Monsters and Magical Sticks, There's No Such Thing as Hypnosis?

by: Steven Heller, Ph.D. & Terry Steele

New Falcon Publications, Tempe, AZ, 1987

There's No Such Thing as Hypnosis? This may appear to be a strange title for a book written by a man who has been in the field of clinical hypnosis for many years. So begins this delightful little book on hypnotherapy. Heller's point is both that there is no such THING as hypnosis - it is not a thing you can hold - and that in our everyday communications we are constantly hypnotizing and being hypnotized. Throughout the book he gives examples of clients whose problems are characterized as trances into which their family and friends have inadvertently put them. In a meeting with Erickson Heller asked, "Would you say that you perceive all presenting symptoms and complaints as being metaphors that contain a story about the "real" problem, and that your basic approach is to build metaphors that contain a story about the possible solution?" "Exactly!" replied Erickson. You might overlook this slim volume because of its small size, only 188 pages, and because of its seemingly flippant title, but you would be making a mistake.

The first four chapters talk about everyday experience seen as learning/hypnosis, and how often unpleasant memories are hidden from our conscious minds. Chapters five and six deal with beliefs and representational systems, including a discussion of eye accessing cues.

Heller has a light touch and shows frequent flashes of humor. For example, when he explains his view that lead and preferred systems are dependent on the circumstances he writes, "I am now going to go out on a limb. I hope that you will refrain from sawing it off while I am perched upon it." He is of course on solid ground, as he offers numerous case histories illustrating each subject and teaching his insightful and compassionate approach to change work. Subsequent chapters address other Ericksonian topics of conscious/ unconscious division, anchors and anchoring, and utilization.

Highly recommended.

Book review by: Avner Eisenberg