Hypnotherapy: An Exploratory Casebook

This casebook is the most systematic analysis of Erickson's approach to hypnotherapy. It provides the theoretical principles and practical case studies necessary for professionals, students, and all those interested in the techniques of one of the leaders in the field. There are three central themes: The use of traditional psychotherapy to deal with symptom relief and behavioral change, the creation of new patterns of awareness, and the facilitation of new dimensions of personality and identity. The first four chapters offer systematic presentations of the utilization approach and indirect forms of suggestion - the essence of Erickson's therapeutic innovations over the past fifty years and the key to his unique skill as a hypnotherapist. Exercises at the end of these chapters help the clinical practitioner acquire the necessary skills to use these methods. Some of the cases presented in the following six chapters are the most completely documented hypnotherapy studies ever published. They illustrate and further explore Erickson's clinical work with patients. Six of the cases are major studies in which transcribed tape recordings of Erickson's actual words and patterns of interaction with patients are presented. In commentaries on these sessions, the authors present their understanding of the dynamics of the hypnotherapeutic process, and discuss current issues such as the functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, the mechanism of the creative process, and the facilitation of human potential.