Editing Autosuggestion (section)

==The Coué method==
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 |title =La méthode Coué
 |quote =&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Continuously, unjustly, and mistakenly trivialised as just a hand-clasp, some unwarranted optimism, and a ‘mantra’, Coué’s ''method'' evolved over several decades of meticulous observation, theoretical speculation, in-the-field testing, incremental adjustment, and step-by-step transformation.<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It tentatively began (c.1901) with very directive one-to-one hypnotic interventions, based upon the approaches and techniques that Coué had acquired from an American correspondence course.<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As his theoretical knowledge, clinical experience, understanding of suggestion and autosuggestion, and hypnotic skills expanded, it gradually developed into its final subject-centred version—an intricate complex of (group) education, (group) hypnotherapy, (group) ego-strengthening, and (group) training in self-suggested pain control; and, following instruction in performing the prescribed self-administration ritual, the twice daily intentional and deliberate (individual) application of its unique formula, "Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better".<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yeates (2016c), p.55.
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The Coué method centers on a routine repetition of this particular expression according to a specified ritual, in a given physical state, and in the absence of any sort of allied mental imagery, at the beginning and at the end of each day. Coué maintained that curing some of our troubles requires a change in our subconscious/unconscious thought, which can only be achieved by using our imagination. Although stressing that he was not primarily a healer but one who taught others to heal themselves, Coué claimed to have affected organic changes through autosuggestion.<ref name="britannica">"Émile Coué." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 26 Dec. 2008 [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/140032/Emile-Coue]</ref>

===Underlying principles===
Coué thus developed a method which relied on the belief that ''any idea exclusively occupying the mind turns into reality'',<ref name=anxious>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zXDkMJSS-IC&q=%22any+idea+exclusively+occupying+the+mind+turns+into+reality%22+%C3%89mile+Cou%C3%A9&pg=PT70|title=Anxious in Love: How to Manage Your Anxiety, Reduce Conflict, and Reconnect with Your Partner|first1=Carolyn|last1=Daitch|first2=Lissah|last2=Lorberbaum|date=1 December 2012|publisher=New Harbinger Publications|via=Google Books|isbn=9781608822331}}</ref> although only to the extent that the idea is within the realm of possibility. For instance, a person without hands will not be able to make them grow back. However, if a person firmly believes that his or her asthma is disappearing, then this may actually happen, as far as the body is actually able to physically overcome or control the illness. On the other hand, thinking negatively about the illness (e.g. "I am not feeling well") will encourage both mind and body to accept this thought.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

===Willpower===
Coué observed that the main obstacle to autosuggestion was [[Self-control|willpower]]. For the method to work, the patient must refrain from making any independent judgment, meaning that he must not let his will impose its own views on positive ideas. Everything must thus be done to ensure that the positive "autosuggestive" idea is consciously ''accepted'' by the patient, otherwise one may end up getting the opposite effect of what is desired.<ref>Brooks, C.H., "The practice of autosuggestion", p62, 1922</ref>

Coué noted that young children always applied his method perfectly, as they lacked the willpower that remained present among adults. When he instructed a child by saying "clasp your hands" and then "you can't pull them apart" the child would thus immediately follow his instructions and be unable to unclasp their hands.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

=== Self-conflict ===
Coué believed a patient's problems were likely to increase if his willpower and imagination opposed each other, something Coué referred to as "self-conflict."{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} As the conflict intensifies, so does the problem i.e., the more the patient consciously wants to sleep, the more he becomes awake. The patient must thus abandon his willpower and instead put more focus on his imaginative power in order to fully succeed with his cure.

===Effectiveness===
With his method, which Coué called "''un truc,"''<ref>Coué, E: "How to Practice Suggestion and Autosuggestion" page 45. "''un truc ou procédé mécanique''" ('a trick, or mechanical process'). Note that when Coué referred to his "trick", he was speaking of the mechanism, or "the secret", that was responsible for the approach's success (as in, say, "the trick to the [[Batting (cricket)#Pull and hook|hook shot]] is …"), he was not speaking of deceiving his subject.</ref> patients of all sorts would come to visit him. The list of ailments included kidney problems, diabetes, memory loss, stammering, weakness, atrophy and all sorts of physical and mental illnesses.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} According to one of his journal entries (1916), he apparently cured a patient of a [[uterus]] [[prolapse]] as well as "violent pains in the head" ([[migraine]]).<ref>Wallechinsky, David. "Emile Coue (1857-1926) French Healer." The People's Almanac. 2nd Ed. 1975.</ref>

===Evidence===
Advocates of autosuggestion appeal to brief case histories published by Émile Coué describing his use of autohypnosis to cure, for example, enteritis and paralysis from spinal cord injury.<ref>[http://www.psychomaster.com/books/emile/11.php Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion:Emile Coue]. Psychomaster.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-28.</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=May 2015}}