Hypnotic Realities: The Induction of Clinical Hypnosis and Forms of Indirect Suggestion

by Milton H. Erickson, Ernest L. Rossi (Editor), Sheila I. Rossi (Editor)

... Hypnotic Realities is a verbatim transcript of Dr. Erickson's induction of clinical hypnosis and his approaches to trance training. It provides students and professionals with clear examples of the evolution of clinical hypnotic phenomena. Two major innovations in this volume are the utilization theory of hypnosis and indirect forms of suggestion....Each chapter includes an essay by Ernst Rossi which clarifies and elaborates on the relevant issues of Dr Erickson's work just illustrated. In these essays, Dr. Rossi analyzes Dr. Erickson's approach in order to uncover some of the basic variables that can be isolated and tested by future experimental work. These sections are a bridge between the clinical art of Dr. Erickson's hypnotherapy and the systematic efforts of the science of psychology to understand human behavior. --- excerpts from book's dustjacket

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

326 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1976

About the author

Milton Hyland Erickson (5 December 1901 – 25 March 1980) was an American psychiatrist specializing in medical hypnosis and family therapy. He was founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis and a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychopathological Association. He is noted for his approach to the unconscious mind as creative and solution-generating. He is also noted for influencing brief therapy, strategic family therapy, family systems therapy, solution focused brief therapy, and neuro-linguistic programming.

Reviews

[Gebo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely fantastic. The only bad thing I have to say is that like the otherErickson/Rossi books, it suffers from Rossi's difficulty understanding Erickson and this book, particularly, from Rossi trying to use really bad phenomenology to explain what Erickson does. That said, the content is excellent and Erickson offers the hypnotist an amazing variety of ways to not only do, but understand the nature of induction. Likewise, this is one of the clearest explanations of Ericksonian hypnotherapy that exists. Anyone interested in Erickson MUST read this book.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything by Erickson is golden. He typically taken transcriptions of sessions, and disects them to explain the logic behind each word choice and method of delivery, to provide an insight into his seamless and bullet-proof methods. I learned more skills and understanding from his books than any other textbook, because he didn't just give scripts--he gives UNDERSTANDING so that you can create your OWN scripts.

[Brian Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Essential hypnotherapist tool.

[Robertson Kunz · Rating 5 out of 5]

In modern times, much emphasis is put on the conscious mind and its reasoning faculties. However, this is to the detriment of the power of the unconscious which can solve many problems that the conscious mind gets hung up on by the nature of being too narrow and focused. The unconscious can be tapped into in a hypnotic state. The unconscious can solve many things that the conscious cannot.

The book goes into various techniques that Milton Erickson used to hypnotize people and bring about healing. Often he would use confusion to tie up the conscious mind in order to get to the unconscious. Erickson notes that the unconscious is able to know and perceive much more than the conscious can and so we often time learn and know things without even knowing (by our conscious mind) how we learned or know them.

One last point that stood out to me was that people can get hung up in the "spectator" role in which they try to analyze what is going on instead of just going with it. This can prevent people from going into a hypnotic state and healing from it.

[Luciann Waldrup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, Erickson sure is a gem in a land of plastic pearls. Even his students don't have the language for what he's up to. Milton Erickson is the puppetmaster and don't you forget it, or do, doesn't matter, you already know it.

[Cary]

Very enlightening. This text combines a conversation between reknowned hypnotherapists Milton H. Erickson and Ernest Rossi about Erickson's groundbreaking methods . . . with stage by stage explanation of how language and other forms of communication are used.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

And you're back in the room... No, I totally reviewed it. You were asleep.