The use of a skill-based activity in therapeutic induction.
This paper describes a hypnotherapeutic intervention for a brain damaged 36-year-old male who has suffered from asthma since infancy and seizure disorder from the age of eight. In early sessions it was discovered that conventional "passive-relaxation" induction techniques seemed to exacerbate certain disturbing somatic experiences, which he refers to as scary feelings. It was found that his performance of a previously learned skilled activity (the playing of the computer game Tetris) permitted the experience of a highly focused but relaxed state that was conducive to therapeutic interaction. This approach to induction bears similarity to "active-alert" procedures but may be more importantly related to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's principle of flow, in that it involves engagement in a subjectively meaningful, skill-based activity.
Winter
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Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York, USA.
D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D017029:Epilepsy, Complex Partial / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D018910:Video Games