-IBIS-1.5.0-
rx
hypnotherapy
symptom scaling
psychospiritual approaches

definition

first see hypnotherapy: overview

Scaling the symptom or problem
:

This variation introduces two new approaches: (1) scaling the currently experienced intensity of a problem by attaching a numerical value to it, thereby accessing the left cerebral hemisphere; (2) prescribing the symptom or problem, whereby the patient is directed to carry out the seemingly paradoxical task of voluntarily making it worse, and through this experiences accessing the right-hemispheric processes that have readier access to state-dependent encoding. By then asking the person to 'make the problem worse and better' a number of times in quick succession, they coordinate left and right cerebral hemispheric activity by getting more and more experience in accessing and controlling the problem's experiential and behavioral manifestations.

Stage 1: Symptom Scaling and Prescription
"On a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 is the worst, what number expresses the degree to which you are experiencing the problem at this moment? Scale it right now."

Stage 2: Problem Prescription
"Now let the problem get worse. Scale it. Now let the problem get better. Scale it." Etc.

Stage 3: Ratifying the Therapeutic Response
(This therapeutic exercise is ended when the patient has made an obvious therapeutic gain by lowering the original scaling score of the problem, and by expressing confidence in being able to repeat it.)

The problem or symptom is actually the most direct path to accessing its psychobiological sources encoded within the state-dependent memory, learning, and behavior systems of the brain. Accessing and recall are always a synthetic process or reconstruction. When we ask a person to experience a symptom voluntarily, we are drastically altering the internal dynamics and state-dependent memory and learning systems and we are undoing its state-bound character.
(Rossi, 1986, p. 66-95)

see also:
bodymind psychobiology
converting a symptom to a signal
holographic consciousness
human energy fields: overview
hypnotherapy: overview
hypnotherapy: guidelines and precautions
hypnotherapy techniques: basic accessing; problem solving; incubating healing; symptom scaling; trance
process paradigm
reframing
relaxation techniques
self-hypnosis
shifting cerebral hemispheric dominance
state-dependent learning
transference and countertransference
ultradian rhythms


footnotes