ABSTRACT
The use of hypnosis for problem solving, symptom reduction, and concrete goal attainment has appeared frequently in the professional literature, especially subsequent to the general acceptance of behavior therapy (Dengrove, 1976; Kroger & Fezler, 1976). Success may often be had in just one or two sessions outside of a clinical setting, and yet may have therapeutic value and bring about major life or systems changes. For example, a 42-year-old woman had suffered from insomnia for over 20 years in spite of prolonged use of medication. In the one hypnosis session she had with me I simply appealed to her unconscious, suggesting that if there was some reason for being awake, she could pay attention to it at some other time, instead of at night during sleep. I taped my hypnotic intervention and recommended that she repeat the hypnotic experience by herself at home every day. I did not hear from her again and, honestly, I forgot about her. At a lecture 5 months later, she approached me to inform me with gratitude and excitement that she “had been sleeping like a baby” since that single time we had met. More importantly, she told me that she had finally started therapy to work through issues of a painful childhood.
