One of the most challenging parts of the practice of clinical hypnosis is the creation and use of hypnotic inductions. The therapy phase of the hypnotic process can consist of a story, an age regression, or any one of a myriad number of techniques. The bottom line is, the therapist must successfully induce trance so that the client is prepared for what follows. That’s what this book is about, the induction and how to use them in clinical practice effectively.

This book contains both direct, using guided imagery, and indirect inductions and metaphors are used in both. With indirect inductions, trance occurs when the therapist reads a client a story about someone else who develops interesting sensations in his or her body. These inductions are easy, non-threatening, and usually fail safe. Such a metaphorical approach gets in underneath the radar and cannot be defended against. When clients don’t respond to a story or guided imagery induction, the author introduces a confusion induction.