Hypnotic Realities

Psychotherapists, whatever their training or specialization, can learn the step-by-step process of clinical hypnotic induction from a pioneer in the field, Milton H. Erickson. This volume is a verbatim transcript of Erickson’s inductions of clinical hypnosis and his approach to trance training. For the first time students and professionals in hypnosis are provided with clear examples of the evolution of clinical hypnosis phenomena and Erickson’s innovations in indirect forms of suggestion.

Hypnotic Realities also provides a record of the interchanges between Erickson and Rossi in the course of the sessions, during which Rossi asked the questions necessary to help him understand the process as they were happening. These commentaries provide not only Rossi’s questions but also an exposition of what Erickson thought important for them to learn from each session.

Each chapter includes an essay by Ernest Rossi which clarifies and elaborates on the relevant issues of Erickson’s work just illustrated. In these essays Rossi analyzes Erickson’s approach in order to uncover basic variables that can be isolated and tested by future experimental work. These sections are a bridge between the clinical art of Erickson’s hypnotherapy and the systematic efforts of the science of psychology to understand human behavior.

A number of graduated exercises are offered as a guide to aid hypnotherapist to develop their own skills in the clinical arts of observation, hypnotic induction, and the formulation of indirect suggestion. Thus, Hypnotic Realities provides both the theoretical and practical basis for training students and practitioners of hypnotherapy.