Therapeutic Trances

CHAPTER 6

Associational Strategies for Developing Therapeutic Trance

Following the initial phase of creating a context, the hypnotherapist works to stimulate therapeutic trances. In terms of a single session, this induction phase involves shifting from waking state to trance state, and may last anywhere from 5 to 60 minutes. In terms of a multiple session hypnotherapy, it may consist of a training period of 2–8 sessions in which the client learns to easily develop trance states (cf. Erickson, 1948).

This chapter explores ways in which these therapeutic processes can be achieved. The first section briefly reviews the notion of trance as naturalistic and then outlines three basic principles of hypnotic induction. The second section explores various ...