Toppling One’s Professional Expertise from Within: The Use of Hypnosis by French Anesthesiologists
Dr. Michel Anteby, Dr. Nishani Bourmault
Abstract
Prior studies have documented how individuals deeply socialized into professional cultures strongly resist any attempts to break with their professions’ core tenets. Apart from when outside jolts (such as new regulations or technology) occur, it is unclear how professionals may break with such deeply ingrained views. Our study of anesthesiologists in France who practice hypnosis in the operating room aims to better understand this phenomenon. Adopting hypnosis, a practice that was considered “subjective” and almost “magical” necessitated a shift in one of anesthesiologists’ core cultural tenets – only using techniques validated by evidence-based medicine. Drawing on interviews and observations, we analyze how some anesthesiologists topple their expertise from within, or rapidly let go, in the absence of external pressures, of their profession’s core tenets in parts of their work. Our findings reveal how patients – namely, non-experts – played a critical role in this process by becoming their main relational partner. These anesthesiologists built on patient reactions to self-justify the use of hypnosis, enrolled patients to convince surgeons of the technique’s efficacy, and anchored on patients to counter peer isolation. Overall, we show how a transformation from within might paradoxically rely essentially on enrolling those outside for a toppling to succeed.