Excerpt from a presentation at the
1996 AAMFT Annual Conference in Toronto
by
Diane Zimberoff, M.A.
Director of The Wellness Institute*
“I have trained thousands of people in HeartCentered Hypnotherapy all over this country and
other countries. It works just as effectively, and
briefly, with people of different socio-econornic
backgrounds, cultures, races and religions. It is
effective with children, adolescents and adults.”
I want to give you some information about the worldwide use of hypnotherapy in the mental
health profession. I speak from my experience of training professionals in the United States,
Kuwait, Taiwan, and Mexico. We have been honored with an invitation to teach in South Africa
in August, 1997.
Concerning Brief Therapy
Hypnotherapy is now widely recognized as the most powerful and complete method of doing
brief psychotherapy. The reason is that this technique treats the symptom as well as the cause of
the problem. Most “talk therapies” can barely treat the symptom in six sessions, let alone get
down to the cause. Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy uses a combination of Gestalt, Transactional
Analysis and Behavior Modification to treat many clients with anxiety or phobias in only one or
two sessions. We use hypnosis to get down to the source of the anxiety, then we use behavior
modification to "extinguish" or eliminate the anxiety reaction.
What makes hypnotherapy so effective is that it is accomplished in the "mental state" in
which the trauma was first experienced, i.e., the unconscious part of the mind. Merely talking
about anxiety or even doing behavior modification consciously, does not usually have any
long-lasting effects. The Government of Kuwait brought us to their country in 1995 to train their
psychologists and mental health professionals. After their country was invaded by Iraq, the
majority of Kuwaiti people were experiencing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). They had
done the research and determined Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy to be the most effective
treatment available in the world.
Hypnotherapy bypasses the fears, rationalizations, denial systems and other defenses that the
conscious mind uses to resist the therapist, allowing the client and therapist to make the most
profound use of therapeutic time. In this day and age of overwhelming caseloads and managed
care limiting sessions, there is no time to just talk about the problem. The limited time we have
must be used in the most direct and effective treatment available.
Does Hypnosis Sound Like a Stage-Show Gimmick?
It is understandable that many people have confused ideas about hypnosis. However, we are
really talking about what the great giants of psychology like Freud and Jung and others have
taught us over the last century. What they have taught is how important the unconscious mind is
in treating mental disorders and emotional problems. Now approaching the 21st century we are
discovering how to effectively uncover that vast resource of information, motivation, and
creativity stored within the unconscious mind of every one of us.
Hypnotherapy is the high technology of psychology for the next century. In fact, the mind
works very much like a computer. There are memory chips which can be accessed through
regression. People can have an affect on those memories which are stored by changing them
into more positive experiences. The way to permanently change the behavior of people is to
change the old "programming." And hypnotherapy is the tool we use to recreate new programs.
What About Hypnosis and HMOs?
More and more HMOs are accepting hypnotherapy as the preferred method of treatment.
Why? It's simply the bottom line. It works faster, more effectively in a much shorter period of
time than traditional talk therapy. When time and money are limited, hypnotherapy is the
preferred method of treatment. You do not change your billing procedures when using
hypnotherapy. You continue to use the DSM-IV codes which identify the disability of the person
being treated.
What Disorders Does Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy Treat?
There is such a wide variety of uses for hypnotherapy that there truly is no limitation. I have
found it most effective in treating anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, phobias,
addictions, stress-related illness, low self-esteem and all types of dissociative and adjustment
disorders. I have trained thousands of people in Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy all over this
country and other countries. It works just as effectively, and briefly, with people of different
socio-economic backgrounds, cultures, races and religions. It is effective with children,
adolescents and adults as well as with couples and families. Most people are fascinated and
excited about the prospect of discovering a new therapeutic tool to help them without the use of
drugs. If you have a heavy caseload and are looking for a treatment modality which is effective
with a wide variety of disorders, I know that you would benefit from using hypnotherapy.
Diane Zimberoff, M.A., Director
3716 - 274th Avenue SE
Issaquah, WA 98029 USA
425-391-9716
800-914-8348