Hypnosis for Inner Conflict Resolution E-Book

Roy Hunter

• Herausgeber: Crown House Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 308

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2004

Beschreibung

Increasing numbers of therapists around the world are discovering the benefits of parts therapy and its variations to help clients get past personal barriers. Variations of parts therapy such as ego state therapy or voice dialogue are already used by many psychotherapists and psychologists who also use hypnosis in their practices. This book will provide therapists with the added knowledge of parts therapy.

Leseprobe

Hypnosis for Inner Conflict Resolution

Introducing Parts Therapy

C. Roy Hunter MS FAPHP

Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Terence Watts

Introduction

Chapter 1Overview

1.1 What is parts therapy?

1.2 When is parts therapy appropriate?

1.3 Who will most likely respond?

1.4 Why is client-centred parts therapy effective?

1.5 Variations of parts therapy

1.5.1 Ego state therapy

1.5.2 Voice dialogue

1.5.3 Inner-child work

1.5.4 Subpersonalities

1.5.5 Other variations

Chapter 2Charles Tebbetts: Parts Therapy Pioneer

2.1 Who was Charles Tebbetts?

2.1.1 Parts therapy pioneer

2.1.2 Article written by Charles Tebbetts

2.2 Important updates

Chapter 3Important Background Information

3.1 What is client-centred hypnosis?

3.2 The four primary hypnotherapy objectives

3.2.1 Objective 1: Suggestion and imagery

3.2.2 Objective 2: Discovering the cause

3.2.3 Objective 3: Release

3.2.4 Objective 4: Subconscious relearning

3.2.5 Additional comments

3.3 Which hypnotherapy objectives can parts therapy fulfill?

3.4 Why training in regression therapy is a prerequisite

3.4.1 Inappropriate leading

3.5 Psychodynamics and ideomotor responding

3.5.1 Let the client choose the finger responses

3.5.2 Seven important questions (psychodynamics)

Chapter 4Proper Preparation

4.1 Explain parts therapy to the client

4.2 Hypnotize and deepen appropriately

4.3 Establish a safe place

4.4 Establish (or confirm) finger responses

4.5 Verify hypnotic depth

4.6 Know the eleven-step process

4.7 Additional comments

Chapter 5The First Four Steps

5.1 The risk of imagery in parts therapy

5.2 Step 1: Identify the part

5.3 Step 2: Gain rapport

5.4 Step 3: Call out the part

5.5 Combining Steps 1–3

5.6 Sample scripts

5.6.1 Calling out the conflicting part

5.6.2 Calling out the motivating part

5.7 Step 4: Thank it for emerging

5.8 Reviewing Steps 1–4

5.9 Possible detours

Chapter 6The Important Fifth Step: Discover Its Purpose

6.1 Why should a part choose a name or title?

6.2 Ask the “W” questions

6.2.1 What …?

6.2.2 How …?

6.2.3 Why …?

6.2.4 When …?

6.2.5 Who …?

6.2.6 Where …?

6.2.7 John’s sample session

6.3 Possible detours

6.4 Avoid inappropriate leading

6.5 Sample scripts

6.6 Important advice from Charles Tebbetts

6.7 Parts that use finger responses

Chapter 7Let the Mediation Begin

7.1 Step 6: Call out other parts as appropriate

7.1.1 Calling out the motivating part

7.1.2 Calling out the conflicting part

7.1.3 Calling out a third part

7.1.4 Calling out a part repeatedly

7.2 Step 7: Mediate and negotiate

7.2.1 Listen and mediate

7.2.2 How to negotiate

7.3 Possible detours

7.3.1 The wrong part emerges

7.3.2 Dealing with mistrust

7.3.3 When parts refuse to negotiate

7.3.4 Negative or uncooperative parts

Chapter 8Terms of Agreement

8.1 Step 8: Ask parts to come to terms of agreement

8.1.1 What to ask

8.1.2 Possible detours

8.1.3 Calling out the inner wisdom

8.2 Step 9: Confirm and summarize terms of agreement

8.2.1 Possible detours

Chapter 9The Final Steps

9.1 Step 10: Give direct suggestion as appropriate

9.2 Step 11: Integrate the parts

9.3 Give additional suggestions and/or guided imagery

9.4 Concluding the session

Chapter 10The Typical Session

10.1 John: Weight reduction

10.2 Outline of parts therapy session

Chapter 11Sample Sessions

11.1 The smoker

11.2 A smoky mirror

11.3 Unexpected cause

11.4 Career compromise

11.5 Getting big

11.6 Big protection

11.7 Professional confidence

11.8 This one is personal

11.9 Sweet tooth

11.10 The rose

Chapter 12Potential Pitfalls and Other Concerns

12.1 Advance explanation not given

12.2 Assuming command and giving orders

12.3 Calling out too many parts

12.4 Creating new parts

12.5 Criticizing a part

12.6 Freezing or immobilizing a part

12.7 Getting sidetracked

12.8 Multiple personality disorder

12.9 Possible or alleged entities

12.9.1 What if the part claims to be an entity?

12.9.2 What if the client wants a part dismissed?

12.9.3 The therapist initiates the decision

12.10 Skipping steps

12.11 Taking sides with the dominant part

12.12 Other concerns

Chapter 13New Frontiers: The Undiscovered Country

13.1 Experts visit new frontiers

13.2 Seeking resolution from a spiritual part

13.2.1 The Road

13.2.2 Light for the life path

13.2.3 Awareness of life path

13.2.4 Divine guidance

13.3 Unresolved past grief

13.3.1 Resolution with hypnotic regression

13.3.2 Gestalt role-play in a sacred place

13.3.3 The diamond

13.4 Healing the soul

13.5 Exploring spiritual potential—and more

Bibliography

Index

Copyright

Acknowledgments

This book is written for all therapists and hypnosis students who seek to empower their clients with client-centered hypnosis. It is dedicated to the memory of the late Charles Tebbetts, whose legacy to the hypnotherapy profession will, in my opinion, influence it for decades to come. Though his work with parts therapy evolved from the work of Paul Federn, I consider Charles Tebbetts to be one of the fathers of client-centered parts therapy. I appreciate that he trusted me to continue his work.

My deepest appreciation also goes into print for the professional acknowledgment received from Gil Boyne of the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners, and from Dwight Damon of the National Guild of Hypnotists. The professional awards they gave me in the name of Charles Tebbetts mean more to me than I can put into words.

Additionally, I wish to give special acknowledgment to certain fellow professionals and friends who have supported, promoted, or endorsed my work in recent years. Some have greatly influenced the completion of this parts therapy book either directly or indirectly, with a few providing input for the final manuscript. I mention them in alphabetical order (omitting titles and academic credentials): Cal Banyan, Randal Churchill, Don Gibbons, Kevin Hogan and Terence Watts.

Other people supportive of my work could be listed here, including professionals and friends who have sponsored my workshops, as well as hypnosis instructors teaching my course. Numerous students and professionals attending my presentations over the years have also encouraged me to write an entire book dedicated to parts therapy, and they have my gratitude for motivating me to make this book a reality. You know who you are, and I thank you.

I also express my heartfelt thanks to those who permitted me to include their session notes in the latter chapters of this book. My sincere hope is that many others may benefit from what you generously permitted me to share.

Last but not least, I appreciate Jo-Anne for her patience during the many evenings I worked late writing this book. While a part of me wanted to enjoy those evenings with her, another part motivated me to finish this book earlier than my publisher’s expectations. The result is in your hands.

Foreword

To keep alive a specific work of a Master without destroying its credibility by seeking possession takes a man of extraordinary integrity and honour. It also needs a supremely effective vehicle to address the task in such a way as to inspire without sensationalising, promote without selling, and enlighten without seeming to patronise.

The Master is Charles Tebbets, the specific work is PARTS therapy, and the man is Roy Hunter, once a protégé of Tebbets and now a Master in his own right. The vehicle is this book that is about to inspire and enlighten you, the fortunate reader.

There are two reasons why I am certain of these things. One is that I have been well and truly on the receiving end of the work, the second is that I have twice in recent years had the privilege of organising and sponsoring enormously popular PARTS workshops for Mr Hunter in the UK. It was on one of those occasions that I was fortunate enough to be the volunteer with whom Mr Hunter himself exercised his considerable skills. To be in such a “hot seat” was the most profound of experiences, successfully addressing issues that had lain dormant since my earliest formative years.

PARTS is an elegant therapy. It can look so easy and effortless that you could be forgiven for thinking that it is simply a natural process—and indeed it is, for it actually uses the conflicts that are ever present in our psyche to resolve the apparently irresolvable, to quieten the incessant and resource-draining demands created by our opposing desires.

We should not, however, be misled. A natural process it may be but we need to be taught how to use it wisely and skilfully if we are not to make a mess of things. We need to know when to use it if we are to get the best of it. In short, we need a teacher of consummate skill, total professionalism and knowledge based on vast experience—and Mr Hunter more than fits the bill. To watch him work is akin to watching a world-class conductor with a wonderful symphony orchestra, picking out the smallest of instruments, the most subtle of sounds at just the right moment to allow them to come together in perfect unison.

He is the conductor; the instruments of the orchestra are the parts of the psyche that he brings into beautiful and perfect harmony.

There are many who claim skill with PARTS work but who have acquired it via circuitous routes that have drained much of its character and power. Now, at last, here is your chance to learn directly from one who has himself become an undisputed Master of the Art.

Terence Watts

Introduction

How often do people experience inner conflicts that inhibit successful attainment of important goals? Parts therapy may provide the answer.

Counselors and hypnotherapists often use proven techniques to help their clients change undesired habits and/or to achieve desired personal and professional goals. Yet, in spite of the best efforts of both client and therapist, unresolved inner conflicts often inhibit clients from attaining their ideal empowerment. Often smokers, after rejecting both direct and indirect suggestions to quit, can finally attain inner resolution through parts therapy. Likewise, numerous clients attempting to control eating habits often gain important insight about themselves after experiencing hypnotic inner-conflict resolution. Other inner conflicts can also be resolved even after clients fail to respond to common hypnotic techniques.

Increasing numbers of therapists around the world are discovering the benefits of parts therapy and its variations to help clients get past personal barriers, and it continues to grow in popularity. Other therapists employing variations of parts therapy often use different names, such as ego-state therapy, submodalities, subpersonalities, voicedialogue. Regardless of the label, this author believes this complex technique to be the most beneficial hypnotic technique available for helping clients resolve inner conflicts.

The late Charles Tebbetts, a hypnotherapy instructor who taught thousands of students during his life, promoted and taught hypnotic inner-conflict resolution as parts therapy. Originally borrowing it from Paul Federn, this twentieth-century hypnosis pioneer evolved parts therapy into a client-centered approach that can be learned by almost any experienced hypnotherapist competently trained in the basic concepts of facilitating subconscious release and relearning. Blazing new trails inside a relatively new hypnotherapy profession that American psychologists labeled “lay hypnotism”, Tebbetts was inducted into the International Hypnosis Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement. His work with parts therapy played a significant role in that honor.

Referred to by many hypnotists as a “master teacher”, Charles Tebbetts wrote Miracles on Demand, a book about parts therapy and other hypnotic techniques, which went out of print after his death in 1992. Before he died, he asked me to continue his work; and one of the first tasks was to put my mentor’s work back into the printed page. Although famous for his work with parts therapy, Charlie taught a number of other hypnotic techniques. After I had added my own professional updates, the total work became a two-volume text: The Art of Hypnosis: Mastering Basic Techniques (2000), 3rd edition (Kendall/Hunt Publishing), and The Art of Hypnotherapy (2000), 2nd edition (Kendall/Hunt Publishing). When I first wrote The Art of Hypnotherapy, I devoted one lengthy chapter to parts therapy. This effective hypnotic technique was sprinkled into several other chapters, with considerable additional information packed into the rest of the text. Other books are available describing parts therapy or its variations, but little is available originating in the hypnotherapy profession that is dedicated to parts therapy.

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed the privilege of teaching parts therapy workshops at various hypnosis conventions and hypnosis schools on both sides of the ocean. Students thirsty for knowledge frequently ask me where they can find additional information, because they need more than what my older text provides regarding this complex technique. Most of the additional information available regarding parts therapy and its variations is written for psychotherapists and other healthcare professionals who might use hypnotherapy as an adjunct to their practice, with minimal information available for those who specialize in the use of hypnosis as their primary profession. This book is intended to help fill that gap.

My primary purpose in devoting an entire book to parts therapy is to provide a learning tool for both the teacher and student alike. I intend this to be a “how to” guidebook, containing step-by-step instructions for facilitating competent, client-centered parts therapy from start to finish. I’ll share techniques to help the properly trained hypnotist know when to consider parts therapy for a client, as well as how to obtain good results.

While other therapists may take their clients down different paths, my own professional experience validates the benefit of following the steps described in this book. If you are a therapist using ego states therapy, voice dialogue, or any other variation of parts therapy, then consider what I present only if it adds to your proven program. I will not debate with successful results. However, if you are not already trained in a successful variation of parts therapy, my strong recommendation is that you closely follow the discipline presented in the chapters that follow.

This book guides you through effective steps in sequence, with scripts (where appropriate), and also reveals potential pitfalls in order to minimize the risk of falling into one. Occasionally, we may run into detours along the way, and I’ll share ideas that have helped me get past the detours over the years. Additionally, the discipline I present here assumes that parts therapy is combined with hypnosis in order to maximize the probability of longer-lasting beneficial results. Rather than simply employing parts therapy with little or no hypnotic depth, my students facilitate hypnotic inner-conflictresolution. This requires deeper states of hypnosis, which increases the probability of long-term success.

Hypnosis instructors need this book if they plan to teach parts therapy, even if they only recommend this book to their students as reference. Additionally, because I update my own work, the reader who owns a copy of either of the first two editions of The Art ofHypnotherapy will discover some additional changes to my older instructions. I consider one of these changes to be very important, and explain why in Chapter 2.

In conformance with my established writing style, I frequently use first-person format. Also, I use simple language for easy reading. While the discipline for effective parts therapy is complex, I believe that easy reading makes the learning process easier. Client examples included will be changed sufficiently in details in order to protect client confidentiality, except where permission was given. My professional opinions stated in these chapters resulted from insight provided by both my own experience and that of others.

This book is dedicated to all competent professionals who wish to master client-centered parts therapy in order to help clients resolve inner conflicts.

Chapter 1

Overview

Parts therapy is based on the concept that our personality is composed of a number of various parts. Our personality parts are aspects of the subconscious, each with its respective jobs or functions of the inner mind. In other words, we tend to wear many different hats as we walk along the path of life.

Often we can be consciously aware of the various hats we wear as our personality parts influence our conscious actions. At work we get into the work mode, wearing the figurative hat of a dedicated worker; but the inner child, quiet while we are working, can’t wait to come out and play at home. The professional whose demeanor is strictly business in the workplace may become an easygoing person with a silly sense of humor outside the workplace. The freshman attending a college class takes on the role of the student while listening attentively to the professor’s lecture, but that same person could become loud and boisterous at a Saturday-night party.

Some people are accused of being “two-faced” because of displaying very obvious personality changes in different circumstances; but a change of face is not limited to a few. It is actually common to all of us to greater or lesser degrees. These personality changes may become more obvious during times of inner conflict, such as when a smoker trying to quit is caught in the act of lighting up.

Inner conflicts occur when we have two different parts of the subconscious pulling us in opposite directions. The smoker mentioned above might have a strong emotional desire to quit in order to have more money to spend on recreational activities, but another part of the mind provides pleasure in lighting up after meals or at other times. Every year countless numbers of smokers make New Year resolutions to quit, only to find their resolutions literally going up in smoke. This is only one example of many types of inner conflict. The most common one weighs heavily in the minds of millions: weight loss.

Over the years I’ve often said that diets work on the body, but not on the mind. Dieters keep on losing pound after pound, only to find the pounds they lose just pile back on. The never-ending quest for maintaining an ideal weight is one goal among many that drive millions of people to seek ways to overcome undesired habits. Increasing numbers of men and women around the world are now achieving weight management and other goals through a modality that in only a few short years has emerged from skepticism into public acceptance: hypnosis.

Does hypnosis help all the people all the time? While the obvious answer is no, even a partially trained hypnotist can help some of the people some of the time. A competently trained hypnotherapist can help many more clients successfully quit smoking and/or achieve other goals through common hypnotic techniques; but it is a fact that some of the people seeking help will have inner conflicts that are strong enough to prevent positive suggestions from providing any permanent benefit. These clients need more than hypnosis alone: they need parts therapy.

1.1 What is parts therapy?

Parts therapy is the process of calling out and communicating directly with any and all parts of the subconscious involved in helping a client achieve a desired result. The use of parts therapy for inner-conflict resolution normally involves mediation between the two primary parts in conflict, which I call the conflictingpart and the motivating part. Many of my sessions involve calling out only two parts, but other parts do exist—and, occasionally, I call out more than two parts during a session.

The hypnotic state makes it easier to communicate with each part, and reduces the risk of interference from the analytical conscious mind. I employ and teach a process based on a discipline taught by the late Charles Tebbetts, and updated through my years of professional experience.

In previous writings, I started my discussion of parts therapy quoting the actual words of Charles Tebbetts, taken from Miracles onDemand (page 31; now out of print):

In 1952, [Paul] Federn described Freud’s ego state (id, ego and superego) as resembling separate personalities much like the multiple personalities illustrated in the celebrated case of “The Three Faces of Eve,” but differing in that no one of them exists without the awareness of the others. I find, however, that in many cases different parts take complete control while the total individual is in a trance state of which she is unaware. A bulimic will experience time distortion while bingeing, eating for over an hour and believing that only five minutes have elapsed … Both personalities know that the other exists, but the first is unaware of the other’s existence during the period of the deviant behavior.

My mentor believed that we all have various aspects of our personalities, which he sometimes called personality parts, but more often called ego parts. Some of the other names for ego parts are: ego states, subpersonalities, selves, and developmental stages.

His words continue:

Surely, at some time you have thought, “Sometimes I feel that I want to do something. But at other times I think I would like to do the opposite.” The well-adjusted person is one in whom the personality parts are well integrated. The maladjusted person is one in whom they are fragmented, and internal conflict exists.

My former instructor openly admitted that he borrowed aspects of parts therapy from other therapists and researchers, and then evolved his hypnotic application into a technique that effectively helps clients resolve inner conflicts. By teaching this complex technique in classes and workshops, Charles Tebbetts, I believe, made one of the most profoundly beneficial contributions to hypnotherapy in the twentieth century.

In a way, we could compare parts therapy to Gestalt, except that the client is role-playing different parts of his/her personality rather than role-playing other people. Competent use of parts therapy helps to discover the causes of problems, to release them, and then to facilitate subconscious relearning with the previously conflicting parts now integrated into a state of inner harmony.

The properly trained parts therapist is also a skilled hypnotist, employing parts therapy with a deeply hypnotized client, and then objectively talking to all the parts involved in attaining resolution of the client’s concern. Often the best way to accomplish this is to find compromise, acceptance and resolution through negotiations and mediation. The entire process will be explored in depth later in this book.

1.2 When is parts therapy appropriate?

How often have you wanted to accomplish a goal or overcome an undesired habit, only to find your subconscious resisting? One part of your personality wants something, while another part of you doesn’t want to pay the price.

A client experiencing such an inner conflict is an ideal candidate for parts therapy. The obvious clue would be evident in a client who says, “A part of me wants to get rid of this weight while another part wants to keep on eating!” The ego part desiring to be attractive is in conflict with the inner child (or some other ego part) wanting to enjoy eating, say, sweets. (There may be other reasons for the conflicting part to persist in overeating.) Parts therapy usually will uncover the cause(s), so that the therapist may facilitate inner-conflict resolution through a process similar to mediation.

Often the need for parts therapy may not be readily apparent. Therapists who practice diversified client-centered hypnosis learn how to fit the technique to the client rather than vice versa, and do not automatically use parts therapy with everyone. Most of my sessions begin with some positive suggestions designed to the client’s specific benefits for achieving a desired goal, because an enjoyable first impression is lasting, and more likely to result in the client’s keeping his/her next appointment. I also devote a session to teaching self-hypnosis as a way of reducing stress.

By the third or fourth session, if the client is resisting the positive suggestions, I’ll choose an advanced hypnotic technique that seems appropriate for that particular client. Naturally, when an inner conflict is apparent, I choose parts therapy. When the appropriate technique is not so obvious, finger-response questions (explored in Chapter 3) usually help me to determine how to proceed.

While my primary motive for facilitating parts therapy is to help clients resolve inner conflicts, some trainers and authors use additional applications of parts therapy or its variations even in the absence of apparent inner conflicts.

1.3 Who will most likely respond?

The deeply hypnotized client is more likely to respond to parts therapy, while someone experiencing little or no hypnosis may easily resist the entire process, whether or not such resistance is apparent to the facilitator. Some therapists who use variations of parts therapy work with a client who is quite conscious. While many of their clients might respond with favorable results, a more analytical person might experience interference or resistance to the process, with some or most benefits being only temporary.

Also, the best way to empower the client to enjoy a more permanent resolution is to practice what I call client-centered parts therapy. This means that the answers and solutions to the client’s concerns emerge from the client’s own mind rather than from the mind of the therapist, including the name and purpose of each part that emerges.

1.4 Why is client-centered parts therapy effective?

In my professional opinion, it empowers the client when the resolution for the problem comes from that client instead of the therapist. Rather than give away his or her power to someone else who implants “spells” in the form of suggestions, the client discovers the best resolution by answering questions asked by the facilitator at appropriate times. (Later chapters in this book reveal what questions to ask, and when to ask them.)

Several years ago, a psychologist asked me to use parts therapy to help her resolve an inner conflict. Upon emerging from hypnosis, her first words were, “That solution was so simple, I wish I’d thought of it myself!” I quickly reminded her that the resolution had indeed come from her own mind, and not mine. She smiled and agreed, and acknowledged the value of parts therapy.

Client-centered parts therapy helps clients attain greater empowerment, because the power to change truly lies within the client rather than in the therapist. The facilitator of client-centered parts therapy has the task of identifying and calling out the right parts, asking the right questions, listening objectively, and following the discipline presented in this book.

1.5 Variations of parts therapy

Therapists have employed variations of parts therapy for decades. I’ll briefly discuss several of them in this chapter section, starting with my favorite variation: ego-state therapy.

1.5.1 Ego state therapy

Pioneered by Dr John Watkins and Helen Watkins over a number of years, ego-state therapy has spread throughout the therapeutic world. John and Helen Watkins started writing about ego states in publications and books during the 1970s, adding an outstanding book in 1997 entitled, Ego States: Theory and Therapy (Watkins and Watkins, 1997). Gordon Emmerson PhD, takes ego-state therapy into the twenty-first century at warp speed with his important book, Ego State Therapy (2003), which is now required reading for my hypnotherapy students.

Emmerson believes that we use five to fifteen ego states throughout a normal week, and we have more available when needed. He goes beyond the use of ego states therapy for resolving inner conflicts, providing other therapeutic benefits as well. In my professional opinion, Emmerson’s book is a “must read” for anyone practicing parts therapy. Besides calling out the ego states for inner-conflict resolution, Emmerson helps clients create a map of their own ego states. I find this process absolutely fascinating.

I believe that clients of any therapist who masters ego-state therapy as practiced and presented by Watkins or Emmerson should enjoy a high success rate. Emmerson believes that hypnosis makes ego-state therapy more powerful, which validates the teachings of Charles Tebbetts.

1.5.2 Voice dialogue

Anyone seriously searching for new ways of working with the inner mind will discover books about voice dialogue, another variation of parts therapy. Hal Stone PhD, and Sidra Stone PhD, explain voice dialogue in their voice-dialogue manual (1989), EmbracingOur Selves. The client, in a manner that could compare to Gestalt therapy, plays the role of each part by changing chairs or positions (although changing chairs is optional). The therapist facilitates the dialogue and proceeds accordingly.

The Stones label the ego parts as selves or subpersonalities, and provide labels for the various other subpersonalities such as the protector/controller, the pleaser, and the perfectionist. Additionally, they provide some interesting discussion regarding when subpersonalities are created, including the possible origins of disowned selves, which they also call demonic energies.

A more contemporary book on voice dialogue is The Voice DialogueFacilitator’s Handbook by Miriam Dyak (1999). This later book presents Dyak’s particular method of facilitating voice dialogue, with a step-by-step guide for those who wish to practice her approach. She has worked closely with Hal and Sidra Stone, and offers training programs.

Although voice dialogue is effective for many, my primary concern about it is the absence of a formal induction into hypnosis. With little or no trance state, the conscious mind is more easily able to allow analytical resistance. I know this from personal experience (as a client). The facilitator thought that he successfully helped me attain resolution to a concern as I moved from chair to chair; but I found my own conscious mind interfering greatly in the process. The benefits were temporary, and I believe the absence of hypnosis was the primary reason for my analytical resistance. Several of my students have reported similar experiences with voice dialogue over the years.

1.5.3 Inner-child work

John Bradshaw praised the work of Hal and Sidra Stone; but he considers the selves (or ego parts) to be developmental stages that remain intact, as discussed on page 217 of his book, The Family: A Revolutionary Way of Self-Discovery:

Hypnotic age regression work clearly suggests that each of these developmental stages remains intact. There are an infant, a toddler, a pre-school and a school-age child in each of us, who feel and experience just as we did when we were children. There is an adolescent in us who feels and thinks just like we did in adolescence.

Bradshaw facilitates a group exercise in which he has a person close his/her eyes while others in the room give positive affirmations, with gentle music playing in the background. Does this sound like hypnosis? It is! He encourages his clients to meditate with inner imagery, and to love the inner child. He then takes his clients through all the “developmental stages” to find out whether the needs were met in each stage. Suggestions for positive change are given to each stage (or part of the inner child)—and he gets results. You decide whether or not this is a variation of parts therapy.

Others over the years have taught and written about how to work with the inner child. Whether or not parts therapy (or a variation) is even discussed, the simple act of working with an inner child must be based on the premise that we all have at least two parts: an inner adult and an inner child.

1.5.4 Subpersonalities

The concept of subpersonalities is presented in the very first paragraph of John Rowan’s book (1993), Discover Your Subpersonalities:

Are we just one person, just one self? Or do we have several little people inside us, all wanting different things? Why should we take it for granted that we have just one personality? Would it not make more sense to say that we are many? Maybe we have more than one centre within ourselves.

He goes on to suppose that our minds may be naturally divided into portions and phases, with earlier and later historical levels. Various zones and developmental strata might lead to many internal figures. Like most authors of similar books, he labels the various subpersonalities (or parts). Although somewhat analytical, his book is written for the novice. It is easy to read, with much useful information. It contains numerous exercises, along with some questionnaires for self-awareness.

I especially like Rowan’s history of the variations of parts therapy covered in the 22nd and 23rd chapters of his book. That alone is sufficient for the serious student of parts therapy to invest in this book.

1.5.5 Other variations

Nancy J. Napier, a nationally known marriage and family therapist, also works with a variation of parts therapy. Her book (1990), Recreating Your SELF: Help for Adult Children of DysfunctionalFamilies, also gives examples of the origins of various personality parts. She calls them “protector” parts and “resource” parts, and provides some self-hypnosis scripts for identifying, cleansing and healing our various parts. She has researched through extensive written resources to back up her work, including Beahrs (1981) and Watkins and Watkins (1979).

A number of hypnotherapists use a variation of parts therapy called conference room therapy. Although it is similar to parts therapy in many ways, they use the imagery of a conference room. There are others who assume that subpersonalities are attaching entities that must be released rather than potentially productive parts that can be integrated or given new jobs.

Some variations involve physical parts. I have personally met and talked to a hypnotherapist who uses a variation of parts therapy by facilitating dialogue with various physical parts of the body. His clients role-play (as in Gestalt therapy) being the heart, the brain, the liver, the foot, the ear, etc. Apparently he gets results. David Quigley, founder of the Alchemical Hypnotherapy Institute, teaches a variation of parts therapy that is similar to that of Charles Tebbetts, but he seeks out specific parts that do specific jobs. Our two approaches are both different and compatible. Also, Kevin Hogan PhD, employs and teaches a variation of parts therapy that is similar to what I teach. He discusses this in his book, The NewHypnotherapy Handbook (2001).

I’m certain that other therapists practice additional variations of parts therapy somewhere around the world; but this book is intended to teach the step-by-step parts therapy process the way I practice it. Those who wish to explore all the variations may wish to start by reading the books referenced in this chapter (and for which publisher information is in the Bibliography) and do their own research. Besides using deep trance, another difference between my methods and that of most variations is that I do not label the parts. Instead, each emerging part gives me a name or title, which often provides important insight. Additionally, this is more client-centered than looking for a specific part (such as a controller part), which could cause parts to emerge that may be irrelevant to the therapy.

Although other variations of parts therapy may be effective for some people, I prefer to practice and teach this valuable hypnotherapeutic technique similar to the way Tebbetts taught it; but my experience has caused me to make some important updates to his teachings through the years. Certainly, Charles Tebbetts was not the first therapist to ever employ a variation of parts therapy; but in my opinion he evolved it to a client-centered approach. That makes him a pioneer.

Over my years of practice, I’ve modified his work to keep up with changing times. The next chapter discusses the most important updates, and provides a brief glimpse of Charles Tebbetts, a pioneer of parts therapy.

Chapter 2

Charles Tebbetts

Parts Therapy Pioneer

Hypnotherapists around the world know the name of Charles Tebbetts, but few know very much about his background. Although this chapter is not essential to understanding the effective use of parts therapy, I include it for the benefit of those interested in the life and work of this important pioneer of parts therapy. Additionally, I include this out of respect for my late mentor and personal friend, and out of respect for his widow, still living as these pages are written.

Much of the content of this chapter is based on what Tebbetts wrote in his book, Miracles on Demand, as well as information shared with me personally by my late mentor, who asked me to call him Charlie. Additionally, I will discuss a few important updates to his teachings as a result of my own professional experience with parts therapy.

2.1 Who was Charles Tebbetts?

Charles Tebbetts grew up in the Midwest. He lost his father when he was only fourteen. Although his mother wanted him to attend college and become a psychiatrist, Charlie’s involvement with music interrupted the career she planned for him. Shortly after graduating from high school, he started playing for a jazz band. Young Tebbetts traveled throughout the eastern half of the United States, finally ending up playing for an orchestra at a vaudeville theater.

In 1927, this young saxophone player witnessed a stage hypnotist show five nights weekly for several months, and memorized the act. One night, the hypnotist drank excessively once too often, and was unable to perform. Meanwhile, the observant and curious musician, who studied the performer’s techniques thoroughly, volunteered to provide the entertainment that night. The owner became so impressed that he replaced the alcoholic hypnotist with his saxophone player, and thus began the long hypnotic career of Charles Tebbetts.