Do you smoke? Have you tried to give up cigarettes? Have you tried nicotine patches and not managed to give up smoking? David Kraft can help.

David Kraft is a specialist psychotherapist in Harley Street, and he has help many people give up smoking in a short space of time–sometimes in one session.

For an appointment, phone Harley Street on 0207 467 8564.

David is a member of BSCAH and a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The Royal Society of Medicine runs lectures for psychotherapists, health practitioners, psychologists and other therapists who have a legitimate reason for using hypnosis in clinical practice. There is a section which specializes in the use of clinical hypnosis–the Section of Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine. BSCAH is a Professional organization, again, for people who use hypnosis in a clinical setting. Those accredited by BSCAH are suitably qualified and are registered members of a recognized medical, therapeutic, scientific or academic profession and have a legitimate reason for using hypnosis in their professional work. David is not, as yet, accredited by BSCAH. Individuals who wish to go to a therapist for psychological help should look at the BSCAH website. Both David and BSCAH do not recommend that individuals go to lay hypnotherapists. Hypnosis is not a therapy by itself: it should be use adjunctively by a fully-trained therapist–that is to say, a doctor, nurse, psychologist or registered psychotherapist.

In the business world, companies use non-disclosure agreements (NDA) or confidentiality agreements (CA), as well as confidential disclosure agreement forms (CDA) and proprietary information agreements (PIA). These are legal documents between companies: these documents list confidential material and information that that must not be shared with one another.

In psychotherapy, there are no such documents but there is a rule that is understood by both therapist and client that everything he says will not be passed on to any other person. In fact, I do say on my application form that all information is kept in the strictest of confidence. I explain to my clients that confidentiality is extremely important and that all their notes and personally details are kept under lock and key. This is of paramount importance because during therapy, many individuals give information about their unconscious desires and inner conflicts and of this information is given to a third party it could have a disastrous effect on an individual’s well being and trust of their therapist.

In 1996, the United States Supreme Court in Jaffe v. Redmond 518 U.S. 1 ruled against the disclosure of a psychotherapist’s notes. The court explained doctors treat physical ailments objectively. By contrast,

‘Effective psychotherapy depends upon an atmosphere of confidence in which the patient trusts the psychotherapist’s commitment and capacity to protect their frank and complete disclosure of facts, emotions, memories and fears’.

However, I do point out that on occasions, some material is helpful for other clinicians and that, from time to time, I publish information in academic journals. Clients still have anonymity. No names are mentioned—in fact, a pseudonym is always used—and names of places, and recognizable features of home life are not specified. For example, If a lady called Sophie went to the University of East London and met her boyfriend, Bill, who was also studying chemistry in year 3 of the degree course, and I needed to include this in the study because it was important to the case material, I would probably write something like the following:

‘ Sandra went to meet her boyfriend at the university: they were both doing the same course and were both in their final year’.

In the past, it used to be necessary to write to clients’ GPs after the first session; and, in many instances, clients would be referred by GPs in the first place. Nowadays, it is up to the client whether he wants his GP to know or not, and if this is the case, a signed consent form is needed.

There are exceptions to this confidentiality rule. If it becomes apparent that the client or a member of the family is being abused and that the appropriate steps have not been taken by the client to resolve this issue, therapists must explain to their clients that they have a moral and ethical obligation to pursue this. In these instances, I would explain that, now I am aware of this information, and know that nothing is being done to stop this abuse, I need to deal with this in the appropriate manner. Indeed, if legal proceedings occur, I might have to break confidentiality; however, again, I can only do this once the consent forms have been signed and dated. There are some other exceptional circumstances where confidentiality should be broken, and this refers to a situations in which the client or acquaintance is in mortal danger. In these instances, it is always advisable for therapist to speak to their professional body—specifically the ethics committee—and ask them for their advice in this situation.

Gregory Bateson has been an extremely influential figure on 20^th century philosophy, specifically with regard to social anthropology, linguistics, visual anthropology, semiotics, cybernetics, psychiatry and therapy. He spent some time in New Guinea observing and analyzing behaviour patterns in different cultures. I think that it help to analyze completely different cultures in this process because one can look at the correlation between speech, tone of voice and body language without too much of a bias. I am not sure about this therapy but he did spend a huge amount of time analyzing communication and interaction between people.

I should briefly like to mention two theories of his which I have found to be very helpful in my work as a psychotherapist and then I would like to expand on one particular theory.

His theory of the ‘vicious circle’ is very important. He points out that there is a vicious circle in communication, and that behaviour produces a reaction which, in turn, produces a subsequent behaviour from the interlocutor. Therefore the behaviour of X affects Y and he reacts in a certain way; then, Y behaves in a certain away and this is followed by X behaving in a certain fashion. Two presupposition of NLP take on board this theory—(1) ‘we calibrate on behaviour’, and (2) ‘words are not what they represent’ (Brookhouse, 2012).

Symmetrical relationships are also very important. He pointed out that there are two types of relationships:

Symmentrical relationships which involve people who are equals although competitive.

Complementary relationships in which there is unequal balance (eg the dominance-submission type between parent and child; or exhibition/spectatorship type between performer and audience).

Brookhouse S (2012). Conference presentation at the National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy. 25 March 2012.  

Double Binds       

Bateson studied with Donald Jackson, Jay Haley and John Weakland in the 1950s and did a huge amount of pioneering work on schizophrenia and its aetiology. They described the concept of ‘double binds’ and said how destructive this was to the development of a child’s behaviour. The pointed out that it a child was consistently given double binds by mother or father (or both) during development, he would then begin to construct the world out of contradictory cues and emotional messages. From the reading that I have done into the aetiology of neurosis, I have found that the double bind has a hugely negative effect on child development and one’s ability to act authentically in adult life. One only has to go back to the work of BF Skinner to remember the stress that was caused to the rat who came to a junction knowing that, although he received conditioning through the sense of smell that both doors could contain food, that  one door had food and the other didn’t. This caused anxiety. Wolpe (1958) also spoke of the manipulative nature of double binds in the context of the family.

I am sure that most here already know this term. But for the few that don’t, this is my definition. A double bind occurs when, normally, an authority figure—say, a parent, boss or teacher—gives mixed messages to his or her interlocutor. This person becomes a victim because he is unable to leave the communication field and he knows that either failing to fulfil one of the requests will result in punishment of some kind, or failure to believe that one of the statements is true will resilt in a misattunement of what is being said or displayed.

Examples of this are as follows:

1. The mother tells her daughter that she loves her but her face shows hatred or indifference.

2. Father to daughter: ‘You must take the rubbish out in the pouring rain, but only if you want to’.

3. Mother to son: ‘You must love me’.

4. Teacher to pupil: ‘Speak when you are spoken to’; and in the next instance, ‘Don’t talk back!’.

5. Father to son: ‘I am very angry with you—[with a big smile on his face] come here an give me a cuddle’.

In these instances, the victim is unable to define the paradoxical situation, and is unable to confront or resolve the conflict internal or externally. Thus, there is an entanglement of communication. The words, tone of voice and body language are not in sync with each other.

This theory is very helpful for us as psychotherapists because we can use positive double binds in order to provide choice in the consulting room. And, if one uses double binds and the apposition of opposites, as well as a response set one can really help clients to move on and reduce resistance in the therapy and in the hypnosis.

Here are some example of positive double binds. In fact, many NLP trained therapists do not know the origins of this term and call all ‘positive double binds’ simply ‘double binds’. But psychoanalysts, quite rightly I think, place a huge amount on the destructive nature of this in the family context.

Here are some examples:

1. Therapist to client/patient: ‘Would you like to feel completely comfortable and relaxed on that chair or the other chair’.

2. Therapist to client while encouraging time distortion: ‘ Did it seem a very long time to you or just sort of a really long time to you?’.

3. Therapist to client: ‘Are you ready to give up smoking now or in a few moments time?’.

Dear hypnotherapist

(All the words in the following letter have been kept; however, some wrong spellings have been changed by the author to help readers).

I need some help with sport. I am a keen netball player and I have been playing for years. I heard that hypnotherapy can enhance performance and I need some help in this area. I have been struggling recently on the pitch. I doubt myself and hesitate and this affects what I do. When I am really engaged I play really well, but, for most of the time, I worry that the goal is too far away and my shot will not be good. I heard that hypnosis can help. I want to reach my full potential. Can you help me because I love playing so much and I feel that I am letting my friends down. Last year I missed a really important shot and we lost the game, and my problem got worse after this event. K

Dear K

Hypnotherapy can be used effectively to help people with sport–specifically performance anxiety. It can help you to concentrate and also to reach your full potential in the game. It can enhance your skills in all aspects of the game. If you would like to book a session, please do not hesitate to phone 0207 467 8564.

Yours sincerely

Dr David Kraft

10 Harley Street, London, W1G 9PF, UK.

Psychotherapist and Hypnotherapist   

Dr David Kraft is a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist in private practice. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). He is a member of the Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicinee  Section of the RSM. David has published articles on driving phobia, covert sensitization (including helping people give up drinking alcohol, stopping smoking, stopping nail biting and eating chocolate), sleeping disorders, anxiety, hyperhidrosis, sexual disorders, eating disorders (including bulimia and anorexia) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Dr Kraft has p[ublished in the Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis and in Contemporary Hypnosis, which is the official publication of BSCAH. He has a diploma in clinical hypnosis, an advanced certificate in clinical and strategic hypnosis and a diploma in clinical psychology.