Inner Strengths is the first book to meet the need for a comprehensive treatment of approaches to ego-strengthening in psychotherapy. It provides a historical breakthrough in the history of ego-strengthening education, and explores contemporary psychodynamic, object relations, self-psychology, ego state, and transpersonal theoretical models for understanding how and why ego-strengthening occurs.
Written by two experienced psychotherapists, who were active in developing the newer, projective-evocative ego-strengthening techniques, this book emphasizes the utilization of patients' inner resources. They survey the history of ego-strengthening efforts and show how that which has been considered intrinsically hypnotic connects with the great traditions of psychotherapy. Additionally, they offer step-by-step instructions for a diversity of ego-strengthening methods that can be used for patient self-care, internal boundary formation, and personality maturation in a wide range of clinical conditions. Their discussion of the fundamental concepts of ego-strengthening draws on their theoretical and clinical explorations of dynamic internal resources such as memory, strength, wisdom, self-soothing, and love.
Throughout the book, theory is balanced by an unusual richness of extended clinical examples and a wide variety of practical ego-strengthening scripts. This classic edition is essential reading for seasoned clinicians of hypnosis and beginners alike.
About the Author: Claire Frederick, M.D. was a psychiatrist, who taught, consulted, and presented papers nationally and internationally. She was a co-author, with Maggie Phillips, Ph.D. of Healing the Divided Self: Clinical and Ericksonian Hypnotherapy for Post-Traumatic and Dissociative Conditions. She received multiple awards from the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
Shirley McNeal, Ph.D. has been a psychologist in private practice, who also presented papers, taught, and consulted nationally and internationally. She has received awards for her writing from the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis and the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.
