Clearing up the myths about hypnosis and presenting scientific research documenting its efficacy, this guide explains what hypnosis is and how it can be used to treat more than 50 common health problems, including chronic pain, sleep disorders, smoking cessation, asthma, obesity, and headaches. Hypnosis works as a healing, anesthetic, and pain-management tool, providing real, measurable health benefits to patients either on its own or in conjunction with other therapies and treatments. In addition, patients who learn and practice self-hypnosis are able to reduce their healthcare costs, prevent symptom relapses, take fewer medications, and make fewer emergency room visits. This book includes information on specific health issues for which hypnosis has been proven to be effective, including issues related to pregnancy and childbirth; up-to-date studies than demonstrate the results that can be achieved, including how it can benefit children; an appendix with resources for ongoing research; and a glossary of terms.

What is hypnosis? Despite widespread misconceptions, hypnosis is not a treatment in itself; instead, it is a facilitator -- a useful diagnostic tool that can help the practitioner choose an appropriate treatment modality and accelerate various primary treatment strategies. The second edition of this remarkable work (first published 25 years ago) is written to provide both beginning and seasoned practitioners with a brief, disciplined technique for mobilizing and learning from an individual's capacity to concentrate. Putting to rest both exaggerated fears about hypnosis and overblown statements of its efficacy, this compelling volume brings scientific discipline to a systematic exploration of the clinical uses and limitations of hypnosis. The challenge was to develop a clinical measurement that could transform a fascinating amalgam of anecdotes, speculations, clinical intuitions and observations, and laboratory advances into a more fruitful and systematic body of information. Thus was born the authors' Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP), a crucial 10-minute clinical assessment procedure that relates the spectrum of hypnotizability to personality style, psychopathology, and treatment outcome. Structured to reflect the flow of a typical evaluation and treatment session and highlighted by case examples throughout, this remarkable synthesis describes how to use the HIP, reviews relevant literature, and details principles and short- and long-term treatment strategies for smoking control; eating disorders; anxiety, concentration, and insomnia; phobias; pain control; psychosomatic disorders and conversion symptoms; trichotillomania; stuttering; and acute and posttraumatic stress disorders and dissociation. Meticulously referenced and indexed, this in-depth work concludes with an appendix on the interpretation and standardization of the HIP.This unique work stands out in the literature because It is written both as an introduction for practitioners new to hypnosis and as an in-depth guide for practitioners with wide experience in hypnosis. Unlike current clinical works, it emphasizes the importance of performing a systematic assessment of hypnotizability to identify, measure, and utilize a given patient's optimal therapeutic potential -- a process that, until now, has been relegated to clinical intuition. It describes human behavior phenomenologically as it relates to hypnosis in a probable rather than an absolute fashion. It reviews only specific portions of the literature that are particularly relevant to the important themes presented by the authors. Wherever possible, the authors apply statistical methods to test their hypotheses. The realm of scientific investigation encompassing hypnosis and psychological dysfunction is comparatively new. This exceptional volume, with its profusion of systematic data, will spark controversy and interest among scientific students of hypnosis everywhere, from psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts to physicians, dentists, and other interested clinicians.

In this book, Yapko not only demonstrates hypnosis is a viable and powerful approach to the treatment of depression but also confronts traditional criticism of its use head on. He first lays the groundwork for the book's dual focus, opening with a discussion of depressions. He then focuses on the historical perspective of depression and hypnosis as "forbidden friends," shedding new light on old myths about the use of hypnosis leading to hysteria, and even suicide. The result is a definition of hypnosis as a flexible and enlightened tool that offers precisely the multidimensionality that the problem demands.

Michael Yapko’s seminal 1992 book, Hypnosis and the Treatment of Depressions, was the first book ever written on the subject of applying hypnosis in the treatment of depressed individuals. Since its publication, Yapko’s work has not only withstood the test of colleagues previously dismissive of the merits of hypnosis as a tool of treatment, but has thrived in the face of it. Hypnosis and Treating Depression diversifies the range of topics to consider and increases the number of knowledgeable contributors on the subject of treating depression with hypnosis. The book features chapter contributions by highly experienced and well-known experts on using hypnosis to treat specific forms of depression, with assessment and intervention strategies as well as sample transcripts of the use of hypnosis in therapy sessions. It discusses both broad and targeted applications of hypnosis in treatment, the treatment of depression with hypnosis in special populations, as well as special considerations regarding hypnotic treatment. As a practical guidebook for clinicians looking to add to their treatment protocols, Hypnosis and Treating Depression: Applications in Clinical Practice provides an updated and comprehensive volume on therapeutic uses of hypnosis in the treatment of depression.

If you suffer from chronic pain, whether as a result of an injury, illness, or accident, you know it can interfere with every aspect of your life. You may also know the medical treatments currently available are limited and, for many, ineffective. Current research has shown hypnosis to be an effective treatment for managing chronic pain, and almost all patients who learn self-hypnosis skills benefit from this approach. The hypnosis treatment found in this workbook has been scientifically tested and proven effective for reducing the intensity of chronic pain, including migraines, back pain, and tension headaches, among others. This workbook explains how to use these techniques to manage your chronic pain and take back control of your life and your health. Used in combination with the program described in the corresponding therapist guide, this workbook teaches you self-hypnosis skills for lessening your pain, enhancing your sleep, and improving your mood. The first chapters will help you understand how hypnosis works by changing how your brain deals with information it receives from the body. The complete hypnosis treatment described in this book, alongside the treatment you receive from your clinician, will ultimately teach you skills for pain management that you can use at any time, and for the rest of your life. "An excellent blueprint to understanding pain and the fundamentals of how hypnosis combined with CBT can offer pain amelioration. Perfect, even for uninitiated practitioners who wish to use empirically based scripts."--Jeffrey Zeig, Ph.D., The Milton Erickson Foundation "Pain can too easily enslave people, holding them captive in many different ways. It is a liberating theme of empowerment that echoes throughout Dr. Jensen's work: he empowers clinicians to work more knowledgeably and skillfully with people who suffer painful conditions using his therapist guide, and he encourages the suffering individual to break free from pain's grip with the practical pain management skills taught in his workbook. Dr. Jensen's vision for the many ways hypnosis can help reduce the debilitating effects of painful conditions is fresh, inspiring and should be regularly integrated into every pain management program."--Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and author of Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis (Third Edition) and Treating Depression with Hypnosis

Hypnotherapy provides a powerful tool for utilizing the power of the mind to reduce distress and suffering. This concise guide provides readers with a rich source of ideas on starting hypnotherapy practice, and thinking seriously about hypnosis as a powerful adjunct to psychotherapy and medical interventions. With a clear definition of what hypnosis really is, readers can develop an understanding of the rationale for utilising hypnotherapy with particular disorders.As the medical community is progressively adopting a biopsychosocial model of healing, there is a serious move toward validating the scientific credibility of hypnosis, and hypnotherapy has become a well-established treatment. Unlike any other introductory text, "Hypnotherapy Explained" adopts a uniquely scientific approach among introductory texts; reviewing theories and offering practical ways to integrate hypnotherapy in medical, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic practice. It is enlightening reading for general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists and other healthcare professionals.

ìLike others trying to incorporate hypnotherapy into their practice, I found myself struggling with the question, ìWhere do I begin?î This book provides that answerÖ [It]offers the first complete presentation of [the] fundamentals [of hypnotic relaxation therapy] in a manner that is not only supported by empirical research, but is consistent with the authorís 30 years of experience as a clinical practitioner. In contrast to a ìone-size-fits-all approach,î this book provides specific, easy-to-follow guidelines for developing hypnotic suggestions in a flexible manner that will enable the clinician to effectively address individual patientsí unique needsÖ Practitioners, students, and clinicians will want to have a copy of this comprehensive book, not only to use as a training manual, but to have as a ìgo to guideî to troubleshoot typical problems.î -Cassie Kendrick, PsyD Post-Doctoral Fellow in Clinical Health Psychology Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory Baylor University This book introduces a new, evidence-based model of hypnotherapy called ìhypnotic relaxation therapyî (HRT). Easily integrated with other therapeutic models or used alone, HRT has been proven effective in a wide variety of applications including pain management, anxiety reduction, smoking cessation, insomnia treatment, and treatment of post-menopausal symptoms. This new model advances the field of hypnotherapy by making relaxation an explicit part of hypnotherapy and measuring individual differences in hypnotizabillity with the introduction of a new measurement instrument, the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS). Additionally, it is the first book to integrate Cognitive-Experiential Self Theory with HRT. Dr. Elkins is a highly esteemed leader in clinical hypnosis. He has served as President of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, President of the American Board of Psychological Hypnosis, Vice-Chair of the Council of Representatives of the International Society of Hypnosis, and Chair of the Fellows Committee of the Society for Psychological Hypnosis of the APA. His book provides clinicians with the guiding principles of HRT as well as the empirical research underlying it. Dr. Elkins offers a session-by-session approach to HRT that covers the process for structuring sessions, treatment planning, and dealing with resistance, and explicates detailed applications of HRT. Guidelines for formulating hypnotic suggestions are described, as is HRT as a proven effective source of intervention for hot flashes in menopausal women. The book explains how to integrate HRT with other modalities and discusses the ethical considerations of HRT. Additionally, the book introduces the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale for clinical assessment of hypnotizability that is currently being used in NIH-funded research at Baylor University and the Mayo Clinic. Case examples and sample transcripts are incorporated throughout the book, which also includes a sample brochure for patients. Key Features: Introduces a new, evidence-based conceptualization of hypnotherapy Presents a new, well-validated, easy-to-use scale for measuring hynotizability Includes plentiful case examples and sample transcripts of hypnotic relaxation interventions Explains how to integrate HRT with other modalities Written by a renowned leader in the field of hypnosis