Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis: Bridging the Gap and Slaying Sacred Cows

An Internet friend just wrote to me, expressing the wish that we had a group entitled "Evidence-Based Hypnosis" on this site. He went on to say, "We have so many folks looking for a script to do XYZ thinking that the script will do the job. We have almost as many providing the scripts! Can it really be so simple? Is it enough to want things to be so? I'm feeling very frustrated by what I read here lately."

In response, I recommended a book by Steven J. Lynn, entitled, Essentials of Clinical Hypnosis: An Evidence-Based Approach, which was specifically written to bridge the gap between experimental and clinical hypnosis.

One of the first surprises you will get when you read Steve's book is that it is not widely accepted that hypnosis works because it bypasses the conscious mind and speaks directly to the unconscious. We may have many mental processes of which we are only partially or totally unaware, but the only time we have an "unconscious mind" is when we are anesthetized or in a vegitative coma!

Good reading.

Don

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on February 10, 2012 at 5:08am

Hi Don,

Thank you for the book recommendation. Looks like one I need to pick up.

gentle day,

Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on February 10, 2012 at 6:58am

Hi Don,

You might tell you friend that your friend Michael Ellner said: Protocol "therapy" and "medicine" will be the death of therapy and medicine...

Lynn's book is better than most hypnosis texts, but in my opinion Lynn- misses the point -- It is not the freaking "evidence based" scripts that helps -- it is the skills and abilities of the hypnosis practitioner using the techniques!

Michael E.

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Permalink Reply by Don on February 10, 2012 at 7:47am

Hi Michael,

I totally agree that it's the rapport that does the healing. One of my wife's clients had formerly been seeing a "by-the-book" cognitive-behavioral therapist told her that the fiirst time she really started to feel better was when she threw the cognitive-behavioral workboook entitled Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy across the room!

On the other hand, if you should notice a sudden drop in the price of hamburger, it's probably because of all the sacred cows that Steve has slain. . . .

Don

Michael Ellner said:

Hi Don,

You might tell you friend that your friend Michael Ellner said: Protocol "therapy" and "medicine" will be the death of therapy and medicine...

Lynn's book is better than most hypnosis texts, but in my opinion Lynn- misses the point -- It is not the freaking "evidence based" scripts that helps -- it is the skills and abilities of the hypnosis practitioner using the techniques!

Michael E.

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Permalink Reply by Roy Hunter on February 10, 2012 at 4:45pm

Scripts work for some of the people some of the time, but NOT for all the people all the time.

When suggestion and imagery is not enought, we need to DISCOVER the cause (note I did not say "diagnose"). Next, we need to help the inner mind RELEASE the cause (including release of any emotional attachments). Now the subconscious is open for RELEARNING (or reprogramming), which can more easily be accomplished with suggestion (scripts, imagery, etc.) once the causes have been discovered and released.

These four objectives form the foundation of client centered hypnosis, and are explained in a free article on my website at:
http://www.royhunter.com/articles/four_cornerstones.htm

My text, THE ART OF HYPNOTHERAPY, is built on these four objectives as a foundation for a multimodal approach of fitting the technique to the client rather than vice versa.

Roy Hunter

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Permalink Reply by John Cleesattel on February 10, 2012 at 7:27pm

Some more "evidence based books" can be found on *my* website ;)

John

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Permalink Reply by Bill Kennedy on February 10, 2012 at 7:46pm

In fairness to the seekers on this web page, many are aware that there are no magic words. They know that it isn't a matter of just reading something to someone and they will get better. When they ask for a "script," they are looking for an approach to a problem they haven't seen before.

They know that the magic of theatre isn't accomplished by just anyone reading a script. At the same time, they are aware that the script is the springboard to the play, so let's act like mentors, play along and be good sports, shall we?

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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on February 10, 2012 at 9:30pm

@ Roy

Some of the most profound discoveries that I made in the last 30 years of assisting and studying many, many thousands of clients are:

A) When my client and I are in the 'ZONE" every thing that is necessary for successful outcomes is automatic -- If a client needs to regress they do it spontaneously --

B) It is NOT necessary to use conventional entrancement to help clients achieve long-term benefits.

C) It is NOT necessary to DISCOVER the cause to help clients get long-term benefits.

FYI- It seems to me that DISCOVER and DIAGNOSE are interchangeable terms in the context that you use DISCOVER...

@ Don --

"Discovering the cause" is one of the medical definitions of diagnosis -- Right?

@ Newly certified hypnos and students--

Parts Therapy and RTC can be very effective ways to help clients when used by well trained and skilled hypnos. -- I am not in any way, shape, or form questioning the effectiveness of Parts Therapy or RTC. I mean no dis-respect to Charlie, Roy, et. al.

I am discussing HOW & WHY I believe that Parts Therapy and RTC are effective... I believe that Parts and RTC-"theory" and related techniques are very effective symbolic representations for creating change- Period! In my opinion, these hypnotic modalities are empowered by expectations and excited imaginations just like the other hypnotic tools that we use. I am not alone -- many very effective hypnos and NLPers believe that the various models and hypnotic techniques that we use (including Parts Therapy and RTC) are metaphors. The STATE OF THE ART is inside of you and not the models and techniques that you use!

Michael E.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on February 10, 2012 at 11:08pm

Hi,

For someone like me just starting out and still a student it is very confusing.

Some people find you have to get at the cause of an issue to resolve it and others experience that you dont have to. People I respect and admire are on both sides of that question and Im in the middle confused and trying to make sense of it. Both sides are successful and appear effective in what they do. I know this is something I need to resolve for myself because it directly effects how I approach an issue with a client and guides how I proceed, what I need to do.

I read studies and the specialty magazines and articles online to keep up with and try to understand how they inform the clinical in the trenches part of this field. It is not easy by any means.

I am glad that there are people addressing this.

gentle mornin'

Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Don on February 11, 2012 at 1:44am

Hi Roy,

I think your text, The Art of Hypnotherapy, is one of the best books on hypnosis I have ever read. One sure test of whether or not a book is really good is if it suddenly "disappears" when you lend it to someone. That is what happened to my copy of your book, so I'm going to order another one.

Best regards,

Don

Roy Hunter said:

Scripts work for some of the people some of the time, but NOT for all the people all the time.

When suggestion and imagery is not enought, we need to DISCOVER the cause (note I did not say "diagnose"). Next, we need to help the inner mind RELEASE the cause (including release of any emotional attachments). Now the subconscious is open for RELEARNING (or reprogramming), which can more easily be accomplished with suggestion (scripts, imagery, etc.) once the causes have been discovered and released.

These four objectives form the foundation of client centered hypnosis, and are explained in a free article on my website at:
http://www.royhunter.com/articles/four_cornerstones.htm

My text, THE ART OF HYPNOTHERAPY, is built on these four objectives as a foundation for a multimodal approach of fitting the technique to the client rather than vice versa.

Roy Hunter

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Don on February 11, 2012 at 2:00am

Hi Bill,

One of the surprises people will find in reading Lynn's book is that he uses scripts as teaching tools, and does not merely dismiss them as a variation of Wiccan spells. We even included some scripts in the chapter on hypnotic inductions that we wrote together in the Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis. However, it's the excess that does the harm. (Only Wiccans have a spell for everything!)

Don

Bill Kennedy said:

In fairness to the seekers on this web page, many are aware that there are no magic words. They know that it isn't a matter of just reading something to someone and they will get better. When they ask for a "script," they are looking for an approach to a problem they haven't seen before.

They know that the magic of theatre isn't accomplished by just anyone reading a script. At the same time, they are aware that the script is the springboard to the play, so let's act like mentors, play along and be good sports, shall we?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Don on February 11, 2012 at 2:38am

Hi Michael,

I'm holding the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association on my lap as I write this. Quoting from page xxxiii of the Introduction, paragraph 1 begins with the statement, "Nonclinical decision makers should also be cautioned that a diagnosis does not carry any necessary implications regarding the causes of the individual's mental disorder or its associated impairments. Inclusion of a disorder in the Classification (as in medicine generally) does not require that there be knowledge about its etiology."

There are a total of 943 pages in the DSM-IV-TR (and that doesn't count the roman numerals used in the Introduction); but that's about as concise a statement as I could find regarding the role of causality in the formulation of a medical diagnosis. (In short, there isn't one.)

Don

Michael Ellner said:

@ Roy

Some of the most profound discoveries that I made in the last 30 years of assisting and studying many, many thousands of clients are:

A) When my client and I are in the 'ZONE" every thing that is necessary for successful outcomes is automatic -- If a client needs to regress they do it spontaneously --

B) It is NOT necessary to use conventional entrancement to help clients achieve long-term benefits.

C) It is NOT necessary to DISCOVER the cause to help clients get long-term benefits.

FYI- It seems to me that DISCOVER and DIAGNOSE are interchangeable terms in the context that you use DISCOVER...

@ Don --

"Discovering the cause" is one of the medical definitions of diagnosis -- Right?

@ Newly certified hypnos and students--

Parts Therapy and RTC can be very effective ways to help clients when used by well trained and skilled hypnos. -- I am not in any way, shape, or form questioning the effectiveness of Parts Therapy or RTC. I mean no dis-respect to Charlie, Roy, et. al.

I am discussing HOW & WHY I believe that Parts Therapy and RTC are effective... I believe that Parts and RTC-"theory" and related techniques are very effective symbolic representations for creating change- Period! In my opinion, these hypnotic modalities are empowered by expectations and excited imaginations just like the other hypnotic tools that we use. I am not alone -- many very effective hypnos and NLPers believe that the various models and hypnotic techniques that we use (including Parts Therapy and RTC) are metaphors. The STATE OF THE ART is inside of you and not the models and techniques that you use!

Michael E.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Don on February 11, 2012 at 2:47am

Hi Lisa,

Most of us in practice today are eclectic. We cut the cloth to fit the pattern of each individual client, as Michael said, and let our clinical intuition and the unconditional positive regard we have for our clients do the work of healing without worrying about whether a particular theoretical approach is "true" or not. (But don't try to tell this to a "true believer" in any one of them!)

Best regards,

Don

Lisa said:

Hi,

For someone like me just starting out and still a student it is very confusing.

Some people find you have to get at the cause of an issue to resolve it and others experience that you dont have to. People I respect and admire are on both sides of that question and Im in the middle confused and trying to make sense of it. Both sides are successful and appear effective in what they do. I know this is something I need to resolve for myself because it directly effects how I approach an issue with a client and guides how I proceed, what I need to do.

I read studies and the specialty magazines and articles online to keep up with and try to understand how they inform the clinical in the trenches part of this field. It is not easy by any means.

I am glad that there are people addressing this.

gentle mornin'

Lisa