Question re: abreaction

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Permalink Reply by Fable Goodman on May 7, 2011 at 4:46pm

Relax

 

I would imagine, that you will spend a bit of time, exploring his last experience, which was obviously not tailor made to fit him.

 

It seems clear that he is a good hypnotic subject, and in a private one to one session, he will respond much better, and there will be no one sitting directly next to him, to project onto.

 

Begin to be exited about the prospect of someone who has chosen to work with you, and has so far been open enough to tell you about his previous experience with hypnosis.. that is a valuable tool which you can use to your advantage, (and his).

 

Love and hugs,

 

 

Fable

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on May 7, 2011 at 7:21pm

This is a breeze, Bill.

During your intake, use the topic of change (which is what he is desiring) and go off on a monologue about how we are constantly in change, that we are not the same as we were 20...or 10 years ago, indeed we are different than just a few moments ago, before you had even entered this office...etc.

You can spend time speculating about what had prompted that reaction or you can help him step into the present and show complete confidence that you feel safe with him and you expect him to feel safe with you. You can say something to the effect that as that was a group session with its own dynamics, your custom one-on-one session comes with special features...confidentiality, your ability to set up safety resources for him, and anything else you feel sets you above other things he has tried for his problem.

By the way, this kind of thing CAN and DOES happen, despite our taking time and care to prepare a client. I once had a client, during his second session, suddenly leap out of the chair and begin choking me. I used a move my sensei had just taught me and was able to subdue him, but I referred him out to a licensed professional once he belatedly revealed that he suffered from blackouts.

Bottom line, there is risk in everything you do. Trust your intelligent and resourceful mind to deal with the things you need to deal with, if and when they occur.

Have fun helping this man!

Best wishes,

Kelley

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Permalink Reply by James Malone on May 8, 2011 at 4:42am

Bill, Fable and Kelley gave you good tips here. I would add that you have the benefit of doing a private session with this man. If we had a time machine to go back and watch the incident where he slugged someone I strongly suspect he would have given some physical signs of agitation prior to actually doing so.

I worked in a psych hospital for over ten years and the person who initially oriented taught me that the staff members who got assaulted by patients usually ignored the warning signs of impending violence until it was too late. And I never had a situation that got out of hand because of this awareness.

I would also ask during the initial interview if he has a history of violence in general or was what happened a freak occurrence. Was he using/abusing substances back then or presently for that matter since that could affect impulse control. Good luck to you! Jim 

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