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Clinical Uses Of Hypnosis

During my training as a professional hypnotherapist and during the many years that led to my instructor status involving Neuro-Linguistic Programming, I constantly heard my teachers espousing the wonders of Dr. Milton H. Erickson. Yes, it was Erickson, who has been called the Father of American Hypnotherapy, who gave us tremendous insights into permissive approaches to hypnosis. However, as the cult of Ericksonian followers emerged, it seems that an entire universe of very effective hypnosis was completely whitewashed from the realm of clinical application. Indeed, many authors and self-styled experts – to include international associations that claim the authority to certify hypnotherapists – fail to recognize the power of relatively rapid and direct approaches using suggestion and imagination to heal the mind and body.

The indirect, naturalistic, and permissive Ericksonian approaches are currently dominating medical and psychological applications of hypnosis. They are elegant and particularly suited to fearful and resistant subjects. Clearly, a competent clinician should strive to master the many techniques associated with this system. Nevertheless, should one limit their education solely to the development of such skills, I am afraid to point out that their arsenal of hypnotherapy talents will remain stilted and ineffective in many situations. This is unfortunate, as there are a breadth of highly effective techniques available to the practitioner who seeks to fully understand the wealth and true nature of hypnosis in the healing arts. Clinical Uses Of Hypnosis

Unfortunately, among many of the licensed professionals there seem to be an unjustified prejudice regarding non-Ericksonian skills. In fact, many a publication seeks to establish the credibility of the author’s ideas by unjustly – with limited and uneducated insights – denigrating the traditional skills, usually by using the term authoritarian to bash them. Most of them fail to realize that these near-mythological rants simply stem from a rather emotional dislike between Dr. Erickson, and his chief rival David Elman, a former radio personality and stage hypnotist, who taught thousands of medical doctors and dentists during the 1950′s and 60′s. This rift has been further exacerbated by a handful of Ericksonian-oriented associations who continue the irrational exclusivity proposed by Erickson. The truth, however, is that the techniques taught by Elman were as brilliant in their own right as those of Dr. Erickson. Clinical Uses Of Hypnosis