The Discriminating Therapist: Using Hypnosis to Enhance Decision Making (ASCH ASMW Pre-Conference)

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Cognitive psychology, the study of how people think, has given rise to new understandings about how people gather and use information. This includes how people decide, usually at a level outside of awareness, what is salient to pay attention to in a given environment and, likewise, what is essentially irrelevant. When people get sidetracked into irrelevancy, paying too much attention to what doesn’t really matter and too little attention to what does, their perceptions and responses naturally lead them astray. More important, when someone’s perspective is so global or over-general that they simply don’t know how or what to decide, they are far more likely to make poor decisions on the basis of hurt feelings, old history, misconceptions, or blind faith. There are many different ways of making key life decisions, and when one employs an ineffective one, the results can be enduringly painful. Instead of following the therapy tradition of analyzing why someone makes the choices they make, The Discriminating Therapist focuses on how people choose. Illustrative examples from client interviews will be included. We will especially focus on what they failed to either notice or discriminate in their global response to some circumstance. From this gentler perspective, we can focus on ways to use hypnosis to help people make better decisions.

CE Credits: 3

Speaker Bio

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist residing near San Diego, California. He is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in applying clinical hypnosis in outcome-focused psychotherapy, especially in the active treatment of depression. He has been invited to present his innovative ideas and methods to colleagues in more than 30 countries across six continents, and all over the United States. His highly practical YouTube lecture on “How to Recover from Depression” has now been viewed more than 5.3 million times.

Dr. Yapko is the author of 16 books, three edited books, and nearly 100 journal articles and book chapters. His widely acclaimed clinical hypnosis textbook, Trancework, has just come out in an unprecedented sixth edition (Routledge, 2025). His recent award-winning book for professionals is called Process-Oriented Hypnosis. His works have been translated into 10 languages. He is also the developer of the popular digital hypnotherapy mental health app called Claria in association with the Australian digital therapeutic company, Mindset Health (www.mindsethealth.com).
Dr. Yapko is a Fellow of ASCH and is the recipient of numerous major awards for his innovative contributions in advancing the fields of hypnosis and brief therapy. These include lifetime achievement awards from The American Psychological Association’s Division 30 (Society of Psychological Hypnosis), the International Society of Hypnosis (the Pierre Janet Award), and The Milton H. Erickson Foundation.