The Case Of Sol

Sol is a psychologist seeking help for his long-term depression. Sol’s depression has intensified over the years as he has come to face the painful reality that his fantasies of professional and financial success — culminating in an early retirement — will go unfulfilled. Sol is deeply self-critical, anxious about how he will cope with his predicament, and doubtful that he can do anything to change his feelings or his circumstances.

Sol identifies his “history of being humorous” as his principal means of coping, a resource Michael Yapko uses liberally in his hypnotic intervention. Throughout the hypnosis session, Dr. Yapko highlights Sol’s personal resources. In addition, he clarifies the importance not only of having goals and fantasies, but also of having the internal mechanism for making sure they are realistic, with specific, identifiable steps to eventually bring them to fruition. Michael Yapko’s pragmatism is evident in his ability to empatheticaly “push” Sol into redefining who he is and who he can be, quite apart from who he once fantasized about being.

The session is professionally videotaped, and enhanced with helpful introductory graphics describing the patterns of depression/anxiety co-morbidity and the value of hypnosis as a means of intervention. Throughout the tape are numerous subtitles explaining key points in the intervention, and the tape concludes with follow-up information on Sol’s subsequent progress. This is an outstanding teaching tape for all those interested in the skilled application of hypnosis in the treatment of complex co-morbid cases.