ABSTRACT
Hypnosis, like mindfulness, requires that practitioners are at ease, relaxed and fully focused in the moment. Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is a therapeutic approach that draws on a number of different foundations: from hypnosis, through linguistics and social learning to motivational approaches. An 'anchor' is an NLP term for particular triggers which lead to particular emotional or behavioural states. It consists of both the trigger and the response. Anchors are therefore analogous to computer programs that execute once certain criteria are met, and thereafter run automatically, below the level of awareness. Anchors can be adaptive or maladaptive. There are brief hypnotic interventions that practitioners can learn and use, derived from Eriksonian hypnosis techniques. A good review of the evidence for hypnotherapy can be found in two Special Issues of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis on 'Evidence-based practice in clinical hypnosis'.
