Trance and treatment: Clinical uses of hypnosis

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis,  Oct 2004  by Mott, Thurman Jr

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Although they "prefer to abide by the principle of parsimony" and use shortterm treatment whenever possible, in the chapter, "Spectrum of Therapies," they discuss long-term therapy in the light of the HIP and the personality types associated with it. Therapies are presented as a continuum: exploration, confrontation, consolation, guidance, and persuasion. For example, Apollonians (low-hypnotizable) are suited best for exploration, whereas Dionysians (high-hypnotizable) are more appropriately treated with guidance and persuasion. For the very highly hypnotizable patient: "There is a growing accumulation of clinical data that suggests that introspective psychoanalytic therapy is contraindicated for the grade 5 patient. . .". The special considerations they suggest in the chapter on the Grade 5 syndrome are important for all clinicians, whether or not they use hypnosis.

The last chapter on treatment, "Hypnosis in the Treatment of Acute Stress Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Dissociation," will be useful to all clinicians who use hypnosis, whether or not they use the HIP. Because "hypnotic-like phenomena occur spontaneously in individuals with posttraumatic and dissociative disorders" hypnosis is "a means for learning to control such symptoms."

This book is clearly written and extremely well referenced (29 pages of references). Although it will be of special interest to those who want to use the HIP, many sections of the book will be valuable to all clinicians using hypnosis in treatment. It is essential reading for anyone who is teaching a comprehensive course on hypnosis. Assessing hypnotizability should be a part of every basic hypnosis course for clinicians.

References

Morgan, A.H. & Hilgard, J.R. (1978/79). The Stanford Clinical Scale for Adults. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 21, 134-147.

Pekala, R.J. (1995). A short unobtrusive hypnotic induction for assessing hypnotizability level: I. Development and research. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 37,271-283.

Reviewed by Thurman Mott, Jr., MD, Ijamsville, MD.

Copyright American Society of Clinical Hypnosis Oct 2004
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