Intensive Therapy: Utilizing Hypnosis in the Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jul 2004 by Potter, Greg

The content of the treatment phase of the hypnotic sessions were individualized, based upon the needs of the client, and should be determined by the therapist. As in all treatment using hypnosis, the therapist should be able to treat the individual not using hypnosis. Therefore, it is important for the therapist to be knowledgeable in the treatment of addictions before accepting the client for treatment.

Sobriety starts as soon as the client is not drinking or using drugs, and the treatment is built around a healthy recovery process. The first hypnotic session is a good time to begin developing a self-image as a sober person. When the client comes to the conclusion that the drug cannot safely be used, it is helpful to begin developing a self-image away from the addiction. Clients are asked to think about their ideal selfimage. They often come up with terms like healthy, sober, energetic, responsible, honest, respected, drug-free, etc. These words are then put into suggestion form. In the first hypnosis session, then, direct suggestion is used to begin a process of imprinting the positive characteristics into the client's self-image. These impressions can be reinforced in subsequent sessions as much as the therapist deems necessary based upon the individual needs of the client.

Also, during the first hypnosis session an anchor is usually employed to create a posthypnotic suggestion of "no, I don't want that, I'm free." This suggestion is anchored, by firmly touching the client on the left shoulder (Citrenbaum, King, & Cohen, 1985), to the feelings of "peace, strong and control." Then, when there are any cravings or thoughts of using the drug, the client repeats, "no I don't want that, I'm free" to bring about the suggested feelings of peace, strong and control. Anchors are more fully described in the "Treatment Tools" section of this paper.

In addition to building a non-using self-image, it is helpful to employ selfstrengthening techniques. Self-strengthening is an important part of the recovery process that can assist the client to address the PAW symptoms (Gorski & Miller, 1986), and is typically used in more than one session.

The process of treatment is to prevent relapse and is built around a healthy recovery. This process involves the effective handling of stress, monitoring and treating the PAW symptoms (Gorski & Miller, 1986) and a focus on healthy living.

When working with substance abuse or addiction, I ask the client to read the book Staying Sober by Gorski and Miller (1986). This book focuses on relapse prevention techniques and is a valuable resource. The reading Staying Sober is not negotiable because it provides the education of the recovery process that cannot be covered during hypnosis.

Following the initial treatment, there is an aftercare program that ranges from no planned visits to planned weekly visits. Following the clinical perspective of the program the aftercare sessions are also individualized to fit the needs of the client. The aftercare sessions provide a nice forum for more complete coverage of Staying Sober and making sure the client is aware of the recovery process.