A compilation of Carl Whitaker's lectures and un-published essays, taken from his 40 years of practice as a psychiatrist and family therapist. He talks about families, including his own, and the events that shaped the family therapy field, and psychotherapy.

Describes Milton Erickson's contribution to practical psychotherapy. The text presents the actual approaches, methods and techniques Erickson developed that would enable people to use their own experiences to change behaviour.

Including a biographical chapter on Milton Erickson, this text reveals the many important events of his life that contributed to the development of his ideas and theories on hypnosis.

More than any other individual, Milton Erickson has been responsible for shaping the modern view of hypnosis. His great contribution came from his ability to locate an individual's innter resources for coping creativley with the real problems of everyday life. Erickson himself endured two bouts of polio and was in a wheelchair throughout much of his later life. He learned to use the healing methods of self-hypnosis to deal with his handicaps and uncover ways of experiencing living at more profound levels. His delight in teaching these methdos of self-healing are clearly shown in these transcriptions of his seminars, workshops and lectures. Volume III contains much of the source material wherein Erickson first expressed his original views on psychosomatic medicine and healing. Here we learn hwo the languages of the mind communicate with the languages of the body. His research validates the view that psyche, mind, and brain are pervasively integrated in modulating body processes in health and illness. The 'miracle cures', spontaneous remissions of lethal diseases, and placebo effects, which seemed inexplicable to the scientific mind until recently, can how be understood as manifestations of mind-body information systems that extend far beyond the limitations formerly placed on the central nervous system.

At last, the missing piece of the dysfunctional puzzle. It is not enough to understand or even relive our childhood traumas. Dr. Wolinsky shows us how we continue to recreate those traumas in our adult lives and how to stop creating them. Every uncomfortable emotional state, and many psychosomatic symptoms, are also states of trance. Trance is the "glue" that holds the problem in the present moment. Learning to identify the kind of trance state beneath a problem or symptom gives us the tool that finally dissolves the glue. This book offers a gold-mine of resources for those who suffer from dysfunctional patterns of behavior or for anyone who feels stuck in an undesirable emotional or addictive state. Learning to step out of the trance states that create our problems and symptoms is to learn to step into the present moment at last free of the baggage from our past.