Here's a Small Taste of Michael's new book

September 8, 2017

Here’s a Small Taste of Michael’s new book

Release Date: December 1, 2017

Hypnosis is an exciting and dynamic field that has held my full attention throughout my entire professional life. During this time, hypnosis has made significant contributions to many different domains of study, including: mental health, behavioral medicine, neuroscience, epigenetics, interpersonal neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, social psychology, education, and affective neuroscience, to name just a few.

My forthcoming book, Taking Hypnosis to the Next Level, offers “hot tips” about clinical practice and brief elaborations of foundational concepts related to hypnosis that I believe will be valuable to clinicians. After all, how you think about hypnosis determines whether and how you’ll use it. So, it’s important to think about hypnosis in ways that enhance professionalism as well as therapeutic outcomes.

So, shared here for the first time, is a section from the “Foundational Concepts” section of Taking Hypnosis to the Next Level. Enjoy!

Hypnosis isn’t rational. It’s experiential and multi-dimensional.

Human beings may be capable of rationality in some arenas but, in general, we aren’t rational creatures. While learning to think and behave more logically would be of great help in many circumstances, there are many other circumstances where logic is irrelevant. Falling in love, being moved by a song, fantasizing about winning the lottery, and countless other such experiences aren’t based on logic. When someone’s irrational feelings are the foundation of their thoughts, reactions, choices, behavior, and connections to others, how can we best connect them to other aspects of experience that can yield better outcomes? Sometimes that might mean connecting them to a more rational, objective perspective, while other times it might mean using non-rational suggestions to make a meaningful point.

Hypnosis is an approach that emphasizes the power of subjective experience to shape perceptions and choices. Hypnosis often encourages responses that are seemingly illogical. Many of the suggestions given during hypnosis make little sense on a rational level yet give rise to often dramatic therapeutic responses. This is one of the things, among many, that make hypnosis so inherently fascinating. People can respond to suggestions that do not make sense (“You can go roller blading on the rings of Saturn”) with experiential responses that make perfect sense (“I feel so free!”).

These non-logical but meaningful responses can exist on many different levels of experience. For example, on the physiological level, suggesting to someone that he or she can experience a numb hand that can transfer the numbness to another part of the body experiencing pain and thereby reduce or eliminate the pain there (a technique known as a “glove anesthesia”) isn’t logical. But, it can generate amazing consequences in terms of pain relief. Other levels include cognitive responses such as new thoughts or insights, emotional responses such as relief or a newly found courage, behavioral responses such as taking a new course of action, and/or spiritual responses when the person is moved by an emergent new meaning or self-awareness. Hypnosis can serve as a catalyst for a deeper and richer quality of life.

I invite you to look for Taking Hypnosis to the Next Level after December 1st on our website or on Amazon.

I also invite you to attend one of the in-depth hypnosis training courses in either Carlsbad (San Diego), California or in Australia (Perth or Melbourne).

Details about the courses are below in this newsletter and also on our website.

100-Hour Clinical Hypnosis & Strategic Psychotherapy 2018 in Carlsbad, California

This 3 part clinical training for health care professionals is an opportunity to develop practical skills for integrating hypnosis into your work with clients.

This training is applicable to all clinicians regardless of your theoretical orientation or approach to working with clients. Having a deliberate understanding of how your words affect your clients and how to best create the context for your clients to achieve their goals applies to all clinicians.

Click on links below for more information or contact Diane (diane@yapko.com) and she’ll be happy to talk with you further about this course.

Payment plans are available so you don’t need to pay for the course all at once.

Training starts in February but early registration deadline is soon. Come join us in beautiful Carlsbad, California (North San Diego).

Comprehensive Brochure