2026 Level II Workshop in Clinical Hypnosis (NESCH)

Organization: New England Society of Clinical Hypnosis 

Website: www.nesch.org  

Event Title: 2026 Level II Workshop in Clinical Hypnosis 

Agenda:  NESCH_Level_II_April__2026_Syllabus_3-18-26.docx

Dates: April 11, 12, 25, & 26, 2026 

Location: Virtual 

CE: 20 

Contact : Staisha Santungwana, neschMSC@gmail.com  

Description: Participants in this 20-hour Intermediate Workshop will build on and refine their skills in Clinical Hypnosis. The focus will be on the practical application of hypnosis.  

Topics to include:  

• Advanced and specialized hypnosis elicitations

• Useful Hypnotic tools for psychotherapy: anchoring, age progression and age regression. Discussion of hypnosis and memory. 

• Neurobiology and the use of hypnosis

• Pediatric hypnosis

• Using hypnosis to resolve problems of anxiety

• Habit control using hypnosis

• Treating functional disorders with hypnosis

• Using hypnosis to relieve pain.

• Using hypnosis to deal with suffering around medical procedures.

• Hypnosis in the treatment of trauma.

• Constructing metaphors in hypnosis

• Hypnosis for Creativity 

Learning Objectives: 

• Observe an advanced elicitation. 

• Observe a hypnotic technique for intensification of trance. 

• Describe three examples of the use of hypnotic language and suggestions in this demonstration and clarify three conditions under which each may be indicated. 

• Discuss three aspects of the importance of re-orienting. 

• Establish rapport with a subject. 

• Demonstrate use of an advanced elicitation. 

• Demonstrate an intensification technique. 

• Describe three clinical applications of the techniques in mind-body healing. 

• Discuss biological design based on gene expression and three ways that design can be affected by clinical hypnosis. 

• Describe three characteristics of culture that can overwhelm biological design. 

• Describe three components of a healing relationship that support biological design. 

• Describe four components of pain biology. 

• Identify three techniques for using hypnosis for pain management. 

• Describe three differences between acute and chronic pain. 

• Define ideomotor phenomena/signaling as a form of body language. 

• Identify two clinically appropriate times to utilize ideomotor strategies. 

• Name seven common causes of functional disorders that can be accessed using ideomotor signaling. 

• Demonstrate a hypnotic trance as the operator and describe the experience as the subject. 

• Demonstrate one new hypnotic skill or application learned from the preceding material. 

• List at least three ways in which working with children differs from working with adults. 

• Identify three developmental tasks of childhood. 

• Demonstrate two hypnotic techniques that are effective with children and vary based on developmental level. 

• Describe how adverse childhood events affect neurodevelopment. 

• Explain the difference between informative and evocative communication. 

• State two functions of metaphors in psychotherapy. 

• State two functions of metaphors in hypnotic elicitation. 

• Describe the six stages of change and three methods of assessing a client’s readiness for change. 

• Describe a multiphase treatment plan for change. 

• Identify four key hypnotic tools for an effective habit change intervention. 

• Formulate an approach for recognizing functional symptoms. 

• Describe two examples of functional symptoms as metaphors for interpersonal conflicts and emotions. 

• Identify three ways that hypnosis can be integrated into the treatment of patients with psychophysiological disorders. 

• Describe five symptoms of dissociation and three disturbances in self-organization in cPTSD. 

• Describe current treatment guidelines for cPTSD. 

• Identify hypnotic tools to improve self-organization, facilitate trauma processing, and decrease dissociative symptoms. 

• Describe the principle of utilization, incorporating both clinician and client contributions to the session. 

• Describe three characteristics of metaphors and storytelling and their clinical indications. 

• Describe how creativity and laughter function as mechanisms of healing and change. 

Speaker info: Harvey Zarren, MD ZarrenCV