A term used in the literature on hypnotism to denote a "hypnotically induced hallucination which may be utilized to uncover and explore unconscious or subconscious issues that can be employed in therapeutic interventions. As the Austrian-American psychiatrist and neurologist Leo Alexander (1905-1985) asserts, "Specific therapeutic hallucinations may be induced as a useful method to help the patient overcome phobic reactions to certain situations by working through the anxieties as they emerge during the hallucinatory re-vivification of the feared stressful situations." Other purposes are served by the therapeutic hallucinations mentioned by Alexander, such as the fact that they are "vivid illustrations of the slow but unfailing positive nurturing and healing powers of nature" and "the patient's hallucinatory or confabulatory substitution or addition of a suggestion which particularly fits his treatment needs".
References
Alexander, L. (1970). Hypnotically induced hallucinations: Their diagnostic and therapeutic utilization. In: Origin and mechanisms of hallucinations. Proceedings of the 14th annual meeting ofthe Eastern Psychiatric Research Association held in New York City, November 14-15, 1969. Edited by Keup,W.New York,NY: Plenum Press.
Dictionary of Hallucinations. J.D. Blom. 2010.