Hypno-Analysis consist of recordings of actual

live therapy sessions presented by Dave Elman to physicians and psychiatrists.

It is a rare opportunity to learn from the man who taught hypnotherapy to more

healing arts professionals than any other instructor. Consists of six sessions of

hypno-Analysis explained and analyzed by Dave Elman.

FINDINGS IN HYPNOSIS
Dave Elman's famous training course in Medical Hypnosis
9 hours of teaching on 2 CD set + index in MP3 format - $95.00

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Some more details about Dave Elman's life.

Park River native’s hobbies brought success

Curtis Eriksmoen, The Forum
Published Sunday, February 12, 2006

North Dakota is the birthplace of “The man of 100,000 hobbies.”

That was the sobriquet used to describe Dave Elman. He not only had many hobbies, but turned several of those interests into profitable ventures. Elman was a noted lyricist, radio host, comedian, writer, instructor and hypnotist. He also helped the FBI nab Nazi spies during World War II.

Elman was born Dave Kopelman on May 6, 1900, in Park River to Jacob and Lena Kopelman. The family moved in 1902 to Fargo, where Jacob and Lena started a business on Front Street making wigs, switches and other theatrical equipment.

In 1906, Jacob built the Kopelman Building at 514 1st St. N. and moved their wig-making business there. In the basement, they provided mikvah services so Jewish women in the community could purify themselves through special cleansing. Lena also began a hairdressing shop next door.

Soon thereafter, Jacob was diagnosed with cancer. The pain was very intense, but he got some relief from a personal friend who was a hypnotist. This had a great impact on Dave Kopelman, who picked up the basic techniques of hypnotism.

Jacob died in November 1908, leaving Lena with six children and another child on the way. When Dave reached his early teens, he worked odd jobs to help the family. He was a talented musician on the saxophone and violin, had a quick wit and loved to entertain people. To him, show business appeared to be the ideal venue, so during summer vacations Kopelman worked around the community as a comic.

(North Dakota Public Radio’s “Dakota Datebook” on Feb. 24, 2005, reported that when Kopelman was 14, he quit school and joined “a traveling medicine show.” The program also stated that this was “followed by stints in a variety of stock companies, Chautauqua's, showboats and repertory theater.”)

Before plunging headlong into acting, Kopelman did what many young Jews did before pursuing a career in show business – he changed his name, eliminating the first three letters of his last name to become Dave Elman. He traveled to New York City in 1922 and soon found employment on the vaudeville circuit and performing in night clubs. He next drew on his musical talent and began composing songs. He caught the attention of W.C. Handy, the “father of the blues.” Together they composed several songs during the mid-’20s. Their biggest hit was “Atlanta Blues.” It was through his work with Handy that Elman met his wife, Pauline.

When radio started to have a major impact in this country, Elman offered his services for free just to get experience in this new medium. In 1928, he was hired by WHN, a large radio station in New York City. CBS soon contracted with him to write, produce, direct and perform on several of their shows.

Elman soon became one of the network’s top idea men. In 1937, he approached NBC, the biggest network on radio, with an idea for a new show: Ordinary people would become advocates about their unusual hobbies, which were judged by an invited celebrity. NBC liked the idea.

Elman debuted “Hobby Lobby” on Oct. 6, 1937. It was an immediate hit. Thousands of letters poured in each week from people who wanted to talk about their hobbies. Many celebrities also sought to be on Elman’s show. When Elman went on vacation on Aug. 2, 1939, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt eagerly accepted the invitation to be his replacement as host. “Hobby Lobby” was on the air until 1948, when Elman decided to pursue teaching hypnosis to doctors and dentists.

During World War II, he instituted the Dave Elman Victory Auction and raised millions of dollars by selling war bonds. Elman’s greatest contribution to the war effort was something that happened by accident. His suite of offices in New York City was across from a hotel. One afternoon, something in the neighboring hotel caught his wife’s attention. She thought a child was playing with a light switch because the light kept going on and off. Elman thought there was a pattern to it and immediately informed the FBI. Agents arrived within minutes. After questioning Elman, they went to the hotel. The next day the FBI informed Elman the hotel occupants were Nazi spies who were giving signals to sink U.S. ships.

Hypnotherapy became Elman’s new calling in 1948. Recalling how hypnosis had helped his father with pain caused by cancer, Elman believed that hypnosis was something that needed to be taught to physicians. There was a greater demand for his services than he could provide. To help, he published his course in book form and also put it out on records and tape.

NBC revived “Hobby Lobby” in 1959 for its television audience. Elman was approached to be the host. Believing the need was greater to continue his work in hypnotherapy, he declined. Elman continued to teach hypnosis to doctors into the 1960s and died on Dec. 5, 1967.

I am indebted to John Bye, University Archivist for the Institute of Regional Studies, for the subject of this article.

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Following are transcripts of three induction performed by Dave Elman in a teaching session.

The Cigarette Induction   

“... I am going to take three puffs on this cigarette. With the first puff your eyes are going to get tired, the second puff you’re going to want to close your eyes, but wait until the third puff, at which time close them. They will lock and you won’t be able to open them. Want that to happen- expect it to happen- and watch it happen... Here’s the first puff (taking a puff) - notice how tired your eyes are getting and let them get tired. (Taking second puff) Now they’ll get so tired you’ll wan to close them but don’t let them close yet. Now when I take the third puff they’ll close and lock- let them. (Taking third puff) Now close them. You’ll find they are locked... The harder you test them, the less they’ll work. Test them and you’ll find you can’t make them work. They just won’t work at all. That’s right. Now when I snap my fingers you’ll be able to open them very readily. (Snapping fingers) All right, you can open them...”

The Water Drinking Induction

“... All right, want this to happen, expect it to happen and watch it happen. I’m going to take a drink of water – just one swallow- and when I do, your eyes will close, they will lock and your won’t be able to open them. Want this to happen and watch it happen. (Taking a sip) Close your eyes and you’ll fond now they’re locked. They won’t work at all. Test them you’ll find that you can’t make them work. The harder you try, the less they’ll work. When I snap my fingers they’ll open very readily. (Snap) Now you can open them...”

The Head Tap Induction

 “... I’m going to tap my head – and when I tap my head your eyes will close and lock and you won’t be able to open them. Want it to happen and watch it happen... (Dave tapes his own head) Now close your eyes- You’ll find they’re locked already and when you test them they won’t work at all. Test them and you’ll see they won’t.... All right you can open your eyes now...”

The Dave Elman Induction

(Actually "The Modified 7 Steps Dave Elman Induction"  - Zali Segal)

 Outline of the 7 steps

A) Relax eyelids to the point they don’t work. Unless you chose to remove the relaxation they

     will not work. When you know you accomplished it, give it a good try.

B) Relax body. Move relaxation of eyelids to the rest of body.

C) Open eyes. Close your eyes and double relaxation.

D) Drop arm. Lift and drop arm. Relax. (If client cannot relax say: ”Make a fist so tight you 

     cannot make it any stronger. Throw down hand and open/relax the fist”)

E) Relax mind. Count from 300 down. Deeper Relaxed. Push numbers out of mind.

F) Fractionation. 1-2-3, Open eyes, Sleep Now (snap finger). Test (1-2- pause- 3).

G) Deepening. Count down from 10 to 1.

A) Close your eyes. Concentrate you attention on your eyelids and the muscles around your eyes. I wonder if you can relax all the muscles around your eyes and especially the eyelids to the point they will not work.... that’s right. Just relax them completely and unless you chose to remove that relaxation they will not work.  When you know you have accomplished this, give them a good test... (If client opens eyes say: “Good now you proved that you can control your eyes and open them. Now lets try it the other way. Use your strong will power and prove to yourself that you can do it”).        That’s good… stop trying...and go deeper....

B) Now spread that relaxation to your entire body...Let go of all tension in your whole body.

C) In a minute I will ask you to open your eyes and then close them. Each time you close your eyes double your relaxation.    “OK now open your eyes (Hold hand in front of eyes), close and double your relaxation.” (Repeat a few times).

D) I am going to lift your arm now. I want you to let me do all the work. Just let your arm be loose limp and relaxed. (Lift arm by the wrist and rotate). As I let your arm drop into your lap you will let yourself go deeper. (Repeat and verify relaxation). Great. Now that your body is so relaxed, I wonder how fast you can relax your mind, just as well as you relaxed your body.      

E) In a moment you will start counting backwards from 300 by threes. After every count you will say: “deeper relaxed”. Like this: “300, deeper relaxed, 297, deeper relaxed”. With each count double your mental relaxation. Soon your mind will be so relaxed that you will relax all the numbers out of your mind. You will allow your mind to relax so deeply that the numbers will just fade away. If you understand me nod your head…good.  Start counting now . ....    That’s right... Good... Let them fade...Push them out of your mind... Are they all gone? … Feels good doesn’t it? … Good, go deeper now. (If client counts more than 10 numbers say “That’s good enough stop counting and relax deeper”).

F) Now we are going to have an agreement. From now on when I say Sleep Now (Snap your fingers for an auditory anchor), you will immediately close your eyes and allow yourself to instantly and effortlessly go into a deeper hypnotic state. Not because I say so but because you want the experience and because it is the wonderful nature of your inner creative mind to achieve a profound state of mind relaxation. Each time I say Sleep Now (Snap finger) you will find yourself going deeper then before, easily and effortlessly. I am going to count now from 1 to 3. Keep your eyes closed until I say Three. At the count of 3 you will open your eyes and emerge from hypnosis.  1... 2... 3...  open,    GOOD. Sleep now! (Snap fingers). Repeat rhythmically until client is deep in hypnosis. Test by pausing between the count of two and three [One.. Two.. (pause)..Three. Client is in hypnosis if he does not open eyes until the count of three]. 

G) I will help you now to go even deeper. I will count from 10 to 1. With every count allow yourself to go deeper.   10-Deeper now, 9-Deeper yet ,8 drift deeper than ever before…

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