Commercial hypnotherapy which is produced for the mass market is widely available in CD, book or e formats. These materials deal with common issues such as giving up smoking, weight loss etc and by their very nature have to be generic as there is no option for personalisation. However as there is no therapist present at these sessions, the success of commercial non personalised screeds cannot be assessed. In my opinion, commercial materials can reach many people but they are more about making money for the person producing them than about making a difference for the individual. It is also impossible to have a personalised induction if the therapist is holding a group session. In hypnosis the therapist relies on verbal communication rather than on body language. Psychology professor Albert Mehrabian studied communication and stated that how humans communicate can be broken down into quantities; ie words account for 7%, tone of voice accounts for 38%, and body language accounts for 55%. Therefore the vocabulary the therapist uses becomes vitally important to how successful the therapy will be for the client. Therapists who prefer a personalised approach believe that preparation of the client is essential especially if they have no previous experience of hypnotherapy and/or have pre-conceived ideas. Discussion before the session is crucial to discover what the client’s expectations are and when
Bibliography: Karle, H. Boys, J. (1987) Hypnotherapy a Practical Handbook. London: Free Association Books. Hadley, J. Staudacher, C. (1996) Hypnosis for Change. USA: New Harbinger Publications. Heap, M. Dryden, W. (1991) Hypnotherapy: a Handbook. Berkshire: Open University Press. Chrysalis Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling. Year One – Hypnotherapy and Counselling skills – Module 2 Hypnosis and Mental Health. Further techniques – Counselling skills 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_H._Erickson 15/07/2012