Talk with Dave Elman's Son - Teleseminar 9 January 3PM EST

Colonel H. Larry Elman will be talking about his late father, the legendary hypnotist, Dave Elman. Sean Michael Andrews will host the teleseminar.

To find out more about this free teleseminar, follow this Link

Dave Elman 1900-1967

Who was Dave Elman? When people talk about great hypnotists of the 20th century, two names come to mind. Milton Erickson... and Dave Elman.

They have equal stature.

This is surprising because Erickson published dozens of books and papers on hypnosis and was actively promoted by his followers who wrote dozens of books about Erickson, but Elman published only one book, "Findings in Hypnosis" (later published as "Hypnotherapy"). Why is Dave Elman held in such high esteem? One reason is that his induction is that good. But there is so much more to Dave Elman!

Erickson's inductions could take a very long time, but Elman would place a subject into deep trance in less than a minute!

Elman published only one book, but that ONE book had such an impact that many consider Elman to be the greatest hypnotist of all time. There is very little information out there about Dave Elman.

Dave Elman (1900-1967) was born David Kopelman in Park River, ND in May 1900, and grew up in Fargo, ND. He died in 1967.

He was inspired to research hypnosis because his father, dying of cancer, received pain relief from hypnosis which enabled him to play with Dave one last time.

Dave toured with a number of vaudeville troops, serving as a musician, a comedian, a bit player, and in several other capacities.

It was in this period that he began using the name Dave Elman because the extra three letters of Kopelman prevented getting better billing on theater marquees. In this period, he also was billed as "The World's Youngest and Fastest Hypnotist" because his research in hypnosis after his father's death had led him to discover means of hypnotizing subjects in mere seconds. This was an important discovery in the fast-paced world of the vaudeville circuit where slow acts bored audiences and were fired for that. It was several decades later that he realized that this speed of hypnotic induction also made hypnosis useful in medicine.

In the 1920s, Dave worked as a songwriter for W. C. Handy while still also playing as a jazz musician. This led him into radio, his primary career from the mid-1920s into the early 1950s. In 1937, he created the program "Hobby Lobby" which was carried coast-to-coast for over a decade—an unusual achievement for that era. He also created "War Bond Auction," a program which generated very large amounts of money for the war effort. He received many awards for this from the Government.

In 1949, he demonstrated his rapid induction methods and knowledge of pain control to doctor friends. As a result, he was asked to provide a course on hypnosis to physicians and dentists. He insisted that he not practice medicine but only teach the techniques of hypnosis. His students often researched further medical applications and reported these back to be described in the course. His courses on hypnosis taught more physicians this subject than any other teacher before or since.[4] The audio recordings of the classes and his book HYPNOTHERAPY are regarded as classics in the field of Medical Hypnosis. (Courtesy of his son, H. L. Elman)

There are many types of inductions. The main categories are:

Progressive Muscle Relaxation - In this type of induction, the hypnotist suggests to the subject that the subject's muscles are relaxing from the top of the head down to the toes or sometimes from the toes to the head. The purpose is to relax the person into trance. This induction takes a long time and is not effective with many people, particularly nervous or analytical people.
Shock Inductions - These inductions are performed by shocking the nervous system of the subject and then commanding the subject, "Sleep!" Although effective, these inductions are not appropriate in all circumstances.
Confusion Inductions - Similar to the shock induction, this is a very rapid way to hypnotize, but it uses confusion instead of shock. This induction takes a lot of practice and confidence.
Fixation inductions - A good example of this induction is the stereotypical "Hypnotist with a Pocket Watch". This induction is slow.
The Dave Elman induction does not fit into any of these categories. It is more effective than any of them AND it takes less than four minutes to accomplish! With practice, you can use it to hypnotize a person even quicker!

To find out more about this free teleseminar, follow this Link