Format: Audio MP3 file download

Presenter: Delle Jacobs, MSW, LICSW, LMFT and Cheryl Beighle, MD

Expanding the Possibilities of Self-Hypnosis: From the Medical to the Psychotherapeutic

Self-hypnosis seldom gets the attention that hetero-hypnosis does whether we are talking about research or clinical practice. This workshop intends to explore and expand the possibilities of using self-hypnosis, both for oneself and in work with patients. We will review both the history of self-hypnosis and the literature. Several brief applications like somatic anchors and use of the breath will be introduced. In line with brief interventions is the self-hypnosis application of creating ?Mindsets,? interventions aimed at shifting ?states,? moving from negative trance states to positive ones.

Becoming adept at your use of suggestive language allows you as a practitioner to mobilize this capacity that we think of as ?being hypnotic,? for yourself and your patients. Your patients can develop this ability for themselves as they experience suggestions that evoke change. We will engage in a discussion of how to become ?hypnotic? in one?s use of hypnosis.

Self-hypnosis is usually taught within the context of hetero-hypnosis. Frequent applications of self-hypnosis include pain management, anxiety, and symptom management. As a practitioner, developing a self-hypnosis protocol provides a framework within which to address individual patient issues. This workshop provides an opportunity to review and individualize a protocol. Applications to treatment issues will include use with anxiety, symptom management, surgical preparation and pain. These applications work in the spectrum of pediatrics to geriatrics. We will discuss developmental considerations when devising an individual protocol. Whether we are talking about a medical office or a psychotherapy office, the possibilities are abundant for building skills, yours and your patients, which empower them to improve their lives.