Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Hypnosis is a state of subliminal consciousness occurring spontaneously in animals and man as a vital reaction in moments of extreme danger and/or in response to a violent physical or psychical trauma. Hypnosis is not used as such in family therapy though many techniques have been borrowed from the innovative hypnotherapist, Milton H. Erickson. This American psychiatrist in fact re-thought the use of hypnosis, introducing innumerable modifications into the trance-inducing techniques and recasting the conduct of therapy. Erickson was wary of theoretical constructs and he devoted the greater part of his activity to developing new modes of intervention which attracted the attention of some of the pioneers of family therapy, especially Jay Haley (1973). Watzlawick et al. (1974) and Everstine and Everstine (1983) have demonstrated the usefulness of hypnotherapy for dealing with a variety of conditions: detoxification, physical pain, violent family crises, and ‘accompanying’ terminal cancer patients. It is chiefly contraindicated for depressive states. The induction of the trance is based on self-suggestion on the part of the patient. It is based on finding a framework that brings about a sense of well-being, by the systematic elimination of negative linguistic injunctions and the reinforcement of the subliminal state by positive formulations (suppression of words indicating negation, ... log in or subscribe to read full text