Rising overweight and obesity rates in the United States and the accompanying health issues underscore the need for an effective treatment for weight loss. While most people tend to lose weight as a result of cognitive-behavioral treatment, the weight is often regained after treatment ends. Possible reasons for weight regain include not fully…

Prior studies of hypnotic treatment of smoking have reported abstinence rates of between 17 and 88 percent at six months, but few have investigated procedures or forms of suggestions. To compare the effectiveness of positive and negative hypnotic suggestions and self-hypnosis for cessation of smoking, 32 subjects were assigned to one of four…

Most research in smoking cessation has shown no intervention clearly superior or successful. Of those who return to smoking after abstaining, a subgroup includes those who do so incrementally, eventually reaching their former level. An approach aimed at this subgroup, originally used in a group setting, involves intensifying the desire to smoke…

Six adolescents, all females, who were involved in a variety of drug misuse were self-referrals for treatment. Treatment consisted of an initial comprehensive psychological examination, three intensive sessions of hypnosis and a procedure to develop cue association in situations where the girls felt tense. Results were favorable. (Author)

Hypnosis is a state of mind which manifests a high degree of suggestibility. Advertising, political campaigning, and religious contemplation are all areas in which hypotism is employed, usually without knowledge on the part of either the "hypnotist" or the subject. Because of its association with entertainment, magic, manipulation, and…

Examines several basic hypnotherapeutic techniques (rapport building, problem assessment, resistance management, and behavior change) based on Milton H. Erickson's hypnotherapeutic principles that can be translated into the general framework of counseling. (Author/CM)

When hypnosis training was used in groups, students demonstrated goal attainment for a diverse range of personally identified problems. Improvement was also noted for anxiety and depression. (Author)

Subjects were pretested on objective and subjective responses to test suggestions of the Barber Suggestibility Scale. After being exposed to one of three treatments--experimenter modeling, hypnotic induction, or control--each subject was retested. Experimenter modeling was as effective as hypnotic induction in enhancing responsiveness to test…

Basic intervention strategies for dealing with client resistance include psychoanalytic, learning/behavioral, and hypnotic/paradoxical. Psychoanalytic theory views resistance as a way to avoid the anxiety aroused by increasing awareness of unconscious materials and vulnerable areas in the person's life. Resistance is dealt with after it has…

Behavior therapy is by no means simplistic and mechanistic. It is possible to expand the horizons of behavior therapy to include such concepts as cognition and awareness without resorting to mentalistic or Freudian speculation. A new technique, the Idealized Self-Image (ISI) has been devised for the enhancement of self-esteem and learned…

Studied the effectiveness of hypnosis in the treatment of cigarette habituation. Volunteers (N=87) were randomly assigned to hypnosis, relaxation, or waiting list control groups. Hypnosis was found to be superior to relaxation only for subjects high in hypnotic susceptibility. Those who quit smoking increased food consumption. (Author/JAC)

An active five-session, individualized treatment approach to the stopping of smoking is described. This approach emphasized the following: (a) the feedback, in and out of hypnosis, of the client's own reasons for quitting, (b) the visualization of both positive and negative smoking experiences meaningful to the client, (c) maintaining contact with…

Three approaches: hypnosis, counseling, and hypnosis plus counseling were used to help smokers stop smoking. Only the third approach produced a fairly high success rate. (SE)

Presents two case studies of children in which developmental themes were used as therapeutic metaphors for behavioral change. The first illustrates use of a traditional hypnotic induction with a behavioral prescription. The second illustrates a naturalistic trance induction with indirect/imbedded suggestions. Emphasizes advantage of using…