ABSTRACT
The number of new books on hypnosis and hypnotherapeutic approaches has increased dramatically in the last few years, with new offerings reaching the public each month. The vast majority to date have been theoretical or research-oriented in nature, with little direct clinical application and therefore lacking relevance for practitioners. However, that situation is beginning to change as hypnosis gains respectability as a therapeutic modality. There have been a few practitioner-oriented books to reach the market recently, generally on specific clinical problems. The danger now is that hypnosis will be applied indiscriminately to every conceivable client concern by minimally trained and supervised individuals with little or no consideration of its appropriate usage in light of theory and research. In particular, it is often difficult to determine if positive therapeutic outcome is the result of hypnosis per se or of some other therapist, client or situation variable. Likewise, therapists may not always consider whether hypnosis is theoretically indicated and, if so, how it is employed, but may use it because clients request or demand it. If such practices become widespread, hypnosis may again undergo one of the periodic extinctions that have plagued its history.
