A discourse with our genes: The psychosocial and cultural genomics of therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis,  Jul 2005  by Gafner, George

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Rossi, E.L. (2004). A discourse with our genes: The psychosocial and cultural genomics of therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy. Rome, Italy: Editris.

Rossi describes awakening one morning in 2002:

I was brutishly clubbed on the head in my sleep. I felt heavy and unable to move out of a cramped fetal position in the nightmarish darkness. I wanted to groan but could not. I did not know whether I was asleep or awake. . .a check of my face in the mirror revealed. . the right side of my face pulled down completely out of its normal symmetry (p. 19).

Rossi had suffered a stroke and a great voice had nearly been silenced. This book is about Rossi's recovery from the stroke, it is woven within the context of what the author calls the deep psychobiology of psychotherapy, a topic to which Rossi has been dedicated for the past two decades.

Rossi has previously explicated his theory in two AJCH volumes: "Expectancy and surprise: A conceptual review of stress and psychosocial genomics in therapeutic hypnosis" (vol. 45, no. 2, 2002), and "In search of a deep psychobiology of hypnosis: Visionary hypotheses for a new millennium" (vol. 42, nos. 3/4, Jan./Apr. 2000).

In the former, Rossi elucidates how the psychological experiences of expectancy and surprise may function as complementary mechanisms on the level of synaptic neurotransmission and gene expression. In the latter, Rossi gives us a more thorough review of the dynamics of hypnotic communication and healing from the cognitivebehavioral level to the cellular-genetic level in four stages: 1) information transduction between the experiences of consciousness and the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary system; 2) the psychosomatic network of messenger molecules and their receptors; 3) the immediate early gene protein cascade; and 4) state dependent memory, learning and behavior.

In the 2002 article, Rossi draws on hypnosis transcripts of Milton Erickson to speculate how Erickson's neuro-psycho-physiological approaches may engage the dynamics of expectancy and surprise to facilitate rehabilitation and healing on many levels of human experience from mind to gene expression. In this article, which appeared the same year as his stroke, Rossi speculates that the therapeutic application of hypnosis may include the facilitation of neurogenesis in the human brain, as well as mind-body healing at the cellular-genetic-protein level.

I cite these articles because they essentially cover what is contained in A Discourse with Our Genes. In the book Rossi provides essential historical data along with two of the author's favorite topics, ultradian rhythms and the four-stage creative cycle of healing and problem resolution. Those fortunate enough to have witnessed Rossi's demonstration of the four-stage cycle at a workshop will appreciate discussion of it in the book. The book provides detailed and well referenced discussion of neurogenesis in animal and human studies, certainly a controversial and exciting topic. With this and related discussion, the book goes beyond his other books, such as The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing: New Concepts of Therapeutic Hypnosis (1993)

In some ways, Rossi's The 20-Minute Break: Using the New Science of Ultradian Rhythms (reviewed previously) is a laymen's version of A Discourse with Our Genes. This book, printed in Italy, has several misspellings and typographical errors, which is a minor distraction. Those interested in psychobiology will especially appreciate this book. Hypnosis practitioners interested in science's informing of art will deepen their knowledge of mind-body interactions.

Milton Erickson was a dedicated researcher long before he described those things for which he is remembered today. Samuel Johnson's close confidant was Boswell. Rossi was Erickson's Boswell (Jeff Zeig, personal communication, 2000), and were the old man alive today, he would be proud.

Reviewed by: George Gafner, LCSW, Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Tucson, AZ.

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