16 Famous Hypnotists Who Shaped Hypnosis, From Mesmer to Today

The most famous hypnotists include the pioneers who created the field, such as Franz Mesmer, James Braid and Milton Erickson, the researchers who brought it into medicine, such as Ernest Hilgard and David Spiegel, and the modern names who made it popular, such as Paul McKenna, Marisa Peer and Derren Brown.

Hypnosis people · Covers: the pioneers, the researchers and today’s best-known hypnotists

Last updated: 4 November 2026

Written by Saj Ali

Reading time: about 14 minutes

How we wrote this article: this article was written by Saj Ali. It brings together how historians and hypnosis organisations describe the people who shaped the field, published research and prices taken from practitioners’ own websites, and every research claim links to its source.

Famous hypnotists in brief

• The pioneers. Franz Mesmer, James Braid, James Esdaile and Hippolyte Bernheim, who took hypnosis from “animal magnetism” to suggestion.
• The therapy shapers. Émile Coué, Milton Erickson and Dave Elman, whose methods are still taught today.
• The researchers. Ernest Hilgard and David Spiegel at Stanford.
• The modern names. Gerald Kein, Richard Bandler, Tad James, Paul McKenna, Marisa Peer, Derren Brown and Ebrahim Turner.
• Go deeper. Our Hypnosis guide explains how hypnosis works today.

Contents

1. Famous Hypnotists at a Glance
2. 16 Famous Hypnotists and What They Added
   • Franz Anton Mesmer
   • James Braid
   • James Esdaile
   • Hippolyte Bernheim
   • Émile Coué
   • Milton H. Erickson
   • Dave Elman
   • Ernest R. Hilgard
   • David Spiegel
   • Gerald Kein
   • Richard Bandler
   • Tad James
   • Paul McKenna
   • Marisa Peer
   • Derren Brown
   • Ebrahim Turner
3. More Hypnosis and NLP Names to Know
4. How Hypnosis Has Changed Over Time
5. How to Try Hypnosis Yourself
6. Frequently Asked Questions
7. Key Takeaways
8. Explore More on Self Help Supermarket
9. Sources

Famous Hypnotists at a Glance

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16 Famous Hypnotists and What They Added

These 16 people are arranged roughly in date order, from the 18th-century origins of hypnosis to the hypnotists people watch and listen to today.

1. Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815)

From: Germany and France · Known for: Animal magnetism, the forerunner of hypnosis

Mesmer was a German physician who believed that an invisible natural force, which he called animal magnetism, could be used to restore health. His dramatic group sessions in Paris made him famous. In 1784 King Louis XVI set up a royal commission, including Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier, to test his claims (Founders Online). Lavoisier designed one of the first blind trials to do so, and the commission concluded that the effects came from imagination and touch rather than a magnetic force (Herr, 2017 (PMC)). That finding pointed later researchers towards the power of the mind and suggestion, which is why Mesmer is seen as the starting point of hypnosis. Read more in our Mesmerism guide.

2. James Braid (1795–1860)

From: Scotland and England · Known for: Coined the word “hypnotism”

Braid was a Scottish surgeon working in Manchester who saw a mesmerist perform in 1841 and set out to understand what was really happening. He concluded that the trance came from the subject’s own focused attention, not from any force passing from the operator. In 1843 he published Neurypnology, which introduced the terms that gave us the word hypnosis (Wellcome Collection). His shift from magnetism to attention laid the foundations for hypnosis as we know it.

3. James Esdaile (1808–1859)

From: Scotland and India · Known for: Hypnosis for pain relief in surgery

Esdaile was a Scottish surgeon working in Bengal in the 1840s, before chemical anaesthesia was in common use. He used mesmeric trance to help patients through operations, and his 1846 book Mesmerism in India recorded dozens of operations carried out this way (JSTOR Daily). His work is still cited as an early example of hypnosis being used for comfort during medical procedures.

4. Hippolyte Bernheim (1840–1919)

From: France · Known for: The Nancy School and the power of suggestion

Bernheim was a professor of medicine in Nancy who learned from the country doctor Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault. Together they became the centre of the Nancy School, which taught that hypnosis is a normal state of heightened suggestibility that anyone can experience, rather than a sign of illness. Bernheim’s 1884 book on suggestion spread these ideas widely (International Society of Hypnosis). The idea that suggestion is the key to hypnosis still shapes the field today.

5. Émile Coué (1857–1926)

From: France · Known for: Autosuggestion

Coué was a French pharmacist who studied hypnosis with Liébeault and went on to teach people to use suggestion on themselves. His method of conscious autosuggestion, with its famous phrase “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better”, became popular around the world in the 1920s and influenced many later self-help writers. See our Émile Coué expert page.

6. Milton H. Erickson (1901–1980)

From: United States · Known for: Conversational, indirect hypnosis

Erickson was an American psychiatrist whose gentle, story-based approach changed how hypnosis is used in therapy. Rather than giving direct commands, he used stories, metaphors and everyday language tailored to each person. In 1957 he founded the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and became the first editor of its journal (ASCH). His work later inspired the language patterns taught in NLP and many styles of modern hypnotherapy. See our Milton Erickson expert page.

7. Dave Elman (1900–1967)

From: United States · Known for: Rapid inductions and medical hypnosis

Elman was a radio host and entertainer who became one of the most influential teachers of hypnosis to doctors and dentists in the United States. From the late 1940s he ran courses in medical hypnosis, and his rapid induction, now known as the Elman induction, is still taught in hypnotherapy training around the world. His 1964 book, later published as Hypnotherapy, remains a standard text (Elman Hypnosis).

8. Ernest R. Hilgard (1904–2001)

From: United States · Known for: Measuring hypnosis scientifically

Hilgard was a Stanford psychology professor who helped make hypnosis a subject of serious laboratory research. With André Weitzenhoffer he developed the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales, which are still used to measure how responsive people are to hypnosis, and he proposed the idea of a “hidden observer” part of the mind (Los Angeles Times). His research helped bring hypnosis into mainstream medicine and psychology.

9. David Spiegel

From: United States · Known for: Clinical hypnosis research at Stanford

Spiegel is a Stanford psychiatrist and one of the best-known researchers in clinical hypnosis today. He directs Stanford’s Center on Stress and Health (Stanford Profiles), and his research has looked at hypnosis for pain, stress and how the brain behaves during hypnosis. He also co-founded Reveri, a self-hypnosis app based on his approach (Reveri).

10. Gerald Kein

From: United States · Known for: The OMNI hypnosis training method

Gerald “Jerry” Kein met Dave Elman at the age of 13 and became one of his most dedicated students. In 1979 he and his wife Shirley founded the OMNI Hypnosis Training Center in Florida, which built on Elman’s methods and now teaches in many countries (OMNI Hypnosis Training Center). Many hypnotherapists working today trained in the OMNI approach.

11. Richard Bandler

From: United States · Known for: Co-creating NLP and Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning

Bandler is an American author and trainer who co-created Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) with John Grinder in the 1970s, partly by studying the hypnotic language of Milton Erickson. He went on to develop Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning and Design Human Engineering, and he still runs NLP and hypnosis seminars around the world (Richard Bandler official website). See our Richard Bandler expert page, our article on how Richard Bandler’s techniques can boost your mood and our NLP guide.

12. Tad James

From: United States · Known for: Time Line Therapy

Tad James was an American NLP master trainer and hypnosis teacher, best known for creating Time Line Therapy, a set of techniques for working with how people mentally store past and future events. With his wife, Dr Adriana James, he built The Tad James Co., which still runs NLP and hypnosis training. See our Tad James expert page and Time Line Therapy guide.

13. Paul McKenna

From: United Kingdom · Known for: Hypnosis on TV and in best-selling books

McKenna is a British hypnotist, broadcaster and author who brought hypnosis to a wide audience, first through his 1990s TV series The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna and then through books and audio programmes such as I Can Make You Thin. He has also championed the Havening Techniques. See our Paul McKenna expert page.

14. Marisa Peer

From: United Kingdom · Known for: Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT)

Peer is a British therapist and author who created Rapid Transformational Therapy, a hypnotherapy-based method that combines hypnosis with ideas from psychotherapy, NLP and CBT, and launched the RTT School in 2015 to train therapists around the world (RTT Method). Her message “I am enough” is one of the best-known ideas in modern hypnotherapy. See our Marisa Peer expert page.

15. Derren Brown

From: United Kingdom · Known for: Hypnosis, suggestion and psychological illusion on stage and TV

Brown is a British mentalist and illusionist whose TV career began with Mind Control on Channel 4 in 2000 (Derren Brown). He uses hypnosis and suggestion as part of his shows, and his 2006 book Tricks of the Mind explains how hypnosis, suggestion and memory work (Penguin). He has done a great deal to spark public curiosity about how the mind responds to suggestion.

16. Ebrahim Turner

From: United Kingdom · Known for: Hypnosis for entrepreneurs and free YouTube sessions

Turner is a London-based hypnotist who works with entrepreneurs and business owners. His free “I will hypnotize you” sessions on YouTube have made him one of the most-watched hypnotists online, and they are an easy way to see what modern hypnosis sounds like. See our Ebrahim Turner expert page.

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More Hypnosis and NLP Names to Know

Many other teachers have shaped how hypnosis is practised today. On Self Help Supermarket you can also read about John Grinder, who co-created NLP with Richard Bandler after studying Milton Erickson’s hypnotic language, Michael Breen, a London-based NLP and hypnosis trainer, and Rintu Basu, a Glasgow-based NLP and hypnosis trainer.

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How Hypnosis Has Changed Over Time

Looking at these people in order shows how much hypnosis has changed. It began with Mesmer’s idea of a magnetic force, which the 1784 commission set aside in favour of imagination (Herr, 2017 (PMC)). Braid and the Nancy School then reframed it as focused attention and suggestion. In the 20th century, Erickson, Elman and Hilgard brought it into therapy, medicine and the research laboratory.

Today, hypnosis is studied in universities and used in clinics, and the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes that it has been researched for uses such as irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety around medical procedures and quitting smoking (NCCIH). At the same time, TV hypnotists, apps and YouTube sessions have made it easier than ever to try.

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For more on the British psychological illusionist, see our full profile of Derren Brown.

How to Try Hypnosis Yourself

• Start with a recording. Free guided sessions and apps are a simple first step. Our Hypnosis hub lists ones we have checked.
• Learn self-hypnosis. Our Hypnosis guide explains how self-hypnosis works and how to practise it.
• See a hypnotherapist. Look for someone with recognised training and membership of a professional body, and ask about their experience with your goal.
• Try a related method. NLP and Havening both build on ideas from hypnosis.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the most famous hypnotist?

Franz Mesmer is the best-known historical name, as the word “mesmerise” comes from him. Among therapists, Milton Erickson is the most influential. Today, Paul McKenna and Derren Brown are among the most widely known.

Who invented hypnosis?

No single person invented it. Franz Mesmer’s animal magnetism in the 1770s and 1780s is usually seen as the starting point, and the Scottish surgeon James Braid coined the term hypnotism in the 1840s.

Who was Milton Erickson?

Milton Erickson was an American psychiatrist known for a gentle, story-based style of hypnosis. He founded the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis in 1957.

What is the Elman induction?

It is a quick hypnotic induction developed by Dave Elman, who taught hypnosis to doctors and dentists in the United States. It is still widely taught in hypnotherapy training.

Is Derren Brown a hypnotist?

Derren Brown is a mentalist and illusionist who uses hypnosis and suggestion as part of his shows. His book Tricks of the Mind explains how hypnosis and suggestion work.

Who are the best-known hypnotists in the UK today?

Well-known UK names include Paul McKenna, Marisa Peer, Derren Brown and Ebrahim Turner, each with a very different style.

Can I learn hypnosis myself?

Yes. Self-hypnosis can be learned from books, apps and recordings, and many training schools teach hypnotherapy to the public.

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Key Takeaways

• Hypnosis grew from Franz Mesmer’s animal magnetism in the 18th century.
• James Braid coined the term hypnotism and linked it to focused attention.
• The Nancy School, Émile Coué and Milton Erickson made suggestion the heart of hypnosis and therapy.
• Dave Elman, Ernest Hilgard and David Spiegel helped bring hypnosis into medicine and research.
• Modern names such as Paul McKenna, Marisa Peer, Derren Brown and Ebrahim Turner have brought it to a wide audience.
• You can explore hypnosis through recordings, self-hypnosis or a trained hypnotherapist.

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Explore More on Self Help Supermarket

Use these pages alongside this one:

• Hypnosis: The Complete Guide – how hypnosis and self-hypnosis work
• Hypnosis hub – videos, apps, books and directories we have checked
• Mesmerism – Franz Mesmer and the roots of hypnosis
• NLP – the method built partly on Milton Erickson’s language patterns
• Paul McKenna – hypnosis, books and Havening
• Browse all self-help techniques – compare every method on Self Help Supermarket.

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Sources

1. Founders Online, US National Archives. Report of the Royal Commission to Investigate Animal Magnetism, 1784. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-42-02-0304
2. Antoine de Lavoisier’s role in designing a single-blind trial to assess whether animal magnetism exists. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (PMC5407522). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5407522/
3. Wellcome Collection. Braid J. (1843). Neurypnology; or, the rationale of nervous sleep. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/demkv24m
4. JSTOR Daily. The mesmeric Dr James Esdaile. https://daily.jstor.org/the-mesmeric-dr-james-esdaile/
5. International Society of Hypnosis. Hippolyte Bernheim and the Nancy School. https://www.ishhypnosis.org/encyclopedia/hippolyte-bernheim-and-the-nancy-school-2026/
6. American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. About ASCH. https://asch.net/about-asch/
7. Elman Hypnosis. Dave Elman legacy. https://www.elmanhypnosis.com/dave-elman
8. Los Angeles Times (2001). Ernest Hilgard, 97; made hypnosis a medical tool. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-01-me-64266-story.html
9. Stanford Profiles. David Spiegel, MD. https://profiles.stanford.edu/david-spiegel
10. Reveri. Self-hypnosis app by Dr David Spiegel. https://www.reveri.com/
11. OMNI Hypnosis Training Center. Overview of the OMNI training. https://omnihypnosis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Overview-OHTC-International-DeLand-2016_.pdf
12. Richard Bandler. Official website: NLP, Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning and hypnosis seminars. https://www.richardbandler.com/
13. RTT Method. About the RTT Method. https://rtt.com/method/
14. Derren Brown (official site). Mind Control. https://derrenbrown.co.uk/shows/mind-control/
15. Penguin Books. Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/389438/tricks-of-the-mind-by-brown-derren/9781905026357
16. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NIH). Hypnosis. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/hypnosis

Self Help Supermarket guides are for general information and are not a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice.