I need someone to write 6 pages about the book in the attached file

jo6699

the-basics-of-therapeutic-hypnosis.pdf

Home >Social Science homework help >I need someone to write 6 pages about the book in the attached file

The Basics of Therapeutic Hypnosis

Second Edition

Buddy Wagner, PhD

Published by Buddy Wagner at Smashwords.com

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it or it is not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer This book is for educational and informational purposes only. The contents should not be

applied for the treatment of any individual. No guarantees of results are implied, expressed or intended as a result of reading this material. The material is not intended as a cure or remedy for any mental health problem. Reading this book does not prepare or qualify you to use hypnosis in a therapeutic relationship.

Table of Contents

Preface Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - Self-Hypnosis Chapter 3 - Leading Others Into Trance Chapter 4 - Metaphors Chapter 5 - Use of Trance Phenomena Chapter 6 - Post-Hypnotic Suggestions and Cues Chapter 7 - Using Hypnosis for Specific Issues Postscript References

About the Author

Preface

I was trained in hypnosis in the early 90’s, received advanced training a couple of years later and became a National Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. I have used hypnosis in my practice since this training. I do not exclusively use hypnosis. I also use Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Positive Psychology, Mindfulness and Energy Psychology. Most of the time I use some combination of these five approaches. I find that these work well together.

For the past several years I have taught a class in hypnosis for graduate students who are being trained to become mental behavioral health counselors, marriage and family therapists or school counselors. I am writing this book to use as a text for this class. This book will give a step-by-step account of how I teach the class. Anyone teaching hypnosis may find this book useful as well as anyone interested in learning about hypnosis and its use as a therapeutic tool.

“Hypnosis is not a cure-all. It will not solve all the world’s problems, but it is an effective tool to assist you and others in resolving many of the issues that you face. I find it especially useful in assisting with problems that are unconsciously based; problems that are not conscious choices. People do not choose to have phobias, panic attacks, anxiety, depression or chronic pain. These are the types of issues where I find hypnosis working most effectively. Hypnosis also works quickly in resolving the problem. I seldom see a person more than four sessions.

An effective therapist has as many tools in her tool chest as possible. If she can only use one theory or one technique, she will be ineffective many times. Hypnosis is one of many tools that I use. I highly recommend that you add this tool to your set of skills.” (Wagner, 2013)

This is not intended to be a comprehensive book about hypnosis. There are many good books already on the market. It is intended to be a brief account of the essentials of therapeutic hypnosis. I hope that by reading this book, you can easily understand the necessary ingredients that go into effective therapeutic hypnosis.

Chapter 1 Introduction

In this chapter my goal is to give you an overview of the following chapters. I’ll give a brief synopsis of the chapters so that you will know what to expect in each chapter.

In chapter 2 I discuss self-hypnosis. By learning to use trance in your own life, you will have a better understanding of how to use it with others. This chapter tells you how to produce a trance and how to know that you are in trance. After reading this chapter and practicing the concepts presented, you should be able to go into trance.

In chapter 3 I discuss leading others into trance. This chapter will cover all the aspects of leading a client into trance. It will tell you how to prepare the person for trance, how to build rapport, how to dissociate the conscious from the unconscious, how to prepare the person for learning and how to deepen the trance.

In chapter 4 I discuss the use of metaphors. Metaphors are a powerful way to make indirect suggestions to the unconscious mind. We think and speak metaphorically many times without

being aware of what we are doing. It is important to learn how to construct metaphors that will produce change in the client. This is an essential skill of therapeutic hypnosis.

In chapter 5 I discuss trance phenomena. These are the various unconscious skills which can be used to resolve the discomfort that the client is experiencing. These trance phenomena are the tools the therapist will use in the treatment part of the trance.

In chapter 6 I discuss posthypnotic suggestions and cues. Posthypnotic suggestions are a way of continuing therapy after the client has come out of trance and continues in her daily routines. These suggestions can be powerful ways of producing change outside of the therapy session.

In chapter 7 I discuss how I use hypnosis for the specific issues of pain control and phobias/ panic attacks. Every individual is different, thus, there is no prescription that will be effective for every individual; therefore, I do not suggest that the material in chapter 7 will be effective with any client you see. This material is given to show you how I generally work with clients who struggle with these issues but the treatment plan will vary with each client. However, I do hope that this material can be helpful for you as you devise specific plans for specific individuals.

Chapter 2 Self-Hypnosis

In reality, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You are the only person you can hypnotize. Through the course of this book, you will learn how to lead others into hypnosis, but you will not be hypnotizing them. This is important for you to know and for your subjects to know. Hypnosis is a cooperative venture. You are not doing something to the client but are cooperating with the client and the client with you. To learn to assist others in hypnosis, it is important that you learn how to go into trance. This chapter will teach you how to accomplish this.

Relaxing is an important part of going into trance. Sit in a comfortable chair in a comfortable environment where you will not be disturbed by people, animals, phones, televisions or other possible distractions. Sink into the chair, close your eyes and begin to take some deep breaths. As you inhale, breathe in relaxation and as you exhale, breathe out all the tension. As you focus on your breathing, allow it to take you deeper and deeper into a state of relaxation. Don’t try to force it. Allow it to happen on its own. The more relaxed you become, you may discover your arms becoming heavy and limp. Feel free to change positions in the chair to become even more comfortable. You might notice each part of your body and how relaxed it feels. If you notice any tension anywhere, make these muscles more tense, hold the tension for a few seconds and then release it. This should help the tension melt away. Feel the relaxation from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. As you are feeling relaxed, imagine floating on a big, white, fluffy cloud. Allow the cloud to wrap around you, giving you a sense of safety and security. Experience the sensation of floating. Allow yourself to float to a place of comfort - a place where you have no worries or cares. As you are in this place, you can imagine being at the top of a long stairway and as you slowly descend the stairway, you find yourself going deeper and deeper into a state of comfort and relaxation. You may be wondering if you are in trance. You may not feel the way you thought you would feel in trance. There are tests you can give yourself to determine if you are in trance. Powers (2013, e-book format) gives several tests one can use. One test is the “swallowing” test. Suggest that as you count to 10, you will get the urge

to swallow. As you say each number, state that you will develop the urge to swallow. Once you swallow, you can discontinue the counting. When you develop the urge to swallow, you can know that you are in trance. Another test that Powers suggests is the “hand tingling” test. Suggest that as you count to 10 one of your hands will begin to tingle or become numb. As you count, repeat the thought that one of your hands will begin to tingle or become numb. Once you experience this sensation, you can discontinue the counting. Another test that Powers suggests is the “foot” test. The idea is to imagine your foot becoming heavier and heavier so that it becomes so heavy that you cannot lift it. Suggest that as you count to 10 your foot will become heavier and heavier so that at the count of 10 you will not be able to lift it. Slowly count, repeating after each number, that your foot is becoming heavier and heavier. At the count of 10, try to lift your foot. When you cannot lift it, you can be assured that you are in trance. The final test that Powers suggests is the “hand levitation” test. Suggest that your hand will become lighter and lighter so that at the count of 10, it will float up off your leg toward your face. You might imagine a giant balloon filled with helium tied to your wrist, gently pulling it up. As you count, imagine the balloon and feel it gently pulling your hand toward your face. When your hand levitates, you can know that you are in trance. Powers suggests that you should do these tests in the order they are given, because they suggest deeper and deeper levels of trance. In other words, if you cannot produce the urge to swallow, you won’t be able to produce any of the other phenomena.

Once you are able to produce these phenomena, you know that you are in a deep level of trance. Most hypnotic work does not need a deep trance; so if you are able to produce any of the phenomena, you can begin to work on most problems using hypnosis. If you are unable to produce any of the phenomena, don’t become upset. Keep relaxing, learning to become more and more relaxed until you are able to produce at least the first two of the phenomena mentioned. Once you are in trance, begin visualizing your goal. Be certain that your goal is stated in positive terms. For example, instead of saying, “I want to get rid of my anxiety” your goal should be to learn to be calm and relaxed. If your goal is to be calm and relaxed, begin visualizing yourself being calm and relaxed in situations where in the past you would have been anxious. Spend a few minutes several times a day in mini-trances. One way to know if you are making progress is to create your anxiety before you go into trance by mentally putting yourself back into a situation where your anxiety was high. On a 10 point scale, raise your anxiety to a 7 or 8. Then go into hypnosis and visualize being calm. When you come out of trance, try to create the anxiety again. If you are unable to get it as high as you did prior to the trance, you can acknowledge that you made progress.

Later in the book, I shall describe phenomena that can be used to assist you in reaching your goal. For now, practice visualizing being successful in various situations.

Chapter 3 Leading Others Into Trance

There are several steps in the induction sequence. Calling these “steps” does not mean that they are done one after another, but rather they are mixed together. I shall discuss each one and then give you an opportunity to practice.

Orient person to trance – This is making certain that the person is physically and psychologically prepared for trance. Physical preparation might include the removal of glasses,

feet flat on the floor, sitting straight with hands on legs. Psychological preparation might include a relaxed mental state, questions answered, doubts removed, and a general understanding of what will happen.

I usually begin with psychological preparation by asking the person if she has ever been hypnotized before. There is a dual purpose for asking this. First, I want to know if she has had an experience with hypnosis and if so, what it was like. Secondly, I am suggesting that she is about to be hypnotized, which is one way to prepare her for the experience. Assuming that she has never experienced hypnosis before, I talk about it being an altered state of consciousness. I point out that she has been in trance when she drove from point A to point B and did not remember making the drive or other experiences where she has lost conscious awareness of time or place. I also point out that hypnosis is like sleep in that one cannot make herself have the experience but must allow herself to experience it naturally. Then I answer any questions that she might have. Common questions include:

Will I be aware of what is happening? Yes, you will not be unconscious. Will I say or do anything against my will? No, you will be in control of what you say and

do. What if I can’t come out of trance? You may not come out when I suggest that you come out

but you will come out when you are ready to come out. Will I remember what happened during trance when I come out? You probably will

remember bits and pieces but not everything. How long will I be in trance? Most people with whom I work are in trance between 20 and

45 minutes. When I am convinced that she is psychologically prepared, I move to physical preparedness

by suggesting that she may want to take off her glasses because sometimes they become uncomfortable during trance. If her legs are crossed, I suggest that she may want to uncross them because one might go to sleep during trance and become uncomfortable. I suggest that she get into a comfortable position.

Fixate attention and build rapport through amplifying experience – Attention can be focused on a story, an object or a body sensation. For example, you might have the person focus her attention on a spot on the wall or her breathing, noticing the sensation of the air as she inhales and exhales or you might tell a story. During this process, you are also building rapport through amplifying her experience. For example, “as you focus your attention on the spot, you might begin to feel the pressure of your back against the back of the chair.”

Rapport occurs when the client realizes that you are responding specifically to her. Rapport cannot be assumed to exist because you care. The client will give you clues that she is experiencing rapport such as an open posture, a nod of her head, the softening of facial expression and/or eye contact (Wester & Sugarman, 2007, p. 75).

Rapport is meeting the client at her model of the world, which includes matching the behavior of the client. It is a necessary step in therapy (Lankton & Lankton, 1983, pp. 18&19).

Rapport is the basis for success in therapy. It opens the door to trance and allows the client to accept your suggestions unconditionally (James, 2000, p. 20).

Milton Erickson’s means of establishing rapport involved speaking the client’s language, using key words that the client used; using metaphors that matched the client’s experience; and matching the facial expression, body posture, voice, tonal patterns, and the breathing of the client (Lankton & Lankton, 1983, p.144).

The references above highlight the importance of rapport and some ways of creating rapport. An additional way of building rapport is to amplify the experience by describing what the client is experiencing in the present moment. It is important that these descriptions are verifiable so that you are certain that you are giving accurate feedback. For example, if the client is sitting erect with her back against the back of the chair, one piece of accurate feedback might be, “You can feel the pressure of your back against the back of the chair.” The client probably was not aware of this experience until you pointed it out, but now that you have brought it into her awareness, she begins to experience rapport. If you make three or four of these statements, the client begins to feel that you are connected to her and understand her experience.

It is important that the statements are accurate. For example, if the room feels warm to you and you say, “You are feeling the warmth of the room” and the client is feeling chilled, you have created dissonance with the client. This is why it is important that you are certain that the statements are true for the client.

I want to lead you through a series of exercises that will assist you in learning how to amplify the present experience of the client.

Exercise 1 Think of a situation in which you become deeply involved, with a limited focus of attention,

such as jogging, reading, driving, writing or eating. Describe what you experience in sensory terms. Write down as many statements as you can. For example, if you choose jogging, one statement you might write is: “I can feel the bottom of my feet as they strike the ground.”

Exercise 2 Think about a client sitting in front of you. Create a mental picture of the client so that you

can clearly see the client in your mind. Now write down as many statements as you can that accurately describe the experience of the client. Be certain that each statement is verifiably true. These can include experiences with all five of the senses. For example, if there is a computer in the background, the client may hear the humming of the computer.

Exercise 3 Practice saying these statements in rhythm with your breathing. Inhale, speak as you exhale.

This skill is important because you want to learn to breathe with the client and speak in rhythm with the client’s breathing.

“Breathing in sync with someone occurs naturally, and getting rapport by matching breathing is easy on a one-to-one basis” (Young, 2011, e-book format). Young goes on to write that to breathe with another person, one should breathe out while the person is speaking and breathe in when the person stops to inhale. One should also pay attention to the rhythm of breathing and where the person is breathing from (upper chest, mid chest or abdomen). Another helpful word of advice from Young is “notice, in peripheral vision, any rising and falling in the chest area. Do not stare! People expand as they inhale and get smaller as they exhale. If you cannot detect movement in their chest area, watch their shoulders: they rise on the in-breath and fall on the out-breath. The movement may be slight, but you will see it from the back as well as in front.”

Exercise 4 If you are breathing with the client and making verifiable statements you are pacing the

client. After making four of five verifiable statements in sync with the breathing of the client, you have created a “yes” set with the client. This means that the client has agreed with each of your statements because each statement is true about the experience of the client. Now you are

in a position to make a leading statement to direct the client to an experience that you want the client to have.

Repeat exercise 3 but this time add a statement at the end stating where you want the client to go. For example, you might add “as you become more relaxed and go deeper into trance.”

These exercises are to help you learn to build rapport with the client by amplifying the experience of the client. Hypnosis is not about persuading or controlling the client but it is about amplifying the experience of the client.

Establish conscious/unconscious dissociation – Point out what the conscious mind might be doing as compared to what the unconscious mind might be doing. Learning can be a conscious process but once a behavior is learned, it becomes an unconscious process. You are inter-mingling this with the fixating attention and building rapport.

Dissociating the conscious from the unconscious is a way of moving the conscious aside so that the unconscious becomes accessible. The conscious is rigid and narrow in its thinking. It likes to keep things the way they are. The unconscious is creative and open to change. In hypnosis, the therapist is using the unconscious to resolve the problem.

“Dissociation is so critical a component of the experience that it can reasonably be said that hypnosis cannot take place without some degree of dissociation being present” (Yapko, 2012, p. 185). Barber (1996, p. 26) wrote, “Much of what people interpret as the lack of efficacy of hypnotic intervention is a result of the failure to actually develop the dissociative processes inherent in the hypnotic experience.” Lankton & Lankton (1986, p. 258) wrote that conscious/unconscious dissociation “educates the person about the positive nature of the unconscious, presupposes a whole set of resources that have been largely taken for granted, and creates a duality of thinking that allows the person to understand that the trance and possible benefits can proceed despite any limiting ideas, doubts, or analysis that the conscious mind may be engaging in.”

Zeig (2001, p. 28) suggests that dissociation can be elicited through dissociation statements and through hypnotic phenomena such as arm levitation. Lankton & Lankton (1983, pp. 145- 148) presented a verbal exercise for eliciting dissociation through dissociation statements. Using their model I want to lead you through an exercise that will assist you in learning how to create conscious/unconscious dissociation.

Exercise. On the top, left side of a piece of paper, write “Your conscious mind.” In the top, middle

write “connecting phrase” and on the top, right side of the paper write “Your unconscious mind.” Now on the left side write as many statements as you can about what the conscious mind might be doing if you are a client in a session. On the right side of the page write as many statements as you can concerning what the unconscious mind might be doing if you are a client in a session. In the middle write words that might link the statement on the left with the statement on the right. For example, “Your conscious mind might be paying attention to my words while your unconscious mind takes you deeper into trance.” Once you have your statements, you can mix and match them as appropriate. Familiarize your mind with the statements so that you can easily make statements of dissociation.

Example: Your conscious mind Connecting phrase Your unconscious mind may be listening to my words as relaxes you more deeply may be anxious about this process while is excited about the potential

After you are comfortable making dissociation statements, then you can begin to practice inter-mingling these statements with statements that amplify the client’s experience. The more you are able to inter-mingle the statements, the more powerful they will be.

Prepare for learning – Point out behaviors that are complex and difficult that the person has learned and how once she learned these behaviors, now she does them easily and without thought. For example, learning to walk, write her ABC’s, or ride a bike. Give specific details about the behavior and how she learned it. “Learning to write your ABC’s seemed difficult before you knew how to write them. Trying to remember how many humps the M has and where the bubble is on the p or the b. Remembering to cross your T’s and dot your I’s; but you practiced and you learned how to write your letters and then how to put letters together to spell words and words together to make sentences. Now when you pick up a pencil or a pen, you don’t think about how many humps the M has or where the bubble is on the p or the b. You unconsciously know; and just as you learned this difficult behavior, you do know, do you not, that you can learn new behaviors.”

Deepen trance – Help the person focus attention on physical changes that are occurring such as breathing, body temperature, heart rate, or muscular relaxation. You can also use hand levitation which is a form of dissociation. For example, “As you go deeper into trance, you may notice a change in your breathing or you may notice a sense of warmth or coolness somewhere in your body.”

Assuming that I have already oriented the person to trance, here is how I might lead a person into trance. “You might take some deep breaths and relax. As you breathe deeply, becoming more and more relaxed, you might begin to focus your attention on a spot on the wall. As you focus your attention, relaxing, you might begin to notice the pressure of your back against the back of the chair or the sound of the computer as it hums in the background. Your conscious mind might pay attention to the humming while your unconscious mind takes you deeper into a state of relaxation and trance. Perhaps you notice the sound of my voice and as you listen to my words, or not, you can unconsciously prepare yourself for new learning because you have learned thousands of things in your life and you do know, do you not, that you can learn new things or remember old things that you have forgotten. When you were in elementary school, you learned how to add and subtract, multiply and divide. These were not easy to learn but you learned them and now you balance your check book or make change in a store without giving it much thought. You have learned thousands of things, many of them very difficult and you continue to learn new things, do you not? You might notice the weight of your hands in your lap as you go deeper. You might also notice some internal changes taking place. You might notice a change in your breathing and your conscious mind doesn’t know if or when but perhaps your unconscious mind knows exactly if and when your eyes will become so heavy, that they will close all by themselves. And you can go deeper and deeper until you reach exactly that level of trance where you need to be. You don’t consciously know how to do this but perhaps your unconscious knows exactly how to take you to just the right depth.”

The tone and volume of your voice is important and the tempo is also important. As best you can you want to breathe and speak in tempo with the breathing of the client. Speak in a soft tone and your volume should be lower than normal but be sure that you speak loudly enough for the person to hear you.

Exercise Imagine a conversation with a client with whom you are about to use hypnosis. Think

about what you would say to orient the person to trance, then go through the process of fixating

attention and building rapport, establishing conscious/unconscious dissociation, preparing the person for learning and deepening the trance. Remember you are not doing these as steps but are inter-mingling them. Write out a script containing these parts.

Chapter 4 Metaphors

A metaphor is “a story with dramatic devices that captures attention and provides an altered framework through which the client can entertain novel experience” (Lankton & Lankton, 1986, p. 154). Metaphors are an excellent way of making indirect suggestions which are more effective usually than direct suggestions. “Metaphors are considered one of the most powerful yet gentle means for communicating relevant information to clients using the vehicle of the story to bring important points to life” (Yapko, 2012, pp. 275-76). Metaphors can be used as part of the induction process as well as part of the treatment part of the session. Yapko (2012, p. 332) points out that when using metaphor for induction purposes, it is wise to build the metaphors around interests, values, or hobbies that are a part of the client’s life.

Berman & Brown (2000, p. 4) state that metaphors are useful because they “instill the learning of content or process on a very subtle, often subconscious level. When the subconscious is activated or accessed, the material enters the mind with no resistance. As a result, metaphors can effect dramatic change in an individual.” Another plus for metaphors is that because it is indirect advice, it “avoids being one-up and authoritative in giving the prescription” (Lankton & Lankton, 1983, p. 72). A final plus for metaphors is that they are not a heavy-handed approach. They are a “respectful way of suggesting possibilities without demanding much from the clients” (Yapko, 2012, p. 425).

Exercise 1. Create three metaphors that you might use as part of the induction process. Make certain

that the metaphors somehow relate to you. For example, if you enjoy reading novels, the metaphor might be: “As you read a novel and become more and more deeply involved in the story, you lose all sense of time or space.” (When working with clients, the metaphors would relate to the client). Common induction metaphors are about going down a staircase, walking deeper into the woods, walking into a cave, or an object sinking into the water.

Exercise 2. Intertwine the metaphors with statements that build rapport by amplifying experience and

statements that produce conscious/unconscious dissociation. Exercise 3. Create three metaphors that might be used therapeutically with a specific issue such as

anxiety or depression. For example, if your client is anxious and enjoys hiking you might say, “I had a client once who enjoyed hiking trails. He told me about a time when he was hiking and a thunder storm blew up very suddenly. The wind was howling, there was lightening and thundering and the rain was pouring down. My client said that he had no protection other than to lean against a big rock. He stayed against the rock until gradually the lightening and thundering subsided, the rain became less intense and finally, the clouds parted and the sun began to shine. All was calm.”

In a therapeutic metaphor, a protagonist is faced with an antagonistic person, animal or situation. Through creative means, the protagonist is able to overcome the antagonist. The

metaphor should not be about the specific problem the client is facing but rather it represents the problem. Metaphors can be found in fairy tales, movies, songs, novels, religious writings and real life experiences. It is important that you practice creating metaphors until you become proficient.

Chapter 5 Use of Trance Phenomena

Now you are ready to do the therapeutic part of the trance through the use of metaphors and trance phenomena. This is the meat of therapeutic hypnosis. In this chapter, I shall discuss the different trance phenomena which I use, how to create them and the issues for which they might be best used. I’ll also give exercises to practice using the phenomena. I never only use one phenomenon in treatment. I always use a minimum of three and usually as many as five. I want to give the person unconscious choices because I do not know what will work most effectively for the person.

Dissociation – Wester & Sugarman (2007, p. 68) define dissociation as “the ability to behave and respond as if we are divisible into parts.” Yapko (2012, p. 370) writes, “Dissociation allows for the automatic, or spontaneous, responses of the client to occur.” As has previously been discussed, this is separating the conscious mind from the unconscious mind, but it is also separating the part of self that is creating the problem from the other parts of self; or separating the self that is creating the problem from the self that wants to be healthy. Dissociation focuses on the present and future of your life. With dissociation “you can build additional adaptive defenses, learn to use the parts of yourself lost in the trauma, and increase your self-support and personal resources” (Lankton, 2001, p. 200). Dissociation can be created by suggesting that the person can watch a movie of the person experiencing the negative phenomenon (for example, anxiety), noticing all the mental, physical and emotional differences between the person on the screen and the person watching the movie. It can also be created by suggesting to the person that a physical phenomenon can be moved from one part of the body to another part of the body. I find dissociation especially useful for treating chronic pain, smoking cessation, phobias, depression and anxiety. With dissociation “the patient is able to accurately describe the still persisting pain, but as from a distance and with no suffering, no concern. That is, the pain is still perceived, but the patient no longer suffers from it” (Barber, 1996, pp. 90-91). The following is how I might use dissociation in a person suffering from anxiety. “You might imagine yourself in a movie theatre, sitting on the third or fourth row. As you sit there, you feel calm and relaxed. You realize that you are watching a movie of yourself but it is the person on the screen who suffers from anxiety. As you pay attention to her, you begin to notice the differences between you, as you sit there feeling calm and relaxed, and the person on the screen who suffers from the anxiety. You notice how you think differently than she thinks. You notice how you look different. You notice how you feel differently, physically and emotionally. You find it interesting, do you not, to notice all the differences between you, as you sit in your seat feeling calm and relaxed, and the person on the screen who suffers from anxiety.”

Exercise. Practice creating dissociation to treat chronic pain, smoking cessation, phobias or anxiety.

Think of as many ways as you can of how you might suggest dissociation to the client.

Age Regression - This is taking the person back to an earlier age. This can be helpful in recovering a skill from an earlier age, taking a present resource back to an earlier experience to help resolve it or in returning to an age prior to the time of the onset of the problem. Yapko (2012, pp. 348-349) states that age regression has two general applications which are going back to negative or traumatic kinds of experiences and to access and amplify client resources. Age regression can be created by suggesting an activity from an earlier age such as learning to walk, writing the ABC’s, riding a bike or learning to drive. Age regression can be effective in relieving the effects of trauma, retrieving a skill or changing a memory.

The following is how I might use age regression in a person wanting to relieve the effects of the trauma of sex abuse that occurred when she was nine. “You are a person with many skills, abilities and resources that you did not have as a child. You have accumulated these through the years as you have grown and matured. Some of them you have forgotten about and some you can quickly recall. Perhaps you have all the resources you need to resolve any situation that occurred earlier in your life. For example, before you knew how to walk, you weren’t able to go where you wanted to go to get what you wanted to have, but now you can walk, skip, jump, and run to retrieve what you need. Before you knew how to ride a bike, you could not have the fun that the older kids were having who could ride bikes, but you learned how to ride a bike and even though it may have been years since you’ve been on a bike, I dare say that you could ride one right now if you wanted to. Before you knew how to write your ABC’s perhaps you would get frustrated because you could not write, but now you can pick up a pencil or pen and write anytime you want to. An older child might have hit you when you were six and you did not know how to protect yourself, but you know how to protect yourself now. Or perhaps when you were seven, a classmate made fun of you in front of your friends and you didn’t know how to respond, but you could probably respond in a mature way now. You have many skills and resources that might have been useful to you in an earlier time. You can take these skills and resources back to when you were 14, 11, or 8 and use them to produce the results you want in particular situations. And you can bring them up through the years, making the necessary changes until you reach your present age, having accomplished what you want to accomplish.”

Exercise. Practice using age regression to relieve the effects of a trauma, retrieve a resource or to

change a memory. Think of as many ways as you can of how you could suggest age regression to the client.

Amnesia - Yapko (2012, p. 359) states that “hypnotic amnesia is a suggested inability to remember and can be most simply described as eliciting the experience of forgetting something.” “Amnesia is not something to force on another person but is instead an opportunity for the patient to put aside thoughts that are not needed for the task at hand” (Short, Erickson & Klein, 2005, p. 53). There are times when it is helpful to forget an event, a suggestion or a sensation. You can create amnesia by creating confusion, which might be done by a statement such as: “It doesn’t matter whether you remember to forget or forget to remember.” Or you can create it through indirect suggestion by telling a story of someone who forgot a name or an appointment. Amnesia is helpful in treating trauma, chronic pain, anxiety, depression as Short, Erickson, & Klein (2005, p 53) state, “Perhaps the most benevolent use of amnesia is in cases of overwhelming distress caused by traumatizing thoughts or memories.” Amnesia can also be used to suggest that the person forget a post hypnotic suggestion.

The following is how I might use amnesia with someone suffering from chronic pain. “Recently I was driving home from my office and all of a sudden, I had to urinate really badly. I

didn’t know if I would make it home in time. As I walked into my house, my wife met me at the door with a dilemma. I became so involved in discussing the dilemma that about 45 minutes later, I remembered that I had never gone to the bathroom. Isn’t that amazing that I could totally forget about a sensation that was so strong?”

Exercise. Practice using amnesia to treat a trauma or chronic pain. Think of as many ways as possible

of how you might suggest amnesia to the client. Time Distortion - This is when time seems to go faster or slower. Short, Erickson & Klein

(2005, p. 177) state “time distortion is a technique of reorientation in time that promotes new intellectual and emotional understanding.” You can make time go slower by watching the second hand on a clock or engaging in an activity that is unpleasant. You can make time go faster by losing yourself in a project or doing something you enjoy doing. According to O’Hanlon & Martin (1992, p. 177) time distortion can be used in pain control by “expanding the subjective experience of time when the person feels more comfortable and condensing time when the person feels pain.”; it can be used in smoking by slowing time down when you don’t want a cigarette and speeding time up when you do want one (the same would apply to over- eating); it can be used in anxiety, depression or a phobia by slowing time down when the painful feeling is not present and speeding time up when the painful feeling is occurring.

The following is how I might use time distortion. I might suggest slowing time down by saying, “I remember as a child how slow the week before Christmas Eve went. I was constantly asking my mother how many more days, hours, minutes.” Or I might suggest speeding time up by saying, “Some friends and I get together one day a month and spend the day together, catching up on each other. It always amazes me how the day speeds by. At noon, it seems as if it should be 10 o’clock and the afternoon seems to last only an hour.”

Exercise. Practice using time distortion. Think of as many ways as possible of how you might suggest

time distortion to the client. Positive Hallucination - O’Hanlon & Martin (1992, p. 80) state that positive hallucination

is when you have the person hear, see, feel, smell or taste something that is not really present. Yapko (2012, p. 376) points out that by suggesting hallucinations through positive suggestion structures, hallucinations are fairly easy to accomplish because clients know what they are striving to accomplish. I use this when someone needs to be encouraged or comforted. When you are depressed, lonely, afraid or in other types of pain, hearing voices of friends or relatives supporting you, seeing the smiling face of a friend or relative, feeling an arm around you, smelling a particular odor that produces warm memories, or tasting a food that particularly brings comfort can make a huge difference in how you function.

The following is how I might use positive hallucination to treat someone who has a phobia of public speaking. “I had a client once who told me about how she got over the fear of driving on the interstate. She said that she and her best friend learned to drive together and they always encouraged each other. When one was driving and would get nervous, fearful of wrecking, the other one would say something like, ‘You are a good driver and you are capable of driving safely at all times.’ This client told me that it occurred to her that her friend’s voice always calmed her down and gave her confidence when she was afraid, so she decided to hear her friend giving her encouragement as she went to the dentist. While she was being examined, she could hear her friend telling her that she would get through this okay.”

Exercise.

Think of as many examples as you can of positive hallucinations. Practice ways that you might suggest positive hallucination to a client.

Negative Hallucination - This is when you do not see, hear, feel, taste or smell something that is really present. O’Hanlon & Martin (1992, p. 80) describe it this way. “Negative hallucination is dropping something out of your experience or diminishing it in your experience. Negative hallucination is when you don’t notice something that is in your sensory field.” Examples might be when you are concentrating on something and do not hear someone speaking to you or laying your keys on the table and then overlooking them when you return to the table to retrieve them. Negative hallucination can be useful in medical procedures or childbirth to avoid experiencing the discomfort that the experience produces; smoking cessation by making the cigarettes disappear or oversensitivity by not hearing statements that are hurtful.

The following is how I might use negative hallucination with a client anticipating child- birth. “I had a client who was soon to have some oral surgery and he had to have the surgery without being put to sleep or his mouth being deadened. He asked me if I could help him get through the surgery painlessly. I told him that I didn’t know but I bet he could remember a time when he couldn’t find his keys and they were right there in front of him the entire time. I said, ‘Now, if you can make your keys disappear, I imagine that you can go through this ordeal without feeling pain.’”

Exercise. Think of as many examples of negative hallucinations as you can. Practice ways that you

might suggest negative hallucination to a client. Hypermnesia - This is remembering a past experience vividly with the accompanying

sensations. An example might be hearing a particular song, smelling a particular odor or feeling a particular sensation and it immediately takes you back to a particular experience as if you are really back in that experience. It’s remembering the situation experientially as well as intellectually. This can be used in marriage counseling to help the couple recover the infatuation that they experienced earlier in their marriage, to retrieve a past resource or according to Wilson (2001, p. 220) “to clarify details of a past event or to prepare for a speech/test/event.” Zeig & Geary (2001, p. 258) state that it can be used to help a client suffering from pain to remember a time that was more comfortable.

The following is how I might use hypermnesia with a client who is constantly anxious and wants to retrieve the past resource of feeling calm. “When I was 6 or 7, my maternal grandmother lived a couple of blocks away from me. On the weekends I would go spend the night with her. I can still smell the baking of sugar cookies and see myself sitting at her kitchen table waiting for them to come out of the oven. The same peace and contentment comes over me now as I smell the aroma and see her standing at the oven about to take the cookies out and let them cool.”

Exercise. Name triggers in your life that produce hypermnesia. Practice ways that you can produce

hypermnesia with your clients. Hand Levitation - This is when your hand rises without you consciously lifting it. An

example is when your face itches and you raise your hand to scratch it without consciously thinking about what you are doing. Hand levitation can be used to validate trance with someone who is skeptical that she can be hypnotized or to increase a desired characteristic. O’Hanlon & Martin (1992, p. 140) point out that it can also be used to validate trance for the therapist because it is so obvious.

The following is how I might use hand levitation to increase a desired characteristic. “At some point you might begin to notice that one of your hands will begin to become lighter. I don’t know whether it will be your right hand or your left hand but it will be the right hand to become lighter. I don’t know whether you will first notice it in one of your fingers or if your wrist will feel as if a giant balloon filled with helium is tied around it, gently lifting it up. Just notice it becoming lighter and lighter and gently lifting off your leg, into the air toward your face. And as your hand rises higher and higher, you can notice your confidence level also rising so that when your arm reaches a comfortable level, so will your confidence level.”

Exercise. Practice with your own hand. Learn how to allow it to become lighter and rise off your lap.

Think of as many different ways as you can of how you would suggest hand levitation to a client. Association - This is taking on a desired characteristic from someone else. This can be used

to create a desired characteristic. It is the opposite of dissociation. I use the movie scenario to suggest it.

The following is an example of suggesting association to someone who wants the courage to ask for a raise. “You might go to a movie theatre and sit on the 8th or 10th row. As you sit there, you realize that you are watching a movie of yourself but you realize that the person on the screen is courageous and has what it takes to effectively ask for a raise. You watch the movie as the person effectively goes to his employer and effectively communicates why he deserves a raise. You notice how he is dressed, how he holds himself, the tone of his voice, the words he speaks, his facial expression and all the other relevant information of his successful conversation with his employer. Now you float up on the screen and face this person and you invite him to come into you so that you now possess the characteristics that made him successful.”

Exercise. Practice this scenario of associating with the part of you that possesses a characteristic that

you desire until you become proficient at it. Think of ways you can assist your clients in using association to create a desired characteristic.

Future Pacing (Age Progression) - This is suggesting that the person go to some point in the future and look back at the present so she can see the steps she took to achieve her desired outcome. I also use this to give the person some confidence as she stands in the future and experiences success. Yapko (2012, pp. 358-359) wrote, “Age progression patterns are the bridge to get from here to there, from now to later. If the imagination doesn’t create new directions, the will doesn’t have anyplace to go but around and around.” Yapko continued by stating, “Hopelessness and helplessness are routinely found in clients in distress. Age progression as a means of building a realistic sense of hope and as a way of empowering clients to take charge of their life is a vital component of good therapy.” Wilson (2001, p. 220) wrote, “One of the most productive hypnotic phenomena is age progression. This workhorse not only is an essential tool for rehearsing skills for a future behavioral task, but it helps embed a sense of long-lasting success in a healthy future.”

The following is an example of how I might use future pacing. “You might stand in the future six months from now, looking back at your present. As you stand in the future looking back at the present, you can see exactly how you have accomplished your goal. You can see each step that you took and you can feel a sense of pride, knowing that you are the one who has accomplished your goal. You might also feel a sense of gratitude, knowing that you were created with the abilities you needed to achieve your goal. So take a minute and make the picture as powerful as possible. It may need to be in color or in black and white. It may need to

be life size or smaller. It may need to be a movie or a still snapshot. It may need to be right in front of you or out a ways from you or to your right or left or up in the air, at eye level or lower. Enjoy making the picture as powerful as possible. You might also add sound to it. Add whatever makes it most powerful. Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment; enjoy the sense of pride and gratitude.”

Exercise. Think of a goal that you want to achieve. Now see yourself having achieved it. Notice how

you feel and see the steps you took to achieve the goal. The clearer and more precise your picture is, the more powerful it will be. Practice making it as powerful as you can. Think of as many ways as you can to make the picture more powerful. The better you become at creating powerful pictures, the better equipped you will be to assist others in creating powerful pictures. Experiment with adding sound to it and see if this helps or hinders the process.

The more you practice eliciting these phenomena, the more proficient you will become. It is very important that you learn how to use these. As I stated earlier, it is important that you use a minimum of three phenomena with a client so that the client’s unconscious has choices. The following is an example of how I might use several of the phenomena in working with an individual with chronic pain.

“You might go to a movie theatre and sit on the 8th or 10th row. As you sit in your seat, you notice that you feel comfortable. As you watch the screen, you notice that you are watching a movie of yourself but it is the person on the screen who suffers from the pain. You begin to pay attention to the differences between yourself and the person on the screen. You notice how you think differently as you sit there feeling comfortable from the person on the screen who suffers from the pain. You also notice how you look different. Perhaps your facial expression is different, how you hold yourself may be different and you may notice other differences in how you look compared to how the person on the screen looks. Finally, you notice how you feel different. You may notice differences in your emotions and you may notice differences in your body’s sensations. It’s fascinating, is it not, to notice all the differences between you as you sit there in your seat and the person on the screen? Time is an interesting phenomenon. Isn’t it interesting how time sometimes goes so fast and at other times goes so slow. I notice with my grandchildren that if they are involved in something that piques their interest, time seems to fly by for them; but if they are bored, every minute seems like an eternity. Memory is also interesting. Isn’t it interesting how sometimes you can remember things so clearly and other times you can’t remember them at all. And it’s not just facts that I’m talking about, but the same is true of sensations. For example, the other day I was on my way home from my office and I developed a headache. I couldn’t wait to get home to take a Tylenol. As I drove into my driveway, my neighbor caught me to discuss a problem in our neighborhood. About 45 minutes later, I went into my house and realized that I had not taken anything for my headache. I had become so involved in the conversation that I had totally forgotten about it. You might go back to a time when you were 21 (let’s assume the pain began when the person was 24) or 18 or 15. Go back to a time when you felt really strong and healthy. Remember a specific experience when you felt at your best. Get into that experience and intensify the feeling of strength and health. Make it twice as strong. Now memorize the feeling. Allow every muscle to memorize this feeling. Let every organ memorize this feeling. Every pore of your skin can memorize this feeling, so that from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, every part of you has memorized what it feels like to be strong and healthy. Now bring that memory up through the years to this present time, so that in the future you can use this memory to experience the strength and health.

Now you might go stand in your future 6 months from now. As you stand there, looking back at your present, notice the changes that took place in that 6 month period. Notice all the steps you took to achieve your goal. As you stand there you might feel a sense of pride, knowing that you are the one who has accomplished your goal. And as you feel proud, you might also feel grateful that you have been created in such a way to be able to accomplish this goal. So take a minute just to enjoy this experience.”

Chapter 6 Post Hypnotic Suggestions and Cues

Posthypnotic suggestions and cues are a powerful extension of hypnosis. According to Yapko (2012, p. 272) “Posthypnotic suggestions are a necessary part of the therapeutic process if clients are to carry new possibilities into future experiences. Without them, the learnings acquired during hypnosis will most probably be limited to the session itself.” Barber (1996, p. 93) defines a posthypnotic suggestion as “one that is intended to have effect after the hypnotic experience is over and the patient has regained normal waking consciousness.” Posthypnotic suggestions are suggestions given to the subject while in trance to elicit desired responses outside of trance. According to Alman (2001, p. 529) “Posthypnotic cues are any thoughts, actions, words, images, symbols or events that initiate or trigger your posthypnotic suggestion.” For posthypnotic suggestions and cues to be successful, the client must be motivated to accept and act on the suggestions and cues that are created. The cues must be related to the action or event that the subject wants to respond to. Find or create actions that logically precede or are associated with the situation or event to which the subject wishes to respond. Make the suggestions and cues as specific as possible to the situation of change you wish to make. Broad, general suggestions are less effective than ones that focus on precise and well-defined goals. For example, a posthypnotic suggestion for a person suffering from insomnia might be: “Each night when you turn off the light switch, you may feel a switch take place inside of you that causes you to change from being wide awake to being sleepy.”

Posthypnotic suggestions can come at any point in the trance and you can use several, which I would recommend. To demonstrate, I will use the example from the previous session and include three posthypnotic suggestions in the example. I have put the posthypnotic suggestions in bold print so that you can easily locate them.

other times goes so slow. I notice with my grandchildren that if they are involved in something that piques their interest, time seems to fly by for them; but if they are bored, every minute seems like an eternity. Memory is also interesting. Isn’t it interesting how sometimes you can remember things so clearly and other times you can’t remember them at all. And it’s not just facts that I’m talking about, but the same is true of sensations. For example, the other day I was on my way home from my office and I developed a headache. I couldn’t wait to get home to take a Tylenol. As I drove into my driveway, my neighbor caught me to discuss a problem in our neighborhood. About 45 minutes later, I went into my house and realized that I had not taken anything for my headache. I had become so involved in the conversation that I had totally forgotten about it. You might go back to a time when you were 21 (let’s assume the pain began when the person was 24) or 18 or 15. Go back to a time when you felt really strong and healthy. Remember a specific experience when you felt at your best. Get into that experience and intensify the feeling of strength and health. Make it twice as strong. Now memorize the feeling. Allow every muscle to memorize this feeling. Let every organ memorize this feeling. Every pore of your skin can memorize this feeling, so that from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, every part of you has memorized what it feels like to be strong and healthy. Now bring that memory up through the years to this present time, so that in the future you can use this memory to experience the strength and health. As you experience this feeling of strength and health, take a deep breath. And any time in the future when you want to experience this feeling of strength and health, all you need to do is to take a deep breath. Now you might go stand in your future 6 months from now. As you stand there, looking back at your present, notice the changes that took place in that 6 month period. Notice all the steps you took to achieve your goal. As you stand there you might feel a sense of pride, knowing that you are the one who has accomplished your goal. And as you feel proud, you might also feel grateful that you have been created in such a way to be able to accomplish this goal. So take a minute just to enjoy this experience.” And to enjoy this experience in the future, you can recall sitting in my office being relaxed and calm.

Exercise. Practice creating posthypnotic suggestions. Write down three posthypnotic suggestions that

you might use with someone suffering from anxiety. Reorienting the person to a waking state. Now you are ready to bring the person out of

trance. I usually do this by reversing the order of the induction sequence. I begin the reorienting by making the same statements that I made to deepen the trance. For example, if I said that she might notice a change in her breathing as she goes deeper into trance, then I would say that she might notice a change in her breathing as she comes out of trance. If I made the conscious/unconscious dissociation statement of “your conscious mind might be wondering what you will learn in this experience while your unconscious mind takes you deeper into trance” then I might say, “Your conscious mind might be wondering what you learned in this experience while your unconscious mind brings you out of trance.” If I made the rapport building statement of “you can feel the pressure of your back against the back of the chair as you go deeper into trance” then I might say, “you can feel the pressure of your back against the back of the chair as you come out of trance.” Be certain to allow the person to reorient at her own pace. Also, during this phase you might use the posthypnotic suggestion of amnesia, suggesting that the person remember what she needs to remember and forgetting what she needs to forget.

Reversing the order of the induction sequence is not the only way to bring one out of trance. O’Hanlon & Martin (1992, p. 87) suggest to the person that “there’s nothing you need to do particularly except just reorient to the present time and present place.” Yapko, (2012, p. 406)

states that “it is a good idea to first orient clients to the idea of closure by saying something such as, ‘You can review and absorb whatever important new possibilities you wish to as you prepare to bring this session to a comfortable and satisfying end.’”

Exercise. Practice inducing trance and then bringing the person out of trance by reversing the order of the statements you used to induce the trance.

After the person comes out of trance, I immediately turn their attention to something other than the trance. I might ask them where they are from, where they went to college or some other neutral question. The purpose is to create amnesia for the trance experience. The less they remember, the better, because the conscious mind can create doubts about the success of the trance if it remembers too much. After a few minutes of talking about something else, then I turn their attention to the effect of the trance. I ask them to measure the discomfort of their problem before the trance and then after the trance, so we can see the progress they made. For example, if they come for anxiety, I’ll ask them to rate their anxiety on a 10 point scale prior to the hypnosis and then rate it again after the hypnosis. This shows them that something therapeutic occurred during the trance.

Chapter 7 Using Hypnosis for Specific Issues

Pain Management. Yapko (2012, pp. 495-513) does an excellent and thorough job of discussing the use of hypnosis for pain management. He cites studies showing the effectiveness of hypnosis with pain management. It is not my intention to prove that hypnosis works with pain or to thoroughly discuss the topic. Rather, I want to give the reader the strategies that I most use in treating people with chronic pain.

I generally have a four session plan for pain control. My experience is that if the person’s pain is not better in four sessions, then I am unlikely to be competent enough to assist them in pain relief.

Session 1. I use the trance phenomena of dissociation, time distortion and amnesia. I make posthypnotic suggestions of the person feeling better related to specific cues and of the person going into trance by using a certain cue. I ask the person to rate her pain on a 10-point scale (with 1 being no pain and 10 being unbearable pain) prior to the trance work. After the trance, I ask her to rate her pain again. Usually the pain has been reduced some or is totally gone. I always praise the good work of the client and make a big deal of the improvement. For example, if her pain went from an 8 to a 6, I might say, “Wow, you improved by 25% in 45 minutes time. Isn’t that amazing?”

Session 2. We discuss how the week went. Did the pain increase, decrease or stay the same during the week? Was the person able to go into trance using the cue? What was most helpful from the first session? What did not help? Based on the responses of the client, I then create a trance, using the same phenomena or different phenomena, depending on what the client told me. We rate the pain at beginning and end as in the first session.

Session 3. We discuss how the week went with my asking the same questions as previously. The trance work in this session focuses on the internal sensations and changing the painful sensations to pleasant sensations. For example, suppose the person has back pain that she describes as a burning sensation, then she might change it to a cool sensation. This can be done by suggesting some examples of cool places such as “perhaps you can remember a time when

you sat outside on a cool fall night and you can experience the sensation of feeling cool right now. As you feel this coolness, you can allow it to travel to your left shoulder, then your stomach and finally your neck.” Notice I did not suggest to let the coolness go to her back. I suggest other places in her body. By doing it this way, it is her idea to take it to her back. We also might work on lessening the pain. If it is at an 8, we might lower it to a 7 and then possibly to a 6. We can do this by having her describe very specifically what an 8 feels like and then to describe what she thinks a 7 would feel like. The more specifically and graphically she describes the pain, the more likely it is that the pain will move from an 8 to a 7. Another way we might accomplish this is to mention a volume knob on a radio and using it to turn down the sound or a thermostat on the oven and using it to lower the heat. Finally, we might work on moving the pain from one location in the body to another location where it is not as disabling. To do this, I will ask the client to see the pain and to tell me what color and what shape it is. Suppose she says that it is a red circle. I will ask her to move the red circle to other parts of her body until it reaches a place where it does not create the problem that it created in its original location. We rate the pain at beginning and end as in the previous sessions.

Session 4. We discuss how the week went with my asking the same questions as previously. This session focuses on age regression and hypermnesia. The client regresses to a time before the onset of the pain and remembers what it felt like to be healthy. She intensifies this healthy feeling and memorizes it. I set a visual, auditory or kinesthetic cue and make a posthypnotic suggestion that she can experience this feeling any time she desires by accessing the cue. I then use age progression and suggest that she be at a certain age in the future and she can look back and realize all the progress she has made and exactly how she made this progress. When she comes out of trance, I have her test the results by creating the pain and then using the posthypnotic suggestion to lower or eliminate the pain. I want her to be confident that she knows how to eliminate or lower the pain in the future.

Phobias/Panic Attacks. A phobia is an irrational fear of an object, place or situation. A panic attack is a sudden episode of, usually intense, fear with symptoms possibly including rapid heart rate, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, chest pains and maybe even a sense of dying (Wester & Sugarman, 2007, p. 205). This is the basic strategy that I use with people who suffer from phobias or panic attacks. I use dissociation, changing the experience to one that is less powerful, using existing resources and hallucinating support.

I begin the treatment phase of the trance by suggesting that the person sit in a movie theatre and feel calm and relaxed while watching a movie of herself experiencing the phobia, noticing all the differences between herself sitting in the seat and the person on the screen experiencing the phobia. Next, I suggest that she see herself in a situation that would cause her phobic reaction. I suggest that she change the picture so that it is no longer threatening. She doesn’t change the situation but she changes the sub-modalities such as from color to black and white, shrinking the picture, moving it further back, lowering the volume of the sound, etc. Then I suggest that she find resources that she has that she could use in this situation and finally, I suggest that she imagine folks around her who will give her support and encouragement.

Let’s suppose that I’m working with someone who has a phobia of public speaking. The treatment part of the trance might sound like this: “You might go to a movie theatre and sit on the 8th or 10th row. As you sit there, you notice that you feel calm and relaxed. The movie begins to play and you realize that it is a movie of you but the person on the screen is the one who has the phobia. As you sit there feeling comfortable and relaxed watching the person on the screen experiencing the phobia, you begin to notice the differences between yourself and her.

You notice how you think differently than she thinks. You also notice how you look different. Your facial expression might be different or how you hold yourself or other differences. You also notice how you feel differently than she feels. You notice how you feel different physically and also emotionally. It is fascinating to notice all the differences between you and her, is it not? Now you might see yourself on the screen speaking in front of a group and as you watch this, you might begin to play with it and make changes in it. For example, you might change it from color to black and white and notice how this affects how you feel. You might also shrink it to a smaller size, move it further back, change it to a still snapshot, turn the volume down. Isn’t it interesting to notice how the experience changes as you make these simple changes in the movie? And of course, you can make the exact changes that make the picture more and more comfortable for you and you can keep those changes. And you can see this picture any time in the future when you want to feel calm and comfortable. You are an incredible person with so many skills and internal resources. Walking is an amazing skill. Remembering which foot to pick up and how high to raise it and how fast to move it forward and how to shift the muscles in your body to keep your balance while your foot is in the air and exactly when to put your foot down and pick up the other foot. Writing is also amazing. Remembering all the different shapes of the letters, how many humps the M has and where the bubble is on the p and the b. But you know how to write. Driving a car, remembering how much pressure to put on the gas pedal to go a certain speed or how much pressure to put on the brake to slow down or stop or how much to turn the steering wheel to go around a corner or a curve. But you drive effortlessly. Just as you had not thought about these skills until I mentioned them, I bet you have skills that you are unconsciously aware of that you can use to be calm and relaxed in front of a crowd. I don’t know what those skills are; or, if you will begin to use them immediately or maybe tomorrow or next week. Won’t it be fun to be on the lookout for them and to notice them when they occur? Now you can add friends and family to the picture and you can have them smiling at you or giving you a thumbs-up or speaking words of encouragement. You can let them do whatever gives you the most confidence and feel the most calm and relaxed. So move out into your future and see yourself confidently and calmly speaking and enjoying every word of it. And perhaps a smile comes across your face as you view your success and any time in the future when you want to experience this, all you need to do is smile.

Exercise. Imagine that you have a client who suffers from depression. Write out a plan of action that

you might use with this client. Include at least three trance phenomena and at least three posthypnotic suggestions.

Postscript

I have given you the basics of therapeutic hypnosis. This book is not intended to make you a hypnotherapist. It is intended to whet your appetite and motivate you to receive the necessary training so that hypnosis can become one of the tools in your therapeutic tool box. By reading it and doing the exercises I hope you have an understanding of hypnosis and what is involved in the process. Not only should you be trained, but once you have been trained, you must use the skills that you learn. If you do not use what you learn, you will quickly lose it.

Being trained in hypnosis transformed my practice. Prior to this training I found counseling to be a slow and laborious process. As I learned to use hypnosis I experienced clients improving much more rapidly. May the same be true for you.

###

References Alman, B. M. (2001). Self-Care: Approaches from Self-Hypnosis for Utilizing Your

Unconscious (Inner) Potentials. In Geary & Zeig (Ed.) The Handbook of Ericksonian Psychotherapy. (Phoenix, AZ: The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Press).

Barber, J. (1996). A Brief Introduction to Hypnotic Analgesia. In Barber (Ed) Hypnosis and Suggestion in the Treatment of Pain. (New York: W. W. Norton & Co.).

Barber, J. (1996). Hypnotic Analgesia: Clinical Considerations. In Barber (Ed) Hypnosis and Suggestion in the Treatment of Pain. (New York: W. W. Norton & Co.).

Berman, M. & Brown, D. (2000). The Power of Metaphor. (Norwalk, CT: Crown House). James, T. (2000). Hypnosis A Comprehensive Guide. (Bethel, CT: Crown House). Lankton, S. R. (2001). A Goal-Directed Intervention for Decisive Resolution of Coping

Limitations Resulting from Moderate and Severe Trauma. In Geary & Zeig (Ed.) The Handbook of Ericksonian Psychotherapy. (Phoenix, AZ: The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Press).

Lankton, S. R. & Lankton, C. H. (1986). Enchantment and Intervention in Family Therapy. (New York: Brunner/Mazel).

Lankton, S. R. & Lankton, C. H. (1983) The Answer Within: a Clinical Framework of Ericksonian Hypnotherapy. (New York: Bruner/Mazel).

O’Hanlon, W. H. & Martin, M. (1992). Solution-Oriented Hypnosis. (New York: W. W. Norton & Co.).

Powers, M. (2013). A Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis. (e-book format, Sheba Blake Publishing).

Short, D., Erickson, B. A. & Klein, R. E. (2005). Hope & Resiliency. (Norwalk, CT: Crown House).

Wagner, B. (2013). Brief and Unusual Therapies. (e-book version: Smashwords.com). Wester, W. C. & Sugarman, L. I. (2007). Therapeutic Hypnosis with Children and

Adolescents. (Bethel, CT: Crown House Publishing). Wilson, R. R. (2001). Anxiety Disorders. In Geary & Zeig (Ed.) The Handbook of

Ericksonian Psychotherapy. (Phoenix, AZ: The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Press). Yapko, M. D. (2012). Trancework. (New York: Routledge). Young, P. (2011). Understanding NLP. (Bethel, CT: Crown House Publishing). Zeig, J. K. (2001). Hypnotic Induction. In Geary & Zeig (Ed.) The Handbook of

Ericksonian Psychotherapy. (Phoenix, AZ: The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Press). Zeig, J. K. & Geary, B. B. (2001). Ericksonian Approaches to Pain Management. In Geary

& Zeig (Ed) The Handbook of Ericksonian Psychotherapy. (Phoenix, AZ: The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Press).

About the Author

Buddy Wagner is a National Certified Counselor and a National Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. He is a graduate of Mississippi College with a Bachelor's Degree in Latin and the University of Mississippi with a Master's Degree in Community Counseling and a PhD in Educational Psychology. He served as Director of the Counseling Center at Mississippi College from 1986 to his retirement in 2009. He continues to teach in the Counseling Psychology Graduate Program at Mississippi College. He teaches Techniques in Group Counseling, Techniques in Brief Therapy and Special Studies in Hypnosis. He has published three previous books: Brief and Unusual Therapies, Facilitating Therapy Groups and Searching for Values: A Grandfather’s Way. He and his wife, Sheila, live in Clinton, Mississippi. Between them, they have five children and six grandchildren. You may contact the author at [email protected].