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Trance and Treatment, Second Edition

Clinical Uses of Hypnosis

Herbert Spiegel, M.D., and David Spiegel, M.D.

  • ISBN 978-1-58562-190-3
  • Item #62190
Winner of the 2004 Arthur Shapiro Award for the Best Book on Hypnosis

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Description

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.

Contents

  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Prologue
  • About the Authors
  • PART I: Trance: The Phenomenon and Its Measurement
  • Defining Hypnosis
  • Chapter 1. Naturally Occurring Trance Phenomena and Related Myths
  • Chapter 2. Formally Induced Trance Phenomena
  • The Hypnotic Induction Profile
  • Chapter 3. Rationale for a Clinical Test
  • Chapter 4. Administration and Scoring
  • PART II: The Hypnotic Induction Profile as a Diagnostic Probe
  • Spectrum of Hypnotizability and Personality Style
  • Chapter 5. The Person With the Problem: Apollonians, Odysseans, and Dionysians
  • Chapter 6. Review of the Literature: Hypnotizability and Personality
  • Nonintact Profiles: Softs and Decrements
  • Chapter 7. Hypnotizability and Severe Psychopathology
  • Chapter 8. Neurophysiology of Hypnosis
  • PART III: Using Hypnosis in Treatment
  • Principles
  • Chapter 9. Formulating the Problem
  • Chapter 10. Restructuring
  • Treatment Strategies: Short Term
  • Chapter 11. Smoking Control
  • Chapter 12. Eating Disorders
  • Chapter 13. Anxiety, Concentration, and Insomnia
  • Chapter 14. Phobias
  • Chapter 15. Pain Control
  • Chapter 16. Psychosomatic Disorders and Conversion Symptoms
  • Chapter 17. Miscellaneous Behavior Disorders
  • Treatment Strategies: Long Term
  • Chapter 18. Spectrum of Therapies
  • Chapter 19. The Grade 5 Syndrome: Special Considerations in Treating the Dionysian
  • Chapter 20. Hypnosis in the Treatment of Acute Stress Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Dissociation
  • Epilogue
  • Appendix: Interpretation and Standardization of the Hypnotic Induction Profile
  • References
  • Name Index
  • Subject Index

About the Authors

Herbert Spiegel, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (Emeritus) at Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, where he directed the postgraduate course in hypnosis from 1960 to 1982. Currently at Columbia, he is Special Lecturer in Psychiatry and in private practice in New York City.

David Spiegel, M.D., is the Jack, Lulu and Sam Willson Professor in the School of Medicine, Associate Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center.

Hypnosis remains one of the great mysteries in psychology and psychiatry because it has such enormous potential for healing, yet we know little about how or why the simple exchange of words and images between therapist and client can work such wonders. This beautifully crafted book, by Herbert and David Spiegel, takes readers from all backgrounds on an exciting and wisely structured journey into this curious realm of human nature. Based on their many decades of pioneering research and innovative treatment methods, this father and son team explores the dynamic utilization of hypnosis in therapeutic settings. They have polished the gem that was their first edition into an even more readable and enjoyable text featuring their creative and practical ideas within scenarios that therapists will find are readily applicable in their practice.—Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California


The masterful yet practical clinical methods presented in this volume represent much more than an update of the original classic text. This Second Edition integrates the latest scientific findings on hypnosis as a foundation for clinical practice. Both the clinician and researcher will clearly learn what to do and how to do it. The theory and research bases will facilitate their use beyond the specific examples explicated. This book is essential to practitioners using hypnosis and a marvelous primer for those curious about the clinical uses of hypnosis.—Professor Arreed Franz Barabasz, Ed.D., Ph.D., ABPP, Wash. State Univ; Editor, Intl Journal of Clin & Exp Hypnosis; Past Pres, Soc of Clin & Exp Hypnosis; Past Pres, Am Psychological Assoc Div 30


It was a true pleasure to read the second edition of Trance and Treatment by Herbert Spiegel and David Spiegel. Since the publication of the first edition more than 25 years ago, there has been much clinical research and some neurobiological research in the field of hypnosis. The authors have incorporated both and much more. Moving from history to philosophy, psychosomatic medicine, and other clinical topics, the book is a comprehensive, well-written tour de force.—Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2/1/2005


In this second edition of Trance and Treatment, the Spiegels, drawing on their combined clinical experiences and on relevant research literature, have revisited and updated their integrative framework for understanding hypnosis. They continue to stress the importance of individual differences in hypnotic responsiveness as assessed through their well-known Hypnotic Induction Profile. In numerous and remarkably wide-ranging clinical examples they illustrate their reliance on hypnotic ritual as the transactional context for personological and diagnostic assessments and for accordingly tailored interventions. Trance and Treatment is a richly documented exposition of today's arguably most encompassing and challenging trance-based model of hypnosis and hypnotic intervention.—Auke Tellegen, Ph.D., University of Minnesota


An excellent source, drawing heavily upon systematic data to support its investigation into the beneficial uses of hypnosis in the treatment of psychological dysfunction, and recommended for scientific students of hypnosis, particularly those interested in applying it to mental health practices.—Wisconsin Bookwatch, 2/1/2005


This is the second edition of Trance and Treatment, written by the father and son leaders of the field and serving as a virtual bible of hypnosis. . . [T]hey cover the ins and outs of hypnosis, presenting theories, concepts, and procedures in a cogent fashion while backing up their ideas with research and findings, both their own and that of others.—Psychosomatics, 2/1/2005

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