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Institute of Serenity PMB 875, 713 W. Spruce, Deming, NM
Teaching Relaxation, Rest, and Renewal since 2002
Origins of Autogenic Training
The origin of Autogenic Training is linked to Johannes Heinrich Schultz (1884 – 1970), a German psychiatrist and neurologist in Berlin.
Johannes Heinrich Schultz was dedicated to finding another treatment for his patients besides psychoanalysis and hypnosis, the two customary therapeutical approaches at that time. His concern was the disadvantages of passivity and dependency upon the (hypno)therapist.
His colleague Oskar Vogt, a neuropathologist – also in Berlin – had made two interesting observations while applying hypnosis to his patients:
First, being asked about their bodily sensations during these hypnosis sessions, patients reported to him a sensation of heaviness and warmth in the limbs making them feel completely relaxed and calm. Oskar Vogt considered these two sensations as indicators of a successful hypnosis induction.
Second, he soon realized that his patients were able to put themselves into a state of hypnosis by mentally triggering the sensations of heaviness and warmth. This convinced him that hypnosis is foremost something a patient allows to happen than something actively done by the therapist. He called this self-generated hypnosis “auto-hypnosis.”
It was only a small step from "auto hypnosis" to Autogenic Training.
Johannes Heinrich Schulz became interested in Vogt’s “auto-hypnosis”. He discovered that he could help his patients without employing hypnosis by instructing them to focus on the sensations of heaviness and warmth in the limbs.
He found his patients easily able to engender a self-generated shift into a state of deep relaxation and calmness in order to find relief from various tension-related conditions. It was only a little step further on to investigate if other bodily functions – like heartbeat and metabolism – could be influenced “autogenically”.
In 1924, Schultz conducted his first class in Autogenic Training in Berlin at the university. In 1932, Autogenic Training was made known to a broad readership through the publication of his book, Das Autogene Training; konzentrierte Selbstentspannung.
Since then, Autogenic Training . . . . . . has found acceptance and dedicated practitioners in many countries around the world. In Germany for example, Autogenic Training is an integral part of the health care system, and it is employed in many rehabilitation centers and in industry and business as well. In Great Britain, the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London has offered for decades Autogenic Training to patients suffering from a wide variety of illnesses.
It was not until one of Schultz’ students, Wolfgang Luthe, M.D., immigrated to Canada in the 1970s, and as a professor for Psychophysiology in Montreal, published a paper on Autogenic Training in English that this highly effective self-relaxation method became available to English-speaking clinicians and practitioners.
Autogenic Training has begun to receive in the US the attention it deserves.
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You are know familiar with the names of Johannes Heinrich Schultz and Oskar Vogt. Curious what exactly the six phrases are?
. . . has found acceptance and dedicated practitioners in many countries around the world. In Germany for example, Autogenic Training is an integral part of the health care system, and it is employed in many rehabilitation centers and in industry and business as well. In Great Britain, the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London has offered for decades Autogenic Training to patients suffering from a wide variety of illnesses. 
