Two-tape set of guided imagery scripts
ISBN 1899836594 $20.00 

Special Set Price: Book and Audio Save 10% 
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ISBN:1899836918

Hypnosis List

 
“Leaving the ‘art’ of the technique to others, Battino, grounded in Ericksonian hypnosis and general science, examines methodology and content in a careful, rigorous way. Well chosen, illuminating clinical examples abound, with eminently useful imagery suggestions for practitioner and patient. Even those who don’t entirely agree with his assumptions will acknowledge the necessity and value of this masterful book to a brave and burgeoning field.” – Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, The Guided Imagery Resource Center.

Contents

Review
Words matter. I don't know about you, but the more I learned about language during my NLP training, the more began to worry about "Am I saying it right?" and whether when people said negative things they really were doomed.... We all like being told stories. Sometimes when listening to 'guided imagery' tapes, I can be far away on an inner journey, and yet at other times I ‘pop out of trance' because I find the words I'm listening to do not allow me to live my fantasy, but insistently keep introducing someone else's. Over the years I have become more sensitive to subtle shifts in direction or flow. Anything discordant seems to mentally bounce me around; it feels like a physical blow to the brain, and my train of thought is derailed, or shunted onto another line.
In one sense, all conversation - casual or therapeutic - is a form of guided imagery with one person attempting to install in the other person some sufficiently motivating image that will spur them to change or move in a new direction. This would be especially useful when wanting to help another person in their healing process. Guided Imagery is collected wisdom for assisting in the healing process, and a compilation of useful hints and tips on what to say as The helper or health professional, and as the client, or person wanting the best treatment for their particular illness. Although biased in favour of groups and organizations in the US, it does list some useful web sites, which would be relevant to the UK.

Rubin Battino is a practitioner of Ericksonian Hypnosis, and co-author of the recently published Ericksonian Approaches. In his introduction to Guided Imagery he says: "The book deals with much more than guided imagery It is also a systematic presentation of all the other things I do to help people who have life-challenging diseases." Guided Imagery is a fascinating but sometimes odd mixture of a book, offering doorways into a vast amount of research pertaining to the healing arts. It is both an instruction manual in how to construct guided imagery scripts that work, as well as a useful source-book for further research and information source of background information for all aspects of health issues and the healing process, such as nutrition, dealing with cancer, assisting those about to undergo surgery. instructions for the surgeon's own 'guided imagery statements during the operation, and information on hospices and dying.

He also provides an excellent overview of research on placebos and nocebos (the ones designed to harm the victim l). Although you might think that no health professional would deliberately want to destroy someone's hope, or limit their healing, it often happens inadvertently. The process has come to be known as 'Medical Hexing' and is so important that Battino includes a list of medical hex incantations from doctors, and some suggested alternative and protective' statements that counteract them.

Guided Imagery scripts. Specifically Battino has deconstructed several commercially available guided imagery tape scripts in terms of language, metaphors, and imagery and offers some more effective alternatives. This is a valuable service. Many communicators and therapists use a seat-of-the-pants' approach when using 'suggestive' language, so it is good to have some in-depth analysis of how these things are supposed to work, and especially what makes them not work from someone who both uses guided imagery professionally and has an understanding of how NLP language affects internal processing. "The most common mistake found in scripts and audiotapes for the general public is that they are too specific in their imagery Going to the beach and listening to the mesmeric pounding of the waves may be your special place for relaxing, but it will be frightening to someone who nearly drowned... or who got very bad sunburn   p.97

Our brains are very obliging and can incorporate new content into a scene and justify its presence... but at the expense of diminishing our enjoyment of engaging in a guided fantasy and being left to our own devices. What matters is trusting the client's unconscious mind To find The relevant images or metaphors for their current state, rather Than having an off-the-peg all-purpose symbol imposed upon them. This book is relevant to health professionals, therapists of NLP and other kinds, and also patients or anyone who has to deal with medical services, during or at the end of their lives. The advice and expertise in this book can empower everyone involved in the healing process, mainly through the use of positive and hopeful and helpful language. Even just thinking in a different, more expansive way must be healing in itself

NLP is a minor part of Rubin Battino's knowledge. In this overview of healing approaches the references to NLP seem rather familiar He outlines a number of 'standard' techniques, but does nothing more with them, which is a pity Therefore, I would suggest that you, as someone more used to doing NLR take your favourite process and use the information in this book to change it into a guided imagery script. After all, you don't always have to do your change work in the same old way For example, adapt Change Personal History the Swish pattern, or Six Step Reframing into something that the client can do relaxing with their eyes shut. For some clients this will be just what they need - and it will certainly add to your flexibility And you can test it yourself by making a tape and noticing how well you enjoy the trip.