International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

102 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
and bene®ts, when hypnosis is used to recover memory is thrown into bolder relief
by a consideration of selected clinical material.
McConkey & Sheehan 1995; see also McConkey, 1995) presented the case of
BT, who was 21 years old when she went to a clinician for help in remembering
events that her older sister had said BT had witnessed about 10 years earlier. BT's
sister had told police that their father had sexually abused her as a young
adolescent, and had said that BT witnessed much of that abuse. BT could not
remember this, but underwent four hypnosis sessions at the request of her mother
and her sister. Early in Session 1, the following interaction occurred:
hypnotist: Are you aware that in the case of your elder sister, in her relationship
with her father, that there are various charges being brought about against him?
bt: Yes.
hypnotist: Right. As her sister, I am asking you now, as to whether you are a
witness in the past to any impropriety that your father may or may not have
committed towards your sister?
bt: No.
By the end of Session 1, after using a series of techniques that focused on the father
and his assumed acts of abuse, the following interaction occurred:
hypnotist: Are you only aware for the moment at this your ®rst subconscious
session, are you only aware of that occasion when you walked into your father's
room on a Saturday afternoon and were suddenly aware that [your sister] was in
your father's bed with him under the blankets and sheets. Is this the only
occasion that you noticed your father was not at all acting out the proper fatherly
role?
bt: Yes.
In Sessions 2 and 3, the hypnotist used various techniques and metaphors to help
BT feel secure and con®dent about whatever events came to mind. By the end of
Session 3, BT was answering explicit questions about witnessing multiple sexual
interactions between her father and sister. Moreover, she was giving details, such as
the precise positioning and movement of the father's hands and genitals, that would
have required extraordinary ability not only to witness since they reportedly
occurred under bedclothes), but also to remember so precisely since they reportedly
occurred approximately 10 years previously).
At the end of Session 3, the hypnotist summarized the progress they had made
together, and ended treatment with the following interaction:
hypnotist: Your subconscious mind is a memory bank, and you can entrust a
third party to help you resolve all that you've seen, all that you've experienced,
all that you as a Christian have been coerced to be witness to ... You may feel