Understanding that trance states exist in all emotional problems is such a key to treating problems for me.
I guess at this stage I should try to define trance... Dictionary.com (trance) isn't too helpful for our purposes - it basically says "it's hypnosis"
I like to think of trance in terms of 'tunnel thinking', or perhaps more accurately "tunnel perception".
Basically, trance allows you to create an inner world that is different to what is actually going on around you.
For myself, I find it is useful to think "If I wasn't thinking about this, would there actually be a problem, and if so, what would it be like?"
This meandering chunter all reminds me of Erickson's comment which went something like "The happiest people are those that can work out the way the world works the quickest, then work around it."
Perhaps he was referring in part to the fact that the only way to problem solve is to be clear on what the problem is, if there is one, otherwise your efforts are misguided.
Now I shall go to bed and wonder about whether I should have bothered posting this at all
Best
Roger
) that hypnotic phenomana occurs naturally off the stage and out side of the therapy room so to speak. So we see the post hypnotic suggestion operating in the 'flashback' of the traumatised person where a particular response becomes 'glued' to a particular trigger which reminds the emotional centres of the brain of the original trauma. Behaviours such as smoking rely largely on post hypnotic triggers such as 'after breakfast' and 'having a drink' etc. All psychological problems from depression to severe anger are forms of trance. The role of a therapist is really to keep patients 