Interactive Trance And Confirming The Acceptability Of Suggestions
It is common for new hypnotherapists to expect that the patient should basically remain in a silent and passive role, while the therapist assumes full responsibility for single-handedly formulating suggestions and controlling the patient's experience. This is an error. We observe students frequently suggesting various types of internal e.g., imagery, regression experiences without any idea whether the patient is actually experiencing what was suggested. You may involve the patient as an active...
Charles B Mutter MD
Various metaphors may be used with a patient in hypnosis to reinterpret pain as a protective mechanism rather than a debilitating one. The following metaphor is used while the patient is in hypnosis . When you drive a car and it overheats, a red light signal goes on the dashboard . . . that signal tells you to pull the car over to check the fan belt, the water pump, or radiator . . . because you know that if you continue to drive the car when it is hot, you can damage the motor. It is good to...
Confusional Suggestions
It is popularly believed that confusion will depotentiate conscious mental sets Erickson amp Rossi, 1979 , allowing unconscious processes to occur more readily. Erickson 1964 believed that this type of suggestion was particularly indicated when a patient was consciously motivated but seemed unconsciously resistant to experiencing hypnosis. We will briefly introduce suggestions of this type. shock and surprise Shock and surprise may be used to facilitate creative moments, stimulating the...
Ellis J Neiburger DDS
The jaw clenching-muscle cramping-pain cycle of the temporomandibular joint syndrome can be reduced or eliminated by relaxation obtained by slightly opening the mouth. Inserting the tongue between the teeth tends in general to act as an accurate measure of interocclusal distance, and serves as a reminder of unconscious mandibular closure. Suggesting to the patient that whenever he clenches his jaw he will automatically insert his tongue between his teeth, averts the initialing state in the...
Hypnosis with Medical Disorders 217
Hypnosis with Dermatologic Disorders 222 Treatment of Pruritus Michael J. Scott 222 Erickson's Refraining Suggestion with Pruritus Milton H. Erickson 223 Suggestions for Itching Beata Jencks 223 Hypnotic Technique for Treating Warts Harold B. Crasilneck and James A. Hall 223 Suggestions for Warts Modeled after Hartland Don E. Gibbons 224 Suggestions for Vaginal Warts Diane Roberts Stoler 225 Suggestions with Condyloma Acuminatum Genital Warts Dabney M. Ewin 226 Suggestions for Immunodeficient...
Victor Rausch DDS
INTRODUCTION AND INDUCTION OF HYPNOSIS To determine the appropriate formal induction technique suitable for a particular patient, let us ask ourselves one question At this time, is the patient experiencing acute physical pain or severe psychological distress If the patient is not in immediate severe pain or distress, more permissive techniques such as progressive relaxation enhanced with ego-strengthening phrases are usually sufficient to produce the relaxation necessary to make the procedure...
Ralph V August MD
The late Dr. August used group training with obstetrical patients, and his groups included both experienced and new hypnotic subjects. He believed that by watching experienced subjects who entered hypnosis more quickly and easily, beginners learned self-hypnosis more quickly. He learned that hypnosis followed by suggestions for continuing comfort, Just like you feel now, would control hyperemesis for two to ten days, and sometimes permanently. The following suggestions model those given in...
The Sympathetic Listener Selfhypnotic Assignment
Following hypnotic induction and deepening Imagine a sympathetic listener, a sympathetic ear. The ear is eager to hear whatever you have to say thoughts, feelings, complaints, ideas. It wants to listen, and listens with perfect attention, without fatigue or judgment. Tell the ear all that concerns you now. . . . Each day take time to put yourself in a trance and talk to the sympathetic ear. As you talk to the sympathetic ear, you feel your concerns are fully and completely heard.
T 1
x here are a variety of encouraging studies indicating that presurgical hypnotic suggestions and suggestions delivered while the patient is under anesthesia or in the recovery room may reduce postoperative pain and complications and speed recovery Bonello et al., 1960 Bonilla, Quigley amp Bowen, 1961 Doberneck, McFee, Bonello, Papermaster, amp Wangensteen, 1961 Evans amp Richardson, 1988 Goldmann, Shay, amp Hebden, 1987 Kolough, 1962 Werbel, 1960 . awareness under chemical anesthesia. Milton H....
Helen H Watkins MA Lmu
I hypnotize the patient, deepening by walking down stairs, and then suggest the following In front of us is a hallway at the end of which is the Door of Forgiveness. However, before you can reach the Door of Forgiveness, there may be other doors you may need to pass through. Look on either side of the hallway and tell me if you see any doors. If the patient perceives doors on either side of the hallway, I ask, To which door do you wish to go first After the patient answers, we walk to the door...
Marvin Stock MD
When you mentioned your problem with chocolate, I told you how I understand that, and that I will tell you of my personal experience. Years ago, when I was a young adult in medical school, I suffered from acne. The dermatologist repeatedly informed me that my adolescent acne was maintained, actually made worse, by the chocolate I regularly consumed. Despite the disfiguring acne, I found it impossible to stop. The years went by. At last I was at the stage where I could work with actual patients...
The Law Of Dominant Effect
This principle states that stronger emotions tend to take precedence over weaker ones. Thus, once again, rather than appealing to the conscious will, you will find it more effective to connect your suggestions to a dominant emotion. The famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow once described his prime courtroom strategy. He would seek to stir the emotions of the jury so that they wanted to decide the case his way, and then he would look for a technicality to give them to justify it. We as...
Ernest L Rossi PhD and David B Cheek MD
Mahbu, California, and Santa Barbara, California Therapy for persistent pain states must be elastic and must conform to the understandings and needs of the patient and the patient's relatives. Often it must also fit into the needs and understandings of prior medical and surgical attendants in whom the patient has continued faith. It is best judgment to listen carefully to what the patient thinks can be done and what he or she expects the hypnotherapist to use as an approach to the problem. The...
William S Kroger MD and William D Fezler PhD
Palm Springs, California, and Beverly Hills, California imagery of soft cotton. You are enveloped in a layer of cotton which acts as a protective coating. This wonderful feeling will remain for several hours or all day your skin will feel fine until your next visit. negative sensory hallucination. The hypnotized patient is asked to imagine how the skin looks and feels in an area without lesions. Look at your right wrist you can begin to speculate on whether or not that area will look like your...
Staircase Imagery
Imagine yourself going down a softly carpeted stairway . . . slowly . . . step by step . . . you count each step until you are all the way down. Therapist counts slowly to 10 or 20. At the bottom of the steps you see a room, and you know that this room is there for you . . . for you alone. You enter this room. It's the most comfortable room imaginable and it looks exactly as you want it to be. Describe if indicated. There is a wonderfully inviting bed in this room. You realize immediately that...
Gerald J Mozdzierz PhD 1
This suggestion pertains to helping children and adults to rid themselves of a case of simple hiccups. This distressing symptom can interfere with a clinical interview or physical exam, and yet I have found that it can be quickly relieved. I have no knowledge of the derivation of this technique or if it has ever been described in publication form. I only know that I have used this approach to help any number of people to rid themselves of this oftentimes distressing spasming of the diaphragm...
The Principle Of Trance Ratification
In hypnosis it is vitally important to create a sense of positive expectancy in the patient. Trance ratification refers to the process of providing the patient with a convincer, that is, an experience or experiences that ratify for patients that they have been in an altered state of consciousness. It is interesting that sometimes even highly talented hypnotic subjects do not believe they have been hypnotized until they have a ratifying experience. Trance ratification is a basic, yet often...
Emil G Bishay MD and Chingmuh Lee MD
The following suggestions were used successfully in a study Bishay amp Lee, 1984 that documented the reduction in regional blood flow to the hands through production of hypnoanesthesia. Similar suggestions may facilitate vascular control in other parts of the body. Ed. Following induction utilizing relaxation, imagery, and a 20-step staircase for deepening Now you are so deeply relaxed, your whole body feels very relaxed, and very heavy. You have relaxed so well that you did not pay attention...
Ernest L Rossi PhD and David B Cheek MD Gcg
Mahbu, California, and Santa Barbara, California If a patient is seen hours or days after experiencing a burn, proceed as follows, explaining the process as a means of eliminating inflammation and allowing healing to occur rapidly. 1. Accessing inner healing resources Remember a time when you walked into cold water. It felt cold for a while until a time when you got used to it. That represents a degree of numbness. When you are feeling cold at an unconscious . . . level, your brain will shut...
T Oht
x he concept of ego-strengthening was popularized by John Hartland 1971 . His ego-strengthening approach, reprinted later in this chapter, simply consisted of generalized supportive suggestions. Their purpose was to increase the patient's confidence and belief in him or herself, enhance general coping abilities, and minimize anxiety and worrying. It was his common practice to give ego-strengthening suggestions as part of almost every induction, seeking to reinforce self-reliance and a positive...
basic selfhypnosis suggestions in an alert trance
Enter an alert trance state by using the LEVER or some other exercise. Then give yourself the basic suggestions. After the suggestion, begin to study in an alert trance state. 1. Notice the paper. What color is it Notice how clean and crisp it seems. Fingers slide over the surface, and feel how smooth. Eyes can flow across the page, going easily from side to side, seeing everything. 2. Notice the letters on the page. They seem dark and distinct. The round parts of the O's and C's are very...
Ernest L Rossi PhD and David B Cheek MD Hzs
Mahbu, California, and Santa Barbara, California 1. Initial training in anesthesia and well-being a. Ideodynamic signaling for exercises in anesthesia and or analgesia Your yes finger can lift when you can feel the numbness coldness, stiffness, etc. . b. Ideodynamic exploration and correction of misconceptions and fears about surgery. 2. Accessing and utilizing inner resources a. After surgery of this kind, most patients are well and ready to go home in X days. Does your inner mind know it can...
Preinduction Discussion
1. Routine discussion of misconceptions about hypnosis. 2. Discussion of power of unconscious mind to control all body systems, i.e., respiration rate, heart rate, flight or fight responses, and alimentary function. 3. Discussion of physiology of alimentary tract, i.e., peristaltic motion, gastric empty, swallowing, etc. 4. Discussion of vomiting control center in brain. 5. Discussion of nutrition and its effect on pregnancy. 6. Find out from patient what her favorite food is, how she likes it...
M Erik Wright MD PhD
The following illustration shows how guided imagery can be used to assuage discomfort by reinterpreting its nature. It is taken from a case where it was important for the intensity of pain to become tolerable so that healing could be facilitated. Trance induction had already taken place. The therapist continued You have described this pain in your leg shin as being sharp and piercing, like a knife point sticking into the bone A very distressing and uncomfortable experience It would become more...
The Carrot Principle
As therapists we sometimes, in effect, try to push our patients from behind, toward a goal. But, like trying to push a mule toward our chosen destination, we find that some of our patients dig in their heels and resist our influence. Instead of pushing people from behind, we should be seeking to motivate them from in front, toward a goal. Therefore, as you formulate suggestions, interject comments about the patient's goals. This principle encourages us to link the patient's motivations and...
Lawrence Earle Moore PhD
step 1. pre-induction talk. This is designed to facilitate the hypnotic induction by establishing rapport with the patient, correcting his misconceptions about hypnosis, and allaying his anxieties. step 2. hypnotic induction. Typically this proceeds with a formal and direct induction procedure. Eye fixation is preferred because it establishes a precedent for the patient's narrowing focus of attention later to be on a particular part of the body . This may be followed by progressive relaxation....
Establish Rapport And A Cooperative Relationship
Establishing a relationship with the patient must always be considered the first and most vitally important prerequisite for suggestions to be effective. Relating to the patient in a warm, understanding, caring and respectful manner reduces defensiveness and creates the trusting kind of climate that is necessary for hypnosis to be maximally effective. Because hypnosis is a cooperative venture, rather than something we do to the patient, it is crucially important to devote time to the human...
Harold B Crasilneck PhD and James A Hall MD Ers
You will not crave excessively for a habit negatively affecting your health. . . . Your mind can block the perception of discomfort, as when your finger felt insensitive to the pressure of the sharp nail file. . . . Your mind will function in such a manner that you will no longer crave for a habit that has negatively affected your life with every drag of cigarette smoke you have taken into your lungs. . . . You will block the craving for tobacco a habit that is causing your heart and your lungs...
Harold P Golan DMD
You will do this whole exercise with a sense of humor, sort of laugh at yourself and the rest of the world, knowing that you have this secret weapon to use whenever necessary. You may even smile at your teeth, jaws, tissues, realizing that they are going to be helped by what you are learning. You may use this knowledge for any medical or dental situation, injections, examinations, whatever. An explanation may be given to the patient that stressful situations occur every day which cause us to...
Paul Sacerdote MD PhD
After obtaining sufficient depth through fractionation I verbalized as follows Through the experience of having learned during the last 10 minutes to produce a state of hypnosis, you have established in your brain new circuits, new pathways, and new patterns of activity through which your brain learns to assume better and fuller control of your body. Your brain is the communications center every second it receives millions of bits of information from every part of your body and from the...
Richard B Garver EdD Scu
Essentially there are two areas that are very important and helpful 1 control of arousal level and 2 neuromotor facilitation. Arousal level, no matter what the motivations are behind it, affects performance. It is not always necessary to psychotherapeutically work through all of the many complex issues that produce these arousal levels they may not even be important any longer. But it is important to begin to control the arousal level even if you are working through the reasons behind it. You...
Beata Jencks PhD
This may be used as an induction or deepening technique. It incorporates all the aspects of Schultz's autogenic training, but uses imagery instead of Schultz's intellectual formulas. It has proven valuable with anxiety, with children as well as adults, and in preparation for childbirth training. Individuals will respond best who can use visual and kinesthetic imagery. The procedure may be used on a self-hypnosis tape, and it may be presented in segments introducing only the limb heaviness...
Hypnoanesthesia
It is well documented that hypnosis may actually be used as the sole anesthetic for both minor and major surgeries August, 1960, 1961 Bowen, 1973 Elliotson, 1843 Esdaile, 1846 1976 Finer amp Nylen, 1961 Lait, 1961 Marmer, 1959 Minalyka amp Whanger, 1959 Monteiro amp de Oliveira, 1958 Rausch, 1980 Steinberg, 1965 Tinterow, 1960 . Some of these operations have included mitral commissurotomy, coarctation of the aorta, hysterectomy, thyroidectomy, hemorrhoidectomy, transurethral resection, dilation...
Truism
A truism is a statement of fact that someone has experienced so often that they cannot deny it. These statements may be focused on motor, sensory, affective or cognitive processes, or on time. For example Most people enjoy the pleasant feeling of the warmth of the sun on their skin, as they walk along the beach. types of phrasing. The following types of phrases are often used with a truism. Most people . . . Everyone . . . You already know . . . You already know how to . . . Some people . . ....
Disorientation And Confusion Technique With Pain
Let us see, is that pain in your right leg, or your left leg . . . Let us see, which is your left leg and which is your right leg And you can get as confused as you get the child confused on this subject of where the pain is, and which leg is which. And now is it on the outside side of your leg, or is it on the inside side of your leg . . . I discussed Tightness and leftness, and centrality and dextrality, and so on, until the girl was so confused that she thought this hand was her right hand...
Illustrative Script For Saying Goodbye
Addressing the hypnotized subject What I would like you to do is to write a goodbye letter in your mind. Allow yourself to visualize and see a pad of paper. Do you see the paper Wait for confirmation. Now visualize a pen. Obtain confirmation. If there is resistance, use explor atory methods to uncover the purpose of the block. Good Now imagine writing the goodbye letter, and as you begin to write, just say everything that you're writing out loud. And as you write, you'll begin to notice that...
Invigoration Exercises For Alertness
Jencks invigoration exercises are designed to produce alertness, a lightness of the spirit, and feelings of being alive. Although many of the exercises involve imagery, some of the exercises may be done with the eyes open, performed in a short period of time, and do not involve hypnosis. Ed. simple invigoration. Imagine stretching the arms and legs and feel very much alive during inhalations. Also just inhale with an invigorating thought, such as alive and anew, aware and awake. energizing....
Ernest L Rossi PhD and David B Cheek MD Fkg
Mahbu, California, and Santa Barbara, California 1. The critically ill are already in a state of hypnosis. Learn to recognize and utilize the spontaneous expressions of hypnotic behavior. 2. Avoid conversation and actions that might suggest pessimism. Suggest hope and optimism, but do so sincerely since the threatened human is canny in recognizing reassurance that is phony. 3. Collect your thoughts and marshal a plan of action before touching or speaking directly to the patient. You may be...
An Example of Positive Suggestions for WellBeing
Sheryl C. Wilson, Ph.D., and Theodore X. Barber, Ph.D. Frammgham, Massachusetts, and Ashland, Massachusetts The illustrative suggestions, as presented below, are an example of the kinds of positive suggestions that we have used in conjunction with many other suggestions in the treatment of smoking and obesity. The key to your success is confidence . . . confidence in yourself . . . confidence in your ability to do . . . whatever you truly want to do . . . confidence that you can and will...
Introduction Nvd
John Hartland pointed out that only a few patients will let go of their symptoms before they feel confident and strong enough to do without them. Hartland's ego-strengthening techniques are comprised of positive suggestions of self-worth and personal effectiveness. I view ego-strengthening as analogous to the medical setting in which a patient is first strengthened by proper nutrition, general rest, and weight gain before a radical form of sur gery is performed. At times his condition...
Sheryl C Wilson PhD and Theodore X Barber PhD
Frammgham, Massachusetts, and Ashland, Massachusetts The following suggestions are illustrative of suggestions that we have used as one part of a broad based program for the treatment of overweight. The suggestions are presented to the client in the office and are simultaneously tape recorded. The client is then given the cassette tape and is asked to listen to the tape daily. These illustrative suggestions, which are presented below in a generalized form, are tailored specifically for each...
Richard P Kluft MD
Many patients with multiple personality disorder have had sufficient traumata that almost any set of images may be affectively loaded. The following is often sufficiently neutral, complex, and distracting that it is accepted and engrosses attention throughout the procedure across all alters, even those that are not participants in the fusion. Since it requires considerable concentration, it makes enough demands upon the patient to divert him or her from low to moderate levels of anxiety that...
flexibility
In addition to the kinds of creativity already described, parents are comforted and relieved to learn of other dimensions of flexibility in hypnotherapy, and this, too, maximizes hope and participation. For example, they like the idea that flexibility of wording or induction technique can bring them closer to a desired goal. Parents report successfully varying original wording in an unexpected situation. Likewise they find appealing the idea that hypnotherapy can be done with children by...
The Law Of Reversed Effect
The principle of reversed effect primarily applies to making suggestions to produce physiological effects. This law refers to the fact that the harder one consciously endeavors to do something, the more difficult it becomes to succeed. Have you ever tried to consciously will an erection or an orgasm Or, how many times have you retired to bed too late and tried to help yourself to go to sleep, only to find yourself more wide awake Just as we are unsuccessful at trying to will ourselves to...
A David Feinstein PhD and R Michael Morgan
Ashland, Oregon, and San Diego, California Feinstein and Morgan 1986 described a program for treating bipolar affective disorder patients with hypnosis. The five stages of their program include 1 determining relevant medical and psychosocial parameters 2 establishing rapport and a positive response set to the therapy 3 introducing suggestions for electrochemical regulation 4 teaching self-hypnosis and 5 addressing self-concept. One innovative technique that they described is reprinted here. A...
Emergency Hypnosis for the Burned Patient
The acutely burned patient arrives in the emergency room in a state of frightened anxiety, seeking prompt relief of the burning pain, and in a hypnoidal state that makes him highly susceptible to both good and bad suggestions. The body's response to the thermal injury is inflammation, causing progressive pathologic worsening Hinshaw, 1963 of the injury. In sun burn, the first degree burn redness present on leaving the sun progresses to second degree blister in the ensuing 8-12 hours. The...
Negatives To Discharge Resistance
Erickson Erickson amp Rossi, 1979 believed that the use of negatives could serve as a lightning rod to discharge minor inhibitions and resistance. He had begun using this type of suggestion by the 1930s and he believed in its clinical utility, but thus far we have no experimental validation for its effectiveness. Nonetheless, this type of suggestion is commonly used by many clinicians. Some examples will illustrate this type of suggestion. You can't stop it, can you And why not just allow that...
Suggestions With Cancer Patients
Many of the same pain strategies apply with pain patients. However, for coping with the side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, I suggest that the unconscious mind will potentiate the therapeutic effects of all treatment and minimize the adverse side effects. It is suggested that, in fact, you can experience any number of different sensations instead of nausea or pain. A feeling of tingling, which often accompanies nausea, is one that you can focus on, and you will experience more...
R John Wakeman PhD and Jerold Z Kaplan MD
burns with children. A burn injury is a devastatingly traumatic experience for anyone, regardless of age. The younger child often has greater difficulty in adjusting to routine painful procedures. He she may have problems understanding why he she must be submitted to torturous procedures and cannot easily project into the future with knowledge that it will all end soon. For these reasons, hypnosis utilization became a highly demanded and reinforcing alternative for the children, their par ents,...
M Erik Wright PhD MD
In crisis or life-threatening situations e.g., cardiac trauma, automobile accidents , patients typically enter spontaneous trances, fixated in their attention on their body and immediate environment. Unfortunately, negative suggestions are often made in emergency situations by bystanders, ambulance attendants, police and medical personnel. For instance, patients may hear You'd better hurry, this guy may not make it Is this guy going to make it Wow, look at that blood all over the place. This...