ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the practical foundational principles for hypnosis into the therapeutic context. The skills needed to be an effective clinician are substantial. These include a broad knowledge of clinical literature, an ability to relate to the client and form a therapeutic alliance, and an ability to organize and direct a well-structured intervention. These are all complex skills that require significant investments of time and effort to develop and help define the true professional. A hypnosis session will only be considered good if it hits a meaningful target. In real-world circumstances, unlike participants in many traditional therapeutic efficacy studies who may be excluded from the research if they have additional problems beyond the single condition being investigated, clients typically have multiple problems, even multiple diagnoses. Faced with multiple problems to address, clinical judgment requires making a decision about where to begin.
