NCJ Number
78370
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: (1981) Pages: 11-22
Date Published
1981
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Hypnosis can be used successfully for rape victims and troubled alcoholics if it is administered by a trained professional.
Abstract
Female rape victims usually want to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and to release the traumatic experience, but they often either find these desires impossible or become ambivalent about their goal. Working with the detective, who has often developed a good, trusting relationship with the victim, and with any other significant persons who may want to be present, the criminal psychiatrist can employ a 2-2 1/2 hour session to reach the victim. The session involves 1/2 hour correcting misconceptions concerning hypnosis and showing the victim that she has been hypnotized in the past by television, a good book, or by her mother lulling her to sleep as a child. The hypnotic session lasts about 1-1 1/2 hours, and the final hour consists of reviewing what has taken place. Hypnosis can also be useful for the intransigent, deeply rooted, emotional problems of the sober but troubled alcoholic. The session can present an opportunity -- a second chance -- for working through unresolved issues and can plant a seed for working out problems permanently over the long run. Overall, if hypnosis is limited to dealing with specific kinds of patients with certain kinds of problems, it can be successful. Twenty-one references and case histories are provided.