NOVEMBER 2005, VOLUME 33, NUMBER 2, Abstract 4
A Lesson for Clinicians: Seeking Wisdom in Hypnotherapy, or Horses for Courses – Personal Reflections
William W. Pitty, Psychologist
The relevant conditions for trance induction are noted, together with the Spiegels’ description of individual differences in potential patients and their hypnotherapists Wisdom is defined and three truths of human experience are enunciated. Observations are made of how the focus in this clinical field has moved from personal qualities to relationship characteristics. In practice, therapeutic approaches vary from “playing God” to believing that the source of lasting change is primarily within the patient (the Kingdom of God is within you). Four brief case studies, based on the author’s first-hand experience, are presented.In each case, morals are drawn that relate the therapeutic dynamics to the central concepts of the cited “wise men of the West,” especially those of metaphor in a family context