No abstract

All righ ts reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher To Patsy and Kathleen ForewordProfessionals who are well-trained in hypnotherapeutic procedures are able to utilize a variety of suggestions-suggestions for age regression, cessation of smoking, weight control, relaxation, reduction of pain, etc. In fact, the art of "hypnosis" can be conceptualized as the art of administering suggestions in an effective and useful way. In the teaching of hypnosuggestive methods, the need has long been apparent for a manual that could provide examples of suggestions that would be serviceable in applied settings. Now we are fortunate to have this text by Don E. Gibbons, which offers many different kinds of suggestions that can serve as models for both the novice and the experienced practitioner. Students who are training in this area can use the text to learn how to formulate their own suggestions in professional settings. Experienced hypnotherapists will also find the text helpful in expanding their repertoire. In addition to presenting useful models of suggestions, Dr. Gibbons's text also meets the need for a clearly written manual that explains hypnosis in accordance with the results of modem research. During the past 25 years, more research has been conducted on hypnosis than in all the preceding years since Mesmer. These investigations have led to a view of hypnosis which differs markedly from the traditional view of the passive subject who is hypnotized by and is subservient to the dominant hypnotist. From such a modem viewpoint, one sees good hypnotic subjects as actively doing, as actively becoming involved in the situation, and as actively thinking with and imagining those things that are suggested. vii viii FOREWORD Responsiveness in a hypnotic situation is much more closely related to the subjects' readiness to accept suggestions and to their capabilities of responding to the specific suggestions they are given rather than to the special characteristics of the hypnotist or of the hypnotic induction procedure. The main tasks of the hypnotist are to remove the subjects' misconceptions and negative attitudes, to elicit their maximum cooperation, and to release and guide their capabilities for imagining and fantasizing. The use of a formal hypnotic induction procedure is only one of many possible methods for eliciting the subjects' capabilities. Other methods for evoking maximal responsiveness include, for example, asking the subjects straightforwardly to think of and imagine those things that will be suggested, or implementing one of the various hyperempiric procedures developed by Dr. Gibbons, which are worded in terms of mind expansion and heightened awareness, and which are in harmony with our present-day culture.Dr. Gibbons appropriately notes in the text that base-level or "normal" responsiveness to test suggestio...

If the perception of one's own awareness is a subjective phenomenon, then trance-induction procedures may be devised which avoid the negative stereotypes and implicit authoritarian connotations which are inherent in the concept of hypnosis, while simultaneously facilitating responsiveness to suggestion. Previous attempts to accomplish this by modifications of the traditional hypnotic paradigm are discussed, and a new paradigm and induction procedure are presented.If hypnotizability is essentially role-taking aptitude, as asserted by Sarbin and Coe (1972), and if the cognitive determinants of hypnotic ability are to be found in S's attitudes, motivations, and expectancies and in his ability to think along with and vividly imagine the suggestions he is given, as Barber (1972) has stated, then the use of suggestion to implement new role patterns which do not fit the traditional hypnotic paradigm should be a fairly simple procedure. If the perception of one's own awareness is a subjective phenomenon or an epiphenomenon, as behaviorists have long maintained, then the total number of possible role patterns involving "altered states" (or altered experiences) of consciousness which may be induced by means of suggestion should be roughly equivalent to the number of definitions of such states which it is possible to conceive or to imagine; for each of these imagined definitions may be communicated to a responsive S in the form of suggestions which define for him the nature of the changes which he is about to undergo in the perception of his own awareness.It is commonly known that the traditional "hypnotic" or sleeping trance behaviors were first manifested by people who were imitating the behavior of the retarded Victor Emmanuel, who was too stupid to realize that he was supposed to go into convulsions while standing under a "magnetized" elm tree on the estate of the Marquis de Puy&gur and went to sleep instead (Gibbons, 1973, p. 5 ) . However, Ss who possess a high degree of role-taking aptitude and who are able to think along with and imagine vividly the suggestions which they are given should easily be able to adopt new forms of rrance-like behavior without requiring another Victor Emmanuel to model the appropriate responses for them! Considering the wide variety of induction methods currently employed, the absence of any reliable physiological correlates of hypnosis, and the speed with which hypnosis may be re-induced, the only essential prerequisites for a suc-'An earlier version of this paper was presented at meetings of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Newport Beach, Calif., December, 1973.

No abstract