The Highly Hypnotizable Person

The Highly Hypnotizable Person is the first book to present an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of what research and evidence there is for the existence and features of highly hypnotisable people.

What is hypnosis? Despite widespread misconceptions, hypnosis is not a treatment in itself; instead, it is a facilitator -- a useful diagnostic tool that can help the practitioner choose an appropriate treatment modality and accelerate various primary treatment strategies. The second edition of this remarkable work (first published 25 years ago) is written to provide both beginning and seasoned practitioners with a brief, disciplined technique for mobilizing and learning from an individual's capacity to concentrate. Putting to rest both exaggerated fears about hypnosis and overblown statements of its efficacy, this compelling volume brings scientific discipline to a systematic exploration of the clinical uses and limitations of hypnosis. The challenge was to develop a clinical measurement that could transform a fascinating amalgam of anecdotes, speculations, clinical intuitions and observations, and laboratory advances into a more fruitful and systematic body of information. Thus was born the authors' Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP), a crucial 10-minute clinical assessment procedure that relates the spectrum of hypnotizability to personality style, psychopathology, and treatment outcome. Structured to reflect the flow of a typical evaluation and treatment session and highlighted by case examples throughout, this remarkable synthesis describes how to use the HIP, reviews relevant literature, and details principles and short- and long-term treatment strategies for smoking control; eating disorders; anxiety, concentration, and insomnia; phobias; pain control; psychosomatic disorders and conversion symptoms; trichotillomania; stuttering; and acute and posttraumatic stress disorders and dissociation. Meticulously referenced and indexed, this in-depth work concludes with an appendix on the interpretation and standardization of the HIP.This unique work stands out in the literature because It is written both as an introduction for practitioners new to hypnosis and as an in-depth guide for practitioners with wide experience in hypnosis. Unlike current clinical works, it emphasizes the importance of performing a systematic assessment of hypnotizability to identify, measure, and utilize a given patient's optimal therapeutic potential -- a process that, until now, has been relegated to clinical intuition. It describes human behavior phenomenologically as it relates to hypnosis in a probable rather than an absolute fashion. It reviews only specific portions of the literature that are particularly relevant to the important themes presented by the authors. Wherever possible, the authors apply statistical methods to test their hypotheses. The realm of scientific investigation encompassing hypnosis and psychological dysfunction is comparatively new. This exceptional volume, with its profusion of systematic data, will spark controversy and interest among scientific students of hypnosis everywhere, from psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts to physicians, dentists, and other interested clinicians.

It should not surprise us that so many are finding unique value in the experiential techniques. The fact that eating-disordered patients adopt physical and often complex metaphoric means of expressing their emotional pain suggests the difficulty we are likely to encounter in asking them to articulate the inarticulable. In moving to spatial, kinesthetic, and symbolic expression, we are, in a sense, agreeing to speak the patient's language rather than our own. Given the very nature of eating disorders, many clinicians are finding that experiential methods are particularly applicable for treating patients who suffer from them. Providing a valuable new tool for practitioners, EXPERIENTIAL THERAPIES FOR EATING DISORDERS is the first text to focus solely on the application of expressive therapies and experiential techniques to the treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Each chapter of this innovative work systematically reviews a single experiential treatment approach. Among these are * guided imagery * hypnosis * structured eating * family sculpting * psychodrama and gestalt therapy * dance/movement therapy * art therapy * music therapy * and metaphor/poetry therapy. Throughout, important clinical issues that often accompany eating disorders also are addressed, including such topics as self-awareness, self-esteem, autonomy, identity, impulse regulation, affect modulation, body image, and interpersonal relationships. Countertransferential issues are examined, and areas needing further exploration such as father's role in the development of eating disorders, the hypnotizability of eating disordered patients, and the role of family in the treatment process are delineated. The contributing authors, experienced practitioners from a variety of disciplines, systematically establish the theoretical framework of each treatment approach, fully describe specific techniques, and then consider their practical applications in both inpatient and outpatient settings--providing numerous case examples for illustration. They also offer helpful recommendations for incorporating these techniques into ongoing treatment plans. EXPERIENTIAL THERAPIES FOR EATING DISORDERS--a valuable clinical resource for psychologists, psychiatrists, and all mental health professionals called on to treat patients suffering from anorexia and bulimia nervosa. This innovative work illustrates the use of guided imagery, hypnosis, structured eating, family sculpting, psychodrama and gestalt therapy, and dance/movement, art, music, and metaphor/poetry therapy in the treatment of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Systematically presented are the theoretical framework of each treatment approach, specific techniques, and their practical applications illustrated by numerous case examples. All professionals who treat clients with eating disorders will find this volume a most valuable clinical resource.

Encyclopedia

Written by a psychologist and a psychiatrist noted for their expertise as both practitioners and researchers, the book illustrates how hypnosis can significantly alleviate the pain of childbirth, medical or dental surgery, burns or other accidental injuries, cancer, and chronic syndromes. With over 600 references covering the field of modern research into the mechanisms of pain, the authors convey a thorough understanding of findings and limitations of available empirical studies. Yet the book remains exceptionally clear and non-technical and will appeal not only to professionals involved with pain reduction but to lay people as well. The Hilgards address a broad spectrum of topics relating to hypnosis and pain, ranging from an historical review to a consideration of future areas for investigation. They thoughtfully tackle the controversy still surrounding the nature of hypnosis - is it an altered state of consciousness or a pattern of behaviour adopted by both subject and hypnotist? The concluding section presents the Hilgards' neo-dissociation theory of hypnosis as well as a highly useful technique for assessing susceptibility in clinical situations. Pain has been called the greatest unsolved problem in medicine. Hypnosis in the Relief of Pain, with its honest and complete appraisal of the role of hypnosis on pain reduction, will contribute significantly to the understanding and broader use of this noninvasive and natural healing phenomenon.

This book examines shamanism from evolutionary and biological perspectives to identify the origins of shamanic healing in rituals that enhance individual and group function. What does the brain do during "soul journeys"? How do shamans alter consciousness and why is this important for healing? Are shamans different from other kinds of healers? Is there a connection between the rituals performed by chimpanzees and traditional shamanistic practices? All of these questions—and many more—are answered in Shamanism, Second Edition: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing. This text contains crosscultural examinations of the nature of shamanism, biological perspectives on alterations of consciousness, mechanisms of shamanistic healing, as well as the evolutionary origins of shamanism. It presents the shamanic paradigm within a biopsychosocial framework for explaining successful human evolution through group rituals. In the final chapter,"the author compares shamanistic rituals with chimpanzee displays to identify homologies that point to the ritual dynamics of our ancient hominid ancestors.

A leading scholar sheds critical light on the seemingly revelatory events behind new religions and spiritual movements Unseen presences. Apparitions. Hearing voices. Although some people would find such experiences to be distressing and seek clinical help, others perceive them as transformative. Occasionally, these unusual phenomena give rise to new spiritual paths or religious movements. Revelatory Events provides fresh insights into what is perhaps the bedrock of all religious belief—the claim that otherworldly powers are active in human affairs. Ann Taves looks at Mormonism, Alcoholics Anonymous, and A Course in Miracles—three cases in which insiders claimed that a spiritual presence guided the emergence of a new spiritual path. In the 1820s, Joseph Smith, Jr., reportedly translated the Book of Mormon from ancient gold plates unearthed with the help of an angel. Bill Wilson cofounded AA after having an ecstatic experience while hospitalized for alcoholism in 1934. Helen Schucman scribed the words of an inner voice that she attributed to Jesus, which formed the basis of her 1976 best-selling self-study course. In each case, Taves argues, the sense of a guiding presence emerged through a complex, creative interaction between a founding figure with unusual mental abilities and an initial set of collaborators who were drawn into the process by diverse motives of their own. A major work of scholarship, this compelling and accessible book traces the very human processes behind such events.

Written by a psychologist and a psychiatrist noted for their expertise as both practitioners and researchers, the book illustrates how hypnosis can significantly alleviate the pain of childbirth, medical or dental surgery, burns or other accidental injuries, cancer, and chronic syndromes. With over 600 references covering the field of modern research into the mechanisms of pain, the authors convey a thorough understanding of findings and limitations of available empirical studies. Yet the book remains exceptionally clear and non-technical and will appeal not only to professionals involved with pain reduction but to lay people as well. The Hilgards address a broad spectrum of topics relating to hypnosis and pain, ranging from an historical review to a consideration of future areas for investigation. They thoughtfully tackle the controversy still surrounding the nature of hypnosis - is it an altered state of consciousness or a pattern of behaviour adopted by both subject and hypnotist? The concluding section presents the Hilgards' neo-dissociation theory of hypnosis as well as a highly useful technique for assessing susceptibility in clinical situations. Pain has been called the greatest unsolved problem in medicine. Hypnosis in the Relief of Pain, with its honest and complete appraisal of the role of hypnosis on pain reduction, will contribute significantly to the understanding and broader use of this noninvasive and natural healing phenomenon.