Discovering the Power of Self-Hypnosis: A New Approach for Enabling Change and Promoting Healing

The alarming title, which suggests untold dangers of uninitiated folk getting themselves into trouble, is rather a misnomer. Fisher, a New York City psychotherapist, and Ellison, book editor of Psychology Today , are not prescribing the theatrical kind of hypnotism in which a person is placed under the control of another. Their ``self-hypnosis'' is a kind of light trance state which can be readily attained and as easily ended and, the authors assert, can be used (as Fisher has used it in treatment) to relax, to conquer fears like that of flying, to break the smoking habit and even to prepare oneself for surgery. The essence of the approach is to bring mind and body into better harmony, with the aim of imposing more mental control over physical states and reactions. The book is quietly persuasive without proselytizing, and ungimmicky. Its tone is friendly, and it seems probable that the book could be of great help to excessively nervous or obsessive people; others might have no need of such techniques other than simply to help them sleep better. (June)