International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

TRAINING IN HYPNOSIS 27
of transference and countertransference issues, managing resistance, and handling
potential dif®culties in forensic situations are discussed in detail.
It is tempting to allow workshop members to discuss the use of hypnosis in
memory enhancement, post-traumatic disorders, and dissociative conditions too
early in their learning rather than in more simple applications. Introductory workshops
®rst teach `how to get into trance'and then `what to do when you get there.'
The group needs to be reassured that using clinical hypnosis requires time: ®rst, to
experience one's own trance phenomena; second, to teach it to others. After these
skills are learned, each clinician will then be able to learn what to do with an
individual patient once the trance has been induced. While many clinicians want to
learn hypnosis in order to treat these more dif®cult cases, true pro®ciency occurs
over time and requires advanced workshops on each of the above topics alone in
subsequent months or years.
During the small supervised group practice sessions, identi®cation of slow or
hesitant learners is essential if post-workshop use of hypnosis will occur. Participants
who report early use of hypnosis with patients for simple relaxation and stress
reduction do well in the future for more advanced cases. Those participants, however,
who still hold on to scripts, and report little intersession use, may need some
individual attention within the group framework. In general, those who understand
that additional workshops may be helpful in ultimately claiming this modality for
future use are encouraged to relax and accept their own rate of learning.
The last session is devoted to ethical principles, professional conduct, and
certi®cation Bloom, 1995c). Maintaining training standards and advancing the
®eld becomes an additional task of each workshop member on leaving the
introductory course. Joining national and international organizations ensures future
personal and professional development. Current controversies in hypnosis research
and their applications to clinical practice raise major issues. Because of controversies
in using hypnosis in memory retrieval, treating dissociative disorders, and
understanding the `false memory syndrome'movement, experimentalists contribute
answers to important questions generated by clinical concerns. How does memory
work, is repressed memory a proper subject of controlled studies, and how do
investigating demands shape forensic hypnosis? McConkey & Sheehan, 1995).
There is a current danger that responsible clinicians will dismiss laboratory ®ndings
if they do not support their own perception of their patients'problems and
responses to therapy. There is also a potential for serious misunderstanding if
experimentalists do not appreciate that clinicians are licensed by the state/province
to make independent responsible judgments on how to treat each individual patient.
Two truths therefore seem to con¯ict: the truth of science, and the truth of clinical
wisdom. Workshop members need to appreciate the inherent ambiguity of their
work and learn to accept both truths at the same time. Human understanding is not
advanced on clinical anecdote alone, but the wisdom of the healer is seldom
dependent on the double blind study. Investigators and clinicians need each other
and must ®nd ways to share common ground.