All “talk therapy” is built on language. Hypnotically informed therapy employs the constructs of language: meaning, intent, implication, and context to activate and elicit the skills, learning, and resources that are evoked by the intentional use of these constructs. I have chosen to place this discussion of linguistic structure in the strategy section as opposed to the section on communication because the use of linguistic constructions such as indirect suggestions, stories, double entendres and other forms of wordplay are tools of intention. The therapist has a target, a strategic intent, and these devices can be used in the service of promoting absorption, disrupting conscious sets, and facilitating dissociative processes. I see these elements of the interaction as dimensions of technique and/or strategy.
#morecommontherapy #jeffzeig #experientialpsychotherapy 11-8-19