International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

238 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
distant past can assist patients in leaving the emotional signi®cance of former
events out of current sexual involvement. These techniques may be particularly
useful in dealing with earlier traumatic sexual experiences which are colouring
contemporary sexual responses.
METAPHORICAL THERAPIES
Metaphors and stories may also be employed to assist attitude change towards one
of successful sexual functioning. For example, a recently married patient, experiencing
severe vaginismus, responded well to a story of a young couple moving into a
new house she was currently looking for a house in which she and her husband
would live), discovering that one room was locked and apparently without a key.
Attempts to break the door down were unsuccessful and painful. A search led to the
discovery of a number of keys in a drawer in the basement, and the husband
attempted to unlock the door. As he was in such a hurry he repeatedly fumbled with
the keys, dropped them and was unable to get the key into the lock. His wife's more
patient and systematic use of each key resulted in her being calmly able to unlock
the door. While ®nding the key was an essential ®rst step in opening the door,
subsequent attempts were initially found to be dif®cult, as the door had been closed
for some long period of time. Once the husband found the oil for the door hinges,
the door could be opened as wide as the patient chose. The wife retained control of
the keys throughout.
Hammond 1990) reviews the wide variety of dysfunctions that may respond to
the `master control room technique' where the patient is taken in the hypnotic state
to the `control room' of their mind sited in the hypothalamus?) and from here the
patient can make whatever alterations in the area of sexual functioning are required
e.g. suggestions of entering the control room and turning up sexual interest in a
step-wise fashion from 0 towards 10, using any one of a number of switch
metaphors).
Other metaphors including warmth, sweating, and so on, may also be used to
enhance the sexual response. Cartoon or dramatic representations of the most erotic
involvement have also been used Araoz, 1982) to rehearse, give permission for
and enhance involvement in sexual activity. Symbolic transformation of the parts
of the anatomy which may be perceived negatively has also been used to remove
anxiety-based inhibitory responses Araoz, 1982) e.g. the labia are perceived as
the petals of a lovely ¯ower or the penis may be represented as a beautiful ivory or
marble column, and so on).
TIME DISTORTION
Time distortion may be used to deal with both delayed and premature ejaculation as
well as anorgasmia or delayed female orgasm. Time may be expanded so that the
time to reach orgasm appears long and satisfying or time may be truncated to bring