Hypnotically Generating Therapeutic Possibilities

Hypnotically Generating Theraputic Possibilities tape cover Hypnosis, to quote Michael Yapko, is about focusing–about helping clients build a frame of mind to accomplish their goals. What attracted Yapko to hypnosis–and has kept him attracted to it all these years? His answer, quite simply: “I don’t know a better way of empowering people.”

In this compelling 60-minute teaching demonstration of a formal induction, viewers watch as Dr. Yapko, a master listener and storyteller, empowers Bob, a fellow clinician struggling with issues of professional competence.

Emphasizing the inherent ambiguities of the clinical situation, and the multiple ways of doing good therapy, Dr. Yapko frees Bob to begin to trust himself more and to worry less about validation from others. Upon coming out of hypnosis, Bob observes how liberating the session was for him. “There was a world of choices,” he says, “where before there was only one–and the one I had wasn’t any good.”

The tape includes captioned commentaries in which Dr. Yapko explains his goals for the session and the significance of moment-by-moment interventions. A brief, concluding Q&A section adds another dimension to the learning. Michael Yapko is among today’s clearest teaching therapists. And for all those interested in how metaphor, humor, confusion, and storytelling can be combined with permissive suggestions to open up new possibilities for clients, Hypnotically Generating Therapeutic Possibilities is without peer.