Syllabus

Overview: The course runs twelve consecutive weeks and each class meeting is four hours long. The goal of this course is to provide psychotherapists with practical methods for the induction of hypnosis, strategies for psychotherapy and the communication skills used by hypnotherapists.

Readings: Greenleaf's The Problem of Evil forms a text for the course. It contains chapters on therapeutic method and theory and on hypnotic research and a series of single-session case studies with full transcript and several longer cases with commentary. A supplemental reading list of classic texts in brief therapy, narrative and solution-oriented work and Ericksonian hypnotherapy is also provided, as is a copy of Greenleaf's book.

Theory: The hypnosis teaching is keyed to Rossi's "Naturalistic Approach" to hypnosis as a psychophysiological, chronobiological rhythm. Hypnotherapy is taught through Erickson's "Utilization" model. Language use is taught with metaphorical strategies and Epston and White's "Narrative" concerns. This modern hypnotherapeutic and strategic model is contrasted with its dynamic precursors in psychotherapy.

Class Structure: Typically, we begin a session with the discussion of an induction, such as dissociation. The naturally occurring instances of dissociation are elicited in discussion. Dissociation as a presenting problem is noted, and the utilization of dissociation in hypnosis is taught. Case examples and the rationale for this approach to particular difficulties in living are presented. Then, the induction is demonstrated with members of the class and each person's experience during hypnosis is explored. Teaching use is made of the originality of each person's experience to help the student form a use of hypnosis consistent with his therapeutic style and to allow a broad view of patient strengths and skills in therapy.

Approximately one-half hour of each class will be spent in practice of a simplified form of the induction. Teaching assistants will aid the instructor in monitoring these practice sessions.

Inductions treated to this three-hour format in the Natural Model will be: Permissive Induction, Dissociation Induction, Interspersal Induction, Confusion Induction, Storytelling Induction, Metaphorical Induction, Dream Induction, Regression Induction, Body-based Induction, Unconscious-Mind Induction. Inductions are applied to the resolution of problems in areas such as performance anxieties, physical pain, stress and trauma, sexual difficulties, self-exploration and growth and other difficulties of interest to the class.

Other teaching methods: The clinical use of each sort of induction is taught and discussed employing demonstration (as above), case examples both verbal and videotaped, student case consultation and role-playing of difficult cases. A small video library of therapeutic work by Erickson, Greenleaf, Zeig, Rossi and others is available for viewing by students, as is the video library of previous "Hypnosis for Psychotherapists" courses - both lecture/demonstrations and selected student work.

Practicum: The didactic component of the course is continued and supplemented in the last few sessions by student presentations of practicum work. Three or four students each session present a volunteer subject and perform a short session of hypnotherapy with them. The sessions are prepared during a previous class which functions as a consultation group or reflecting team. Session results are followed to the end of the course. The training in case preparation and planning is accompanied by theoretical discussion and suggested readings to integrate hypnotherapy into the students' existing practice.

Instructional hours/Active participation: Instruction and participation are mixed throughout the course, but I think it is fair to claim that didactic and demonstration time is at least 2.5 hours of each of the first 10 sessions.

Very thorough, interesting, stimulating, creative. Eric's style is so spacious, gentle, encouraging of each person's uniqueness. It opened me up for more creative and spontaneous ways of working with hypnosis and with clients.

Excellent course content, examples and organization. Video examples were excellent. Eric was very supportive - to all in the group. I felt that I could not "fail" and valued his respectfulness.

Excellent. Extremely useful in my practice. Very supportive climate. Everyone did excellent work.

Outstanding! This is the least negative group I've ever been with.

Really exceptional. The process of hypnosis came through more and more clearly in the style of the teaching.

The content was excellent. I felt I got a good grounding in the basic experience of giving and receiving a trance.

Eric is a marvelous teacher, using trance induction on us as a teaching tool. As I begin to use it, I am finding an ease in talking and guiding the client that surprises me and is exciting.

I like being able to use whatever the client brings, flowing with it. It is a big difference or change to focus not on the whys and hows of psychodynamic work, but on solutions: the future.

I was very impressed, relieved, excited by Eric's respectful attitude toward students. He is one of the few professors I have worked with who has regarded me as a colleague.

Eric is completely accepting and welcoming of others'oints-of-view. He encouraged us to find a way to make hypnosis fit into our style, rather than dictating what our style should be.

Your method has been profound and wonderful, effecting my work as a therapist in most positive ways. To look for the creative opening in the soup of experiencing and to have specific technique to access this, has, since your class, become a reflex action. And to bring this home into my life is an added bonus that was beyond my expectations.

I feel that I have an excellent foundation to build on. I have read large chunks of Erickson: This made it come alive.

Excellent: a perfect balance of the instructor's talks and the students' practical work. A very comprehensive survey of induction/utilization techniques. Eric has shown some remarkable skills establishing instant hypnotic rapport and creating a warm atmosphere of unconditional acceptance for students with very different personalities.

Very helpful and enjoyable. One of the best classes I have ever participated in.

Eric is a wonderful, accepting and encouraging teacher. This class was by far the best class I have experienced in learning a new method.

So beautifully elegant - masterful. The instructor lived the material.

I found it stimulating, refreshing, inspiring. The demonstration I did was, and continues to be, a source of profound affirmation to me of the value of this work. Eric's gentle manner provided a welcome oasis at the end of the week.

I learned a tremendous amount - more than I anticipated. Course was interesting, stimulating, challenging.

It was extremely interesting, enlightening and a lot of fun. Very relaxed, comfortable, but effective teaching.

I think there is unconscious learning in this course and that's what makes it excellent. I've learned to trust my own unconscious more. Unlike any other course I've taken.

The content was excellent. Eric's lectures prepared the class well for his well-prepared and creative exercises. Eric's manner is gentle and careful and is contagiously so, producing calm and reflective trance states in the students and an ability to receive unconscious material.

The course is interesting and challenging. Starting each class with different types of induction helped to model each approach from the position of the therapist and to experience the process from the perspective of the client.

All I can say is that I know I'm in the presence of a grand master of hypnotherapy. Eric's personal and professional style brings out the best in the individual and in the class as a whole. His gentle, affirming style is inspiring.

From this class I gained valuable psychotherapeutic skills I didn't have before. They are a wonderful addition to my professional life. The techniques are applicable to my work and in my personal relationships. It was therapeutic for me.

Very much enjoyed not only the focus on narrative trance, but also Eric's positive and respectful attitude toward the work and the class. Was taught by example. Eric's conversation is naturally inductive! Wonderful experience.

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