MASTERS OF HYPNOSIS. INTERVIEW WITH CAMILLO LORIEDO

This article summarizes the key points of a conversation between Mark P. Jensen and Camillo Loriedo, in which Dr. Loriedo discussed his views of hypnosis and what he has learned to be most important and most effective as a clinician using hypnosis in his practice. As a psychologist in private practice, Dr. Loriedo has uses hypnosis with patients presenting with conversion disorders, and for family therapy. He notes that paying very close attention to the patient, and then giving that patient was he or she needs at the moment, are the essential components of effective hypnosis. He also describes a number strategies and techniques that he has found particularly helpful in his work. General strategies that he uses in many situations include: (1) listening to himself, and using what he hears to help the client move forward; (2) asking the clients for help when struggling with them; and (3) treating every patient as unique, and designing every indication and intervention just for them. Strategies that he has found to be useful when working with families, specifically, include: (1) when planning to use hypnosis with families, ask their permission; (2) using family rituals as hypnotic induction; (3) using hypnosis to spark change, including change in interaction patterns; (4) using hypnosis to improve family interaction; (5) inducing hypnosis in the family via the identified patient; and (6) age regression for the whole family. When working with patients with conversion disorder, he has found that it is important to limit the number of sessions to three or less. Dr. Loriedo ends the article with two general points that he has learned over the years. First, that there is often some important lesson to be learned with every failure. Second, to remember that the process of therapy is a process between people; it is the interaction that