LCCH Masterclasses

Hypnosis isn't a therapy in its own right, it's a vehicle for delivering therapeutic ideas and establishing therapeutic associations in the client's subjective experience. Is there empirical evidence that hypnosis enhances treatment outcomes when employed in psychotherapy? The unequivocal answer is yes. Hypnosis has been shown to enhance the effects of established approaches (such as cognitive-behavioural therapies), making treatment more deliberate and providing more enduring results.

What is hypnosis and how does it enhance psychotherapy? In this one day overview, we will explore the phenomenon of suggestibility that is inherent in any psychotherapy, and focus on how suggestion may be used to elicit hypnotic responses in people that empower them in a variety of ways. We will consider the relationship between suggestion and memory (i.e. age regression), the malleability of sensory perceptions that permit natural pain management (i.e. hypnotic analgesia), and other significant applications of clinical hypnosis.

Hypnosis as a field is supported by a body of scientific literature that is broad, deep, and fascinating. Many important questions about the nature of human consciousness and how people learn and make changes have been well addressed in the research literature, while many others remain unanswered. As practising clinicians, we have a great deal to learn from studying hypnosis whether we ever intend to become "hypnotists" or not. The role of suggestion - influential communication - is so basic to any healing technique that to ignore, avoid, or underestimate its impact in the therapy process weakens our ability to practice therapy effectively.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Three different conceptual and practical models of clinical hypnosis
• The neuroscientific findings regarding brain functions in hypnosis and their practical implications
• Types of hypnotic inductions, both structured and naturalistic
• What the classical hypnotic phenomena are and how they can be used in psychotherapy
• The legal and ethical implications of integrating hypnosis into clinical practice

London - 14 February 2004

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