Hypnotherapy

Bill O' Hanlon in his most recent book A Guide to Tranceland describes hypnosis this way: There are two major types of hypnosis: authoritarian and permissive. The tradition I practice within, which I have come to call solution-oriented hypnosis is permissive. I studied with the late psychiatrist Milton H. Erickson a few years before his death in 1980. There are both philosophical and technical differences between authoritarian hypnosis and the permissive approach... traditional hypnotherapy relies on the authority and power of the hypnotist to "get" the person into trance. It also taps into suggestibility, which is required for success in this more authoritarian approach. Once the client is in trance that hypnotherapist has a clear direction for trance (uncovering repressed or forgotten trauma, that may be creating present problems; im- planting new, more positive beliefs; and so on). I see this as an outside in approach. The hypnotist is trying to get new stuff to happen from the outside and is the expert on what is going on with the person he or she is treating and what that person needs to do to get better.
The solution oriented approach, in contrast is based more on e a a a vocation than a suggestion. Echoing the title of a book on Erickson's work (The Answer Within by Stephen Carol Lankton), solution oriented hypnotherapist told that people have answers and knowledge within themselves that can be tapped and released with the right invitations. The right invitations are the one that really resonate with a particular person. That's why this approach, while it has a set of generalized guidelines, does not have any formulas. Every trance induction is different. Every treatment is different. Some people will discover some repressed memories. Others will merely shift their thinking. Still others will perceive strange sensations or colors that will become meaningful and lead them to change. The person is the expert; the hypnotherapist is merely the facilitator of the evoked answers or responses. I recommend this book as well as his previous book Solution-Oriented Hypnosis An Ericksonian Approach, to get an understanding of how to work with people this way.