Art of Hypnotic Regression Therapy (eBook)

Bruce N Eimer, C Roy Hunter (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2012
248 Seiten
Crown House Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-84590-853-9 (ISBN)

Infos

Hypnotic Regression Therapy, or HRT, is a type of hypnotherapy in which, following the induction of a good trance state, specialized suggestions are given to guide the client in reviewing and emotionally reframing earlier experiences that have either caused or contributed to the client's current symptoms. HRT is considered one of the most valuable hypnotherapy techniques available today, yet it remains controversial, partly due to inadequate training of psychotherapists and hypnotherapists which has contributed to numerous cases of false memory syndrome.

Roy Hunter, MS, Cht, teaches professional hypnosis and advanced techniques for professionals and teaches self hypnosis to groups and clients for personal or professional motivation. He was specially selected to carry on the work of the late Charles Tebbetts. He was awarded a PhD from Alpha University and California University with a major in clinical hypnotherapy.

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Introduction and Overview

Hypnotic regression therapy (HRT) is one of the most valuable hypnotherapy techniques available today; yet it remains one of the most controversial. This is partly due to both psychotherapists and hypnotherapists jumping in without competent training in hypnosis, as evidenced by numerous cases of false memory syndrome over the years.

Because of both the risk of false memories and the potential consequences of mishandling abreactions, anyone using hypnotic regression without knowing how to help clients who experience emotional discharges (i.e., abreactions) is advised to avoid employing regression therapy until properly trained in client centered regression. Sadly, however, a number of professionals criticize hypnotic regression altogether rather than considering the benefits of competent client centered regression therapy. They often mention mishandled regressions—some of which have resulted in litigation—but the critics often fail to acknowledge the untold thousands of clients empowered to resolve their problems after successful regression sessions.

The purpose of this book is to provide important information and guidelines for any hypnosis professional wishing to employ HRT, including a systematic protocol for assisting the client to consciously and subconsciously discover and release the core causes of his/her symptoms and problems.

We have divided the Introduction and Overview into two sections: an Introduction (written by Roy Hunter) and Overview (written by Bruce Eimer). Most chapters are a collaboration of both authors except where otherwise noted.

Introduction by C. Roy Hunter

Do you know anyone who is uncomfortable getting on an airplane? Over my years of practicing professional hypnosis, most clients who saw me for the fear of flying experienced the success of overcoming the problem rather than simply learning to fly in spite of their anxieties. In fact, some of them became frequent flyers, logging tens of thousands of miles.

The reason is that instead of simply trying to suggest the problem away, I guide the client back in time during a hypnotic regression in order to discover and release the core cause of the fear of flying. Numerous clients seeing me for other problems over the years have also enjoyed success as a result of hypnotic regression therapy; yet in recent years, a number of hypnosis professionals have hotly debated the topic of regression.

The controversy did not come out of thin air. Hypnotic regression therapy enjoyed high popularity for a number of years during the latter half of the 20th century; but even before the end of the 1990s it became the subject of considerable debate. Genuine concerns are at the heart and core of the controversies. Here is a brief summary of the arguments for and against this technique.

Those who use regression often assert that it is very useful in helping the subconscious discover and release the cause of a problem, and that effective use of HRT often achieves lasting results. Those who oppose the use of hypnotic regression techniques usually state one or more of the following reasons for opposing its use: (1) the risk of false memories and/or (2) the belief that clients do not need to experience abreactions (emotional discharges) while remembering unpleasant experiences from their past. Occasionally a third reason is posted, criticizing hypnotherapists who use regression with almost every client. Note that neither of the authors of this book use regression with most of our clients.

This book will explore the concerns about hypnotic regression therapy summarized above, and respond to those concerns by presenting a very workable five-phase protocol for facilitating client-centered hypnotic regression therapy. This protocol was developed by me over a period of years, as described in earlier editions of my hypnotherapy texts (Hunter 1995, 2000, 2007). It is to be distinguished from Cal Banyan’s 5-PATH® Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy System. For information about Banyan’s 5-PATH®, go to www.5-PATH.com. First, however, we need to define hypnotic regression.

What is a Hypnotic Regression?

The authors assume that anyone reading this book already understands hypnosis and the hypnotic process. Both my hypnosis students and my clients alike are presented with the concept that imagination is the language of the subconscious. Inside your imagination, you have total power and total freedom to be anywhere you wish and to do anything you choose. In addition, we can use the imagination to move through time as well as space.

During a hypnotic state, moving back in time inside the imagination is called a regression. As mentioned above, many hypnosis professionals use regression to guide a client back in time in order to discover the cause of a problem. Sometimes people simply wish to remember details about an event. There are also forensic applications of hypnotic regression techniques (briefly overviewed in Chapter 4). While the subconscious does make a record of everything we experience through the five senses, emotions can alter our perceptions, resulting in inaccurate memories.

Unfortunately, a primary reason for the skepticism regarding regression is that many therapists over the years have formed preconceived opinions regarding the causes of problems before hypnotizing their clients, and then proceeded to use regression to validate those opinions. This is inappropriate leading, and is a major cause of what we call “false memory syndrome,” which means that a client may believe false perceptions to be facts.

Now let us look at the other side of the coin.

Hypnotic Regression Therapy Teachers

A number of well-known hypnotherapists have successfully employed hypnotic regression techniques in their clinical practices over a period of many years, with some of their work documented here. My co‑author, Bruce Eimer, Ph.D.—a student of Dabney Ewin, M.D. and David Cheek, M.D.—is a licensed clinical psychologist and published author who has used hypnotic regression therapy with numerous clients over the years.

David Cheek, an obstetrician-gynecologist, was a pioneer in the use of hypnotic regression therapy for psychosomatic problems, especially persistent pain syndromes such as chronic pelvic pain and interstitial cystitis, as well as gynecological problems such as infertility. A past president of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Dr. Cheek published a multitude of clinical case reports and literature reviews in the scientific journals, as well as several books on ideomotor signaling and other ideodynamic techniques for facilitating hypnotic regressions and communicating with the patient’s unconscious (Cheek, 1993; Cheek & LeCron, 1968; Rossi & Cheek, 1994).

Dabney Ewin, a general surgeon and occupational medicine physician, who was a student of Dr. Cheek, has treated thousands of patients in his over 40 years of hypnosis practice using ideomotor signaling and other hypnotic regression methods. Also a past president of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Dr. Ewin is a pioneer in the use of hypnosis for the treatment of patients with severe acute burn injuries. He has also published many case reports and literature reviews on hypnosis for burns and hypnotic regression therapy for pain, asthma, hives and warts. He also wrote several books on his work (Ewin, 2009; Ewin & Eimer, 2006).

Gil Boyne practiced and taught hypnotic regression therapy for many years and included some case histories in Transforming Therapy: A New Approach to Hypnotherapy (1989). I personally witnessed Boyne employing regression therapy to help a stutterer back in the 1980s. A year later, I bumped into that same former stutterer at a hypnosis conference and shared a meal with him. His speech was so clear that one would have difficulty believing that he spent so many years of his life stuttering.

Randal Churchill, a former student of Boyne, chose to specialize in hypnotic regression therapy, and has written two books on this topic. The first one was Regression Hypnotherapy: Transcripts of Transformation (2002). He followed with Volume II six years later (Churchill, 2008), and has facilitated many thousands of hypnotic regressions during his career.

Charles Tebbetts, my former mentor, taught hypnotic regression therapy as well, including it in his Miracles on Demand (1985). Although he told me personally that he learned regression from Gil Boyne, Tebbetts used a more gentle style that I believe is more client centered.

Dave Elman occasionally used regression, and conducted an astounding session in front of a number of doctors. He claimed, as did David Cheek (1993), that a person in hypnosis could remember something that happened even while totally unconscious—even under anesthesia. Elman hypnotized a physician who had undergone surgery and regressed him back to the operating table where he remembered a conversation taking place during the procedure. As it turned out, his surgeon was one of the doctors present to witness this amazing regression, verifying that the conversation took place (Elman, 1984).

Gerald Kein, known for promoting the work of the late Dave Elman, also teaches hypnotic regression therapy. He taught it to Cal Banyan, a well-known hypnosis instructor, who incorporates regression in...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 13.11.2012
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Allgemeine Psychologie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Biopsychologie / Neurowissenschaften
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Humanistische Psychotherapien
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Klinische Psychologie
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Medizinische Fachgebiete ► Psychiatrie / Psychotherapie
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Naturheilkunde
• ISBN-10: 1-84590-853-8 / 1845908538
• ISBN-13: 978-1-84590-853-9 / 9781845908539