Joseph Tramontana, PhD is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and certified consultant in clinical hypnosis. Dr. Tramontana is president of the Louisiana Psychological Association and of the New Orleans Society for Clinical Hypnosis. He is also a member of the Association of Applied Sports Psychologists.
Introduction. There is a lot of interest in the high success rate
of hypnotherapy right now. Largely because of the many claims made
for hypnotherapy in the media. Yet hardly anyone writes for
therapists, showing them to really work effectively in a thorough
way dealing with specific addictions such as alcohol abuse, drug
abuse, gambling, weight control, and smoking cessation. Well Dr
Joseph Tramontana, in his seven chapter book does. I really enjoyed
reading Hypnotically Enhanced Treatment for Addictions. Reading
it's complete focus on aalcohol abuse, drug abuse, gambling, weight
control, and smoking cessation, ' felt more like talking with a
really good friend. A very good friend, who I may add just happens
to love their success around providing therapeutic interventions
for unhelpful addictive behaviours. A very good friend who also
just happens to be a world class expert in the subject. And a very
good friend who is happy for you to get the inside scoop on all
trade secrets. A Teaching Resource Tramontana provides you with
scripts, weight loss and smoking cessation questionnaires to use
with clients, resources and a very clear set of references- all
directly relevant to the much misunderstood area of addictions. He
describes the exact process he takes himself and his client
through. He explains the stages within each stage. He illustrates
how he takes the journey from first to last session. That in itself
provides anyone who is training with an opportunity to
confidentially, mentally rehearse what to explain to a prospective
client. It's a real eye opener to many things you may already know.
Marketing and Developing your Business Practice. The North American
author introduces the reader to the business issues involved in
developing your practices. Issues of cash flow are quite rightly,
brought into view in his discussion around marketing. I was very
pleased that he is very clear about how he promotes the usage of
packages for his smoking and weight loss clients. He could have
explained more, possibly even sharing examples of his small
advertisements. His approach to addressing addiction is flexible,
permissive and non threatening and he encourages readers to develop
his scripts and the scripts he points to in the resources to build
the field of addiction.Tramontana's writing style creates a sense
of confidence, with his, abeen there, seen it, done it' message. I
was led by that attitude and as a result, dipped into the parts I
was most interested in first, and only then did I continue with the
other parts of the book. Finding to my pleasure that the rest of
the text was equally chatty and really easy to read. Recommendation
for Beginners Wanting To Strengthen Their Practice of Procedures: I
would recommend this text for beginners who are looking for overt
procedures. Dealing with five key addictions, alcohol abuse and
dependency, drug abuse and addiction, gambling computions, gambling
obsessions and addiction, tobacco addiction(cigars, pipes and
chew)food addiction and food compulsions. Tramontana is very open
to the real issues presented by his addictive clients, recognising
the addictions, yet moving beyond them, by focusing on what they
value the most. Recommendations for Beginners Wanting To Strengthen
Their Practice of the Options Available I would draw beginners who
enjoy learning about alternatives, to the variety of scripts
inductions and deepeners. Experienced practitioners Experienced
practitoners know that Hypnotherapy is an exciting applied science.
Yes, exciting. Just as seminal scientists, Isaac Newton, Albert
Einstein, and Cosmologist Ra Un Nefer Amen, have revealed and
presented pioneering science, which has become our tried and true
viewpoint of the mind. These current day pioneers are no less
exciting, creating and calming the waves of treatment for
addictions. I would draw your attention to his tried and true
approaches. Experienced Practitioners Interested In Newness.
Tramontana provides a welcomed invitation to develop the Journal
publications, in the area of addictions. He reminds readers from
the outset that chemotherapists seems to be reluctant to astep on
the feeta of those traditionally involved in the treatment of
alcholo, drug and gambling addictions. However reminds the
hypnotherapist of the much strength that they bring and to use
that, as their focus as they develop indivualised programmes for
patients who call or show up for help with alcohol, drug gambling
diction or weight loss. Contents of Hypnotically Enhanced Treatment
for Addictions. Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse, Gambling, Weight
Control, And Smoking Cessation The book has 7 chapters Chapter 1;
the lens, providing an overview Chapter 2: clarifying the
characteristics of alcohol abuse Chapter 3 clarifying the
characteristic of drug abuse Chapter 4: clarifying the
characteristics of gambling addiction and its interventions Chapter
5: clarifying the interventions for smoking cessation Chapter 6:
clarifying the inventions for weight loss Chapter 7: providing an
overview The appendix provides a superb example of questionnaires
used for smoking and weight control. Recommendations; I recommend
it as a text for any module that focuses on marketing your practise
and discussing how to make the most of your techniques after you
have learnt the fundamentals around inductions, deepeners,
suggestions and change work in trance. I would recommend it as the
primary text for any module focuses solely on addictions. Deborah
Rose DipHyp: In house Hypnotherapist for StressFreeCaringInTheCity.
Holistic Well-Being for Stressed out Social Workers.
www.stressfreecaringinthecity.org
Therapists dealing with client addictions finally have a book that
contains practical advice and guidance on the use of
hypnotherapeutic interventions for addictions beyond smoking
cessation and weight obesity. Joseph Tramontana's book addresses
these addictions plus drug abuse, gambling and alcohol. There has
been very little literature on the topic of treating all five major
addictions with hypnotherapy as discovered by Dr Tramontana during
his 39 year career as a clinical psychologist and then nine years
later adding hypnotherapy to his tool bag of skills. In 1978 he
attended an ASCH (American Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists)
seminar on hypnosis and began using hypnotherapy to treat smokers
and weight loss clients with some success. This encouraged him to
extend his use of hypnotherapy to treat alcohol, drug abuse and
compulsive gambling addictions. Dr Tramontana has produced an
excellent reference book allowing the reader to share in his
knowledge, experiences, strategies and skills over an extensive
career. The book has the added advantage of being written in the
first person and cites some of the many seminars that the author
attended where he obtained first hand knowledge of techniques and
ideas that were of benefit in his own practice. The writing style
is easy to follow and items are well organised and fully explained.
The author has used some of his own case studies to clearly
illustrate outcomes and problems encountered over the years and how
these helped him evolve his own treatment methods. The first
chapter has the interesting title of aThe Lensa with a snapshot of
how Dr Tramontana sees hypnosis/hypnotherapy in dealing with
addictions. It even provides an overview of how he conducts client
meetings to explain hypnotherapy to doubtful clients. There are
explanations of induction and deepening procedures, client
meetings, techniques such as hypnoprojection, and hypnotherapeutic
approaches. The following chapters then concentrate on specific
issues concerning addictions. The addictions addressed in this book
are presented in the following order - alcohol, drugs, gambling,
smoking and finally weight loss / obesity. Each chapter contains
induction scripts and the author's own procedures and explanations
of why he chose these to treat the addiction. It is one of the few
books available that takes the reader through a step-by-step guide
of a treatment plan and will be invaluable to interns and
practising professional therapists alike. The book is well
referenced and contains a resource list for recommended reading,
including a list of websites to visit. There is an example of a
Smoking Cessation Inventory and an excellent and detailed
comprehensive Eating Questionnaire.The final chapter titled aThe
Panoramaa entices the reader to continue their own research and
broaden their interest in not only the addictions covered in the
book but also other addictions and cross addictions.Barry Shirley,
Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapist's and the Australian
Hypnotherapy Association newsletters.
This volume is the distilled wisdom of Tramontana's three decades
in the hypnotherapeutic treatment of addictions. Its chapters
convey his methods for dealing with the key compulsions: alcohol,
drugs, gambling, eating and smoking. Through them he emphasises the
power of 12 step programmes; reveals when it is appropriate to seek
abstinence or moderation and shows in detail how to apackagea
treatment so that each session has a specific purpose. His
experience helps him to integrate techniques from diverse sources.
Ideo-motor signalling, metaphor and meditation are creatively
combined in treatment strategies and scripts in great number are
provided so we can study how he chooses his words. Imbued with the
insights of a long career, this work benefits us all. Its
publication is most certainly a significant step in resolving the
lack of literature on the subject of hypnosis and addiction.Zee
Jabbar BA Hons DCHyp, Senior Lecturer Dip HE Clinical Hypnosis at
St. Mary's University College
Tramontana, a licensed clinical psychologist, provides new
strategies and techniques in outpatient addiction treatment.
Addictions addressed include: alcohol abuse and dependency, drug
abuse, gambling compulsions, tobacco addiction, and food addictions
and compulsions. A sampling of techniques discussed includes:
cognitive-behavioral techniques, reframing and other NLP
techniques, systematic desensitization, covert sensitization,
12-step programs, guided imagery, meditation, and more. The
techniques described can be used both in and out of a hypnotic
trance.Annotation (c)2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR
When I started reading this book, I thought ahere we go again,
another one of those authors informing us of his way being the
right way of doing thingsa. I have to say I was more than
pleasantly surprised. There are different philosophies of working
with addictions and although I do not agree with them all of them
personally, they are all valid approaches and should be considered.
The author makes it clear that we need to listen to the individual
client and learn quickly how they operate as well as following a
structured treatment programme that he subscribes too. The book is
full of suggestion scripts, metaphors and techniques that work with
the presenting problem and would certainly boost the hypnotic akit
bag'. I set out not wanting to like this book but upon reading it I
can do nothing more than highly recommend it as a well rounded,
idea initiating information carrier, particularly for the newer
therapist to the profession.Tom Barber, MA. Director, Contemporary
College of Therapeutic Studies.
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