REVIEWS
for Hypnosis: A Comprehensive
Guide
"For
the experienced or novice practitioner, this guide is a useful
professional development checklist… Practical lists and
techniques with case studies, even the use of the Pendulum,
are sprinkled through the book to excellent effect … A
worthy edition to anyone's library." John W. Redman,
Psychologist, Morwell, Victoria
“This book is an excellent introductory text for students just beginning to study the art and science of hypnosis. For those already knowledgeable about hypnosis, there are many nuances that will enable you to increase the elegance of your work.” – David Shephard, PhD, Master Trainer of NLP, Director of Research and Training, The Performance Partnership, London, UK.
Hypnosis: A Comprehensive Guide, is for NLP practitioners and hypnotherapists who want to expand their repertoires to include deep trance methods, observable markers for trance depth, and suggestibility tests. This book provides an excellent overview of Milton Erickson's methods, as well as those of David Elman and George Estabrooks. Tad James shows his readers how to develop an eclectic approach to hypnosis by combining elements of these three hypnotic styles. Hypnosis: A Comprehensive Guide teaches practitioners how to work at deep levels of trance to access the Unconscious Mind. Thus, hypnosis can facilitate healing because the Unconscious Mind communicates with every cell in the body. “Through the conductivity of the neuro-transmitters that surround all cells, your immune system is constantly affected by the activity of your Unconscious Mind ... An understanding of 'the unreality of reality' will assist you in working with hypnosis, because you will realize that the body is just as 'unreal' as anything else. It can be changed very quickly, if not instantly. You can therefore heal your mind and body at any time, relieving yourself of anything from high blood pressure to low metabolism ... The value of experiencing trance and learning hypnosis lies in attaining power to heal our own bodies and guide clients in healing theirs ... power to learn ... and power to create changes in lives." (p.4-6)
Content:
Hypnosis is
the doorway to the mindbody connection. James tells us that
through hypnosis we can heal illness, create the future of our
dreams, and control destiny He has studied hypnosis from its
earliest beginnings in ancient Egypt and India up through the
work of present day hypnotherapists who have defined the
practice. He provides an impressive bibliography of 246 books
on the subject, some dating back to the 1800's. He offers a
respectable history of hypnosis, summarizing the contributions
of notables such as Mesmer, Braid, Esdaile, Liebault, Breuer,
Pavlov, Hull, Erickson, Estabrooks, Elman, and LeCron.
Indirect, permissive methods, as practiced by Milton Erickson
Direct-authoritarian methods, as practiced by George Estabrooks
Client-centered methods, as practiced by David Elman
The hallmark
of Milton Erickson's style was his permissive,
conversational trance inductions. The secret was in the
ambiguity of his language patterns; what we now call the
Milton Model. The authors provide many examples of the Milton
Model, including presuppositions, tag questions, complex
equivalents, nominalizations, lost performatives, double
binds, quotes, and utilization-all the subtleties that made
Erickson's work so intriguing.
Devoting a separate chapter to utilization, James says that utilization means weaving whatever happens in the room, or whatever your client does, into your conversation so it appears to be part of the induction. Utilization, therefore, requires good observation skills and flexible thinking. By noting what a client is about to do, you can tell the client to do it. When the client complies, say "That's right," as though guiding the client's progress. Your task is to convince your client that he or she can follow simple instructions that result in trance. According to Clark Hull, "Anything that presupposes trance, causes trance."
Erickson's
work consisted of directing the client's attention to inner
experience, changing perceptions and meanings, stimulating
transderivational search, and activating the client's inner
resources. James describes Erickson's hypnotic patterns of
indirect suggestion: conversational postulates, embedded
commands and descriptions, yes sets, truisms, statements about
not knowing or not doing, open-ended suggestions, listing all
possible responsibilities, questions to facilitate new
responses, compound suggestions, and double binds.
Hypnosis: A Comprehensive Guide presents two induction scripts, which demonstrate James' adaptation of Erickson's mastery One uses a "question set" (all the suggestions are posed as questions) "Can those eyes just stay closed as you're comfortable to do deeper, just like when you go to sleep? Or would you rather really try in vain (to open them) and find that you cannot?" The other method uses arm levitation.
James shows us how to connect with the Unconscious Mind by carefully-worded questions such as "Does your Unconscious Mind know what to do to solve the problem?" and "Is it possible for your Unconscious Mind to heal the condition?" He makes good use of the illusion of choice in questions such as "Is it all right to heal this now or to organize the steps now for healing?" The book also covers the use of pendulums and ideomotor signals as a means of unconscious communication.
The chapter
on embedded metaphors is an elegant series of 5 embedded
metaphors about how to pay attention to the client and sharpen
the power of observation, and about the capacity of the mind
to heal the body. According to James, "The Unconscious
Mind is intrigued by metaphors."
Turning to
the work of George Estabrooks, we learn that his was a direct,
authoritarian approach. His methods are best suited for deep
trance work, for inducing amnesia, as when the client's
conscious understandings could interfere with the ability to
carry out suggestions. The method specifically instructs the
client to close his eyes and go to sleep. James provides a
script designed to take the client through the six stages of
hypnosis. Each stage requires a test of depth, consisting of
challenges, such as eye-lid closure, arm catalepsy, age
regression, automatic movement, visual hallucinations, and
amnesia.
The book discusses several deepening methods such as counting and fractionation. James does a very good treatment of post-hypnotic suggestions, breaking the process into steps that include embedded metaphors for amnesia, and telling the client what will trigger the desired outcomes.
David Elman developed hypnotic inductions that could produce deep trance quickly His work was both direct and permissive, and created distinctions between conscious and unconscious processes. Elman's stages of trance were light, somnambulism, coma, and sleep, and, like Estabrooks, he tested for depth, using eye closure, muscle relaxation, and amnesia. Elman's main innovation was that he overtly made the client responsible for accessing trance and depth of trance. His instructions were precise, and if the client did not achieve each stage of trance, it was because the client did not precisely follow the instructions. Again, James provides a useful script that illustrates Elman's induction methods.
James recommends that readers practice and experiment with these three styles and develop their own individual, eclectic approaches. Knowing more than one method of induction increases flexibility and the probability of finding an approach that will work best with each client. He reminds readers to have comfortable seating for the client, build rapport, match the client's breathing, alter the voice tone to suggest deepening, and pace the induction by noting the stages of trance. He also advocates combining hypnotherapy with Time Line Therapy® and NEP as Time Line Therapy® can help the client overcome limitations rooted in early life, and NLP is useful changing behaviors at a surface level.
Conclusion:
Hypnosis:
A Comprehensive Guide takes a complex subject
and makes it simple. Tad James has a gift for breaking the
hypnotic process down to small chunks and presenting each
chunk systematically. His descriptions of language patterns
and scripts are particularly illustrative and well done. His
chapter on metaphors is truly artistic. He proves himself an
erudite historian of clinical hypnotherapy.
Nevertheless, where Hypnosis: A Comprehensive Guide makes a truly unique contribution to the field is in describing, comparing, and contrasting the work of three great hypnotherapists. The analysis of Erickson's work is thorough, and the portrayals of the work Elman and Estabrooks are succinct and accurate. The well-adapted scripts are highly instructive, as are the discussions of language patterns, deepening methods, and post-hypnotic suggestions. James shows us the rich precision of hypnotic language and the subtle nuances that make hypnotherapy engaging and convincing. He demystifies hypnosis and makes it easy to comprehend. Hypnosis: A Comprehensive Guide is one you will want for your collection. Judith E. Pearson, PhD – Anchor Point November 2000
Tad James is one of the world's undisputed leaders in the field of hypnosis and training and this is an excellent resource for both trainers and therapists. Those of us who are trained therapists have probably experienced times when we felt there was only one main pioneer of hypnosis and have concentrated upon a particular approach, such as Milton Erickson, Few, if any, have made such a contribution to the development of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool. James examines the work of Erickson while examining and contrasting the approaches and techniques of Elman and Estabrooks. Through his examination of these practitioners James makes three radically different types of hypnosis clearer in our minds. He gives us much to consider about the way in which we operate and insights into new or different avenues to explore. For example, Elman was involved in developing a technique which placed the responsibility for hypnosis on the patient rather than the therapist. So often training courses have left us thinking that the responsibility is ours. The book offers insight into methods of hypnosis so rarely taught to trainers or therapists. It is well balanced with description, explanation, demystification and practical advice and includes scripts for the types of inductions mentioned. – David Slater, The Hypnotherapist
This book is an excellent introduction to working with trance
and hypnosis, and would provide a sound basis for learning to do this professionally It is easy to read, and relatively
short. After an abbreviated history of hypnosis, there are
outlines of four different approaches to doing hypnosis:
according to LeCron, Milton Erickson, Estabrooks, and Elman,
with some typical and useful scripts to follow. It is
suggested that at first you use scripts; an important part of
making hypnosis work is following the instructions. Only when
you are familiar with what already works, is it time to start
There is something here for anyone in any business where
influential communication is required, and you want to avoid
creating resistance in the other person. That should cover
most people! We all use language in our own idiosyncratic way
but unless we have done an NLP course, or some such, we will
not be able to identify what appears to be getting the changes
in others - and ourselves. Although the Meta-Model will be
familiar to most NLPers, it is a good idea to become even more
familiar with the specifically vague language of the Milton
Model, as this is going to be of far more use in everyday
life. It is time to master the gentle art of using metaphor
and stories to influence them through delight. Though if you
suddenly start saying "Let me tell you a story” you may
get some funny looks.
In this book, Tad's stories are printed out for you, so if
there is anyone who hasn't yet heard the story of Milton and
the Boiler Factory then this is something you could learn
from. If however you're like me, and tend to lose just a
little personal congruence when you are telling stories that
are not true in your own experience, then here is an
opportunity for developing your creative story telling. At
least you know the tricks on how to do it. If you also have
read Guided Imagery there should be no stopping you!
For me, this book triggered some ideas to be explored. Tad
mentions creating amnesia so that clients forget to have their
problem. This gave me an idea about creating a form of therapy
in which the key element was boredom. How could you create the
state in someone where they were totally bored with whatever
behaviour or state (smoking or being depressed) they didn't
want to have? After all, they are probably very good at boring
you, the listener with their oft-told tales. So how could you
utilise this skill so that they could take advantage of it
themselves?
©2000
Peter Young - Rapport 50 -Winter 2000
Hypnosis:
A Comprehensive Guide
Tad James with Lorraine Flores & Jack Schrober
This is the sort of book that makes a reviewer's job worth
doing. It is a gem. Well-written, well-paced and packed with
information.Since it isn't clear exactly what part any of the
three authors played in preparing this book, I shall only
refer to Tad James (he of Time-Line fame) and I trust the
other two authors will accept this as including whatever
plaudits are rightfully theirs.
One of the most notable features of this book is that Tad James has chosen to 'compare and contrast' the work of three quite different practitioners.
The
first of these is, inevitably, Milton Erickson, whose style is
usually characterised as Permissive and Indirect ("As you
feel what it's like to sit in that chair you may notice
..."). So indirect, in fact, that clients often didn't
know they were being hypnotised at all till the session was
over.
Early chapters cover the 'Milton Model' (artfully vague
language), Ericksonian Methods, Ericksonian Inductions,
Ericksonian Interventions, creating and using Metaphors, and
so on.
We then move on to the work of George Estabrooks, a university professor who taught a traditional Authoritarian, Direct style of hypnosis ("Your eyelids are feeling heavy ... you want to sleep ..."). It is to Tad's credit that he draws out useful techniques and ideas from Estabrooks' approach, showing how they can be beneficially combined with Ericksonian elements for those clients where a purely Ericksonian style might not be appropriate.
The third practitioner we are introduced to is Dave Elman, whose work is characterised by its flexibility. That is to say, Elman combines both Authoritarian and Permissive approaches, both Direct and Indirect styles of induction, depending on the needs of each individual client.
In
addition to the basic text there are script examples,
exercises and a wealth of valuable tips.
I reckon this is a book that everyone with an interest in
hypnosis will want to own. Indeed, if I had to choose between
this book and the excellent Training Trances (which I also
hold in the highest regard - see the appropriate review) I'm
afraid Overdurf and Silverthorn would be the runners up.
Strongly recommended * * * * * * * Andy
Bradbury, Honest Abe's NLP Book Reviews