I have been meaning to say this for a while. The word subconscious has been used so frequently that people are regarding it as a synonym for the word ‘unconscious’ But the word is ‘unconscious’. I hope you don’t mind me saying this. I have heard it in seminars and have kept silent. I have heard lecturers (not at this college) use the term. It is true that it has now started to be used by lecturers and in academic journals. However, I feel, if you want to be taken seriously, use the term ‘unconscious’. Just a tip really… As soon as I hear someone talking about the ’subconscious’ I ask myself, does this person know what they are talking about?

Freud did refer to the ‘preconscious’ which includes material just coming to the surface but this, whether it exists or not, is quite different from the unconscious.

Gestalt Questioning

As far as I can tell, there is no such
thing as ‘Gestalt questioning’ per se. What I mean by this is that the
expression, as far as I know from the literature, has not been used regularly
in this form. Only Sapp (2010) and Hall (1977) use the expression in this form.
However, questioning in Gestalt therapy is an extremely important
tool/technique in Gestalt therapy. Gestalt therapy focusses on the here and the
now. Questioning using the words what and how can be used to help clients’
awareness of the moment. It helps client to ask themselves how they are feeling
and to enjoy or discover information about the present, whereas why question
illicit inwardness and rationalizations. Here is an example of this. If the
therapist asks the question, ‘What is happening now?’, the client will think
about the experience at that moment. Other questions such as, ‘What are you
feeling at this time?, and ‘What does that hand position you are doing mean to
you?’ can also help in this process. The Gestalt therapist encourages his
client to experience the moment and to live his feelings rather than to talk
about them. It is perhaps the questions that help clients to be able to
re-enact the past in the present. Nevis (1987) talks about guided questioning.
He points out that by using questions, the therapist can help the client to
re-discover the present and feelings of the moment in a form which he describes
as ‘open, undirected awareness’.

Nanci Bell (1991) uses her questioning skills in her work which focuses on
Gestalt imagery. She feels that it is important in therapy for her clients to
be able to visualize a whole image. She points out that some individuals are
unable to visualize a complete image during language communication and that,
despite having good communication skills, they are sometimes unable to embrace
the meaning of some verbal interactions such as understanding directions, a
joke or group conversations. She describes this as being one of the main causes
of dyslexia. She uses her questioning skills to help her dyslexic clients to
illicit more specific information. Nanci showed her clients pictures and ask
her clients to describe in detail what was happening. The questions she asked
included ‘What does it look like?, ‘What shape is it?, ‘What colour is it?,
‘Where did it happen?’. What mood is being evoked?, and so forth. This form of
questioning helps her clients to understand the elements of the image.
Questioning using choice and contrast provides the client with more control of
the images presented to him. Later, Nanci uses her questioning to ask the
client what words can be used to describe an object or a person; finally, she
asks the clients how to describe stimuli using sentences.

But I feel that in the consulting room, if one uses what and how questions, one
challenges the client to think about how he or she behaves, feels and thinks in
the moment. Perls (1967) spoke of the ‘safe emergency’ of the situation. During
the interaction with Gloria, it seemed as if he believed that the confrontation
was safe and that by accepting our actions we can move on to understanding our
reality. He constantly challenged Gloria by asking how and what questions in
order or her to act authentically in the here and now. And, during this
‘playful’ exchange, he was encouraging her to be able to interact successfully
with him so that she could then do it with other people.

When Gloria says that Perls was not sharing her pain and anger, and that he was
detached, Perls asked the question, ‘How should I be?’, and ‘Tell me you
fantasy; How should I behave?’ With these questions, Perls is encouraging
Gloria to accept her ‘authentic’ feelings.

These questions are very helpful in Gestalt therapy, and I would be happy to
use these sorts of questioning in psychotherapy where appropriate.

David Kraft PhD

David Kraft runs a successful psychotherapy practice in Harley Street. London. He has a diploma in Clinical Hypnosis (DCHyp) and an Advanced Certificate in Clinical and Strategic Hypnosis (A.Cert.CSHyp). He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of The British Society of Clinical & Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). In addition, he has completed the first year course in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at the London Centre for Psychotherapy. David’s psychiatric placement was at the Pembroke Centre—an early intervention service which is part of the Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust.  

David has been researching psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis for several years now, publishing regularly in academic journals. He has written articles on driving phobia, mouse phobia, covert sensitisation, anxiety disorders, sleep disturbances, hyperhidrosis, sexual disorders, IBS, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, agoraphobia, social phobia and panic disorder.  

David also has a Diploma in Clinical Psychology (Dip.Cl.Psy), both a degree (BMus) and doctorate (PhD) in classical music, a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), a Certificate in Psychoneuroimmunology and a level 5 certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages (CELTA). At present, David is studying at the National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy in order to gain accreditation with the UKCP—at the end of this training, if successful, he will also gain a diploma and an advanced diploma in psychotherapy. He is also studying the language component of a degree (BA) in Thai at SOAS, University of London: he is in the third year of this degree, and is enjoying being part of the South East Asian Studies faculty.

For copyright reasons, the original article published in Contemporary Hypnosis cannot be included here. However, a pre-publication version can be included on one’s website. This is the pre-publication version of the original article. There is more information included here. I hope you enjoy reading about Tom Kraft–a famous academic and clinican. 

A tribute to Tom Kraft (1932-2008)

by David Kraft

Dr Thomas Kraft (‘Tom’) MB, ChB, FRCPsych, DPM died on the 10 of December 2008. Tom made a significant contribution to the field of integrative psychotherapy—that is to say, psychodynamic psychotherapy combined with hypnosis and/or behaviour therapy— and the following tribute celebrates the life of a man who supported, enriched and transformed the lives of many people in both short- and long-term therapy.

Life and Character

Tom was born in Berlin in 1932 into a wealthy Jewish family, where his grandfather owned a successful haberdashery business in the city. His father, a doctor of law, became aware very early on of the trend the political situation was taking, and he arranged for the family to leave for Switzerland as soon as possible. His grandfather, however, said that the prospect of a divided country and the possibility of mass segregation was not possible in Germany; however, he and his wife were later sent to a concentration camp and all of their assets were confiscated.

Tom adapted to life in Switzerland, enjoying Swiss chocolate and home-made ice cream, and teaching skiing in the alps for fruit at the tender age of five. He also learnt to speak Swiss dialect. From Switzerland. they moved to England through France and settled initially in Golders Green. Tom learnt to play the violin and, under his Aunt Truda’s influence, developed a love for classical—particularly, Baroque—music. During his childhood, Tom spent a significant amount of time at boarding school, which he hated. Nevertheless, Tom found a tree in one of the gardens and, in his spare time, he listened to the sounds of the birds, and he even created his own vegetable patch in the middle of the woods. When the family moved to Oxford, Tom continued to listen to classical music and to play the violin; he also worked hard at school and went to the theatre. The Oxford play company was always delighted when he came to visit because his infectious laugh made sure that the play would be a success.

Tom had wanted to become a doctor since the age of 5; at this age he had a first aid kit and he went around bandaging people throughout the day. It was almost an inevitability that he would train to become a doctor, and, Tom went to Leeds to do just that. Having qualified from Leeds Medical School in 1956, Tom held various house jobs in London—he was the house surgeon at St. Giles’ (1957-8), house physician at the Royal Northern (1957-8), Locum at the Brook and Dulwich Hospital (1958), House Physician at the Wittington (1958-9) and Senior House Officer at the Guy’s Maudsley Neurosurgical Unit (1959). During his national service, Tom was then stationed at Aldershot with the Royal Army Medical Corps, and was subsequently based in London and in the Middle East on the Heat and Acclimatisation trials. Tom also worked at the Army Information Offices in Belfast, Cambridge and Oxford: it was while he was in Belfast that he travelled regularly all the way back to London to finish a course in neurology at Hammersmith Hospital.

Tom went on to specialize in psychiatry. He worked at St Thomas’ for Dr William Sargeant, as a Psychiatric House Physician at the Netherne Hospital (1963-4), as a Senior House Officer, Registrar and Senior Registrar at St Clement’s (1964-9), Senior Registrar at Claybury Hospital (1969-71) and Senior Registrar at Barts’ (1971). Tom then set up in private practice in Harley Street (1971-2008) where he worked up until two weeks before his death in December 2008. Tom also treated patients in a number of institutions including the Grovelands’ Priory (1987-1995), the Florence Nightingale Hospital (1988-2003), Edenhall (1988-1998) and St Luke’s Hospital for the Clergy (2000-2008).       

It was in Harley Street that Tom developed still further his unique ability to treat patients. He became a lifeline for many patients. Some, who needed his continuous support, remained with him for years, while many others were, with his expertise, able to overcome their psychological conditions in a relatively short period of time. Tom had a tremendous success with thousands of patients over the 37 years in which he worked in private practice. He wrote some review papers, but many of his articles were case studies in which patients had successful outcomes: in many respects, these papers are a tribute to Tom’s life’s work.

Tom’s contribution to the field of integrative psychotherapy

It was as early as 1963, that Tom began working in the field of psychotherapy. He trained as a psychiatrist and completed the DPM in 1965; over the next few years, as part of his training, he underwent psychoanalysis himself and gained the MRCPsych in1973. During this period, Tom did some of the pioneer work in behaviour therapy which re-defined how behavioural approaches could be utilized in the treatment of psychological disturbances (Kraft & Burnfield, 1967; Kraft & Al-Issa, 1966; Al-Issa & Kraft, 1967; Kraft 1975). He employed learning theory in the treatment of a patient with traffic phobia (Kraft, 1965a), showed how aversion therapy could be utilized in the treatment of sexual perversions (Kraft, 1967), and used a combination of systematic desensitization and methohexitone in the successful treatment of premature ejaculation (Kraft & Al-Issa, 1968a). Tom introduced the concept that social anxiety was often connected with and the cause of drug abuse and alcholism (Kraft & Al-Issa, 1968b; Kraft 1969b; Kraft 1971b; Kraft, 1976). Further, in 1970, Tom showed that psychotherapy—specifically psycho-dynamically orientated psychotherapy—and behaviour therapy were not diametrically opposite (Kraft, 1970b).

Tom used Wolpe’s (1958) principle of reciprocal inhibition, using a graded hierarchy of increasing anxiety-provoking situations and pairing this with the relaxation in hypnosis. Tom used systematic sensitization in the treatment of heat phobia (Kraft & Al-Issa, 1965b), frigidity (Kraft & Al-Issa, 1967a), alcoholism (Kraft & Al-Issa, 1967b; Kraft, 1968; Kraft & Al-Issa, 1968b; Kraft, 1969c; Kraft, & Wijesinghe, 1970), cigarette addiction (Kraft & Al-Issa, 1967c), sexual disorders (Kraft, 1969), agoraphobia (Kraft, 1973), claustrophobia (Kraft, 1973), sea sickness (Kraft, 1984a), injection phobia (Kraft, 1984b), balloon phobia (Kraft, 1994) and driving phobia (Kraft & Kraft, 2004), cannabis and chocolate addiction (Kraft & Kraft, 2005), and hyperhidrosis (Kraft, 1985; Kraft and Kraft, 2007). Tom also employed all the sensory modalities in the hypnotherapy in order to re-create the experience as vividly as possible (Kraft, 1970a; Kraft, 1984a). He used systematic desensitization and combined this with psychotherapy: he found that the support that was given in the psychotherapy was essential in the treatment programme. He also used this integrative approach to help symptom relief for patients suffering from cancer (Kraft, 1991; Kraft, 1992; Kraft 1993a) and successfully treated patients with chemotherapy phobia (Kraft, 1993b), injection phobia, (Kraft, 1984b), stuttering (Kraft, 1994b), IBS (Kraft & Kraft, 2007b) and snoring (Kraft, 2003).    

Final Thoughts

Tom did not stand still. He continued to refine his work and challenge medical practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists. Early on in his career as a psychiatrist, he affectively stopped prescribing drugs because he felt that it was important to find the source of the problem and the psychodynamics responsible for the condition. He also felt that it was extremely important for patients to make their own decisions and that they should exercise control both in the consulting room and in their everyday lives. He continued to re-evaluate his thoughts from day to day, and he discussed these ideas and theories with his colleagues and with his son, David Kraft, who, having been essentially trained by Tom, has continued his work as a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist in private practice. Tom was a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine from 1959, and attended many lectures run by the Section of Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine; he also trained students attending the Applied Hypnosis course at UCL; he gave many lectures on behalf of BSMDH and BSECH and was influential here as well as in private tutorials. He was a member of the BMA, an honorary member of BSCAH and a member of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI). In 2005, Tom was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Tom was a man of great integrity and was intrinsically caring and non-judgemental both in and outside the consulting room. Tom was an innovator and a pillar of strength. His influence has been profound both in the literature and as a teacher. For those that knew him, he was a source of knowledge with an incredible memory for detail; he was generous and kind; he had an infectious laugh and a warm aura about him; he was never arrogant, and, when you were with him, you knew you were always in safe hands. Tom will be missed by many people, but particularly by his family.

References

Al-Issa  & Kraft, T. Personality factors in behavioural therapy. (1967) Canadian Psychologist, 8a: 218-222.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I. The application of learning theory to the treatment of traffic phobia. (1965a) British Journal of Psychiatry, 111, 277-279.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I.Behaviour therapy and the recall of traumatic experience: a case study. (1965b), Behaviour Research & Therapy, 3, 55-58.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I. Brief behaviour therapy for the general practitioner. (1966) Journal of the College of General Practitioners, 12, 270-276.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I. Behavior therapy and the treatment of frigidity. (1967a) American Journal of Psychotherapy, 21, 116-120.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I. Alcoholism treated by desensitization: a case report. (1967b) Behaviour Research & Therapy, 5, 69-70.

Kraft, T & Burnfield, A. Treatment of neurosis by behaviour therapy. (1967) London Hospital Gazette Supplement 70, No. 2, 12-16.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I. Desensitization and reduction in cigarette consumption. (1967c) Journal of Psychology, 67, 323-329.

Kraft, T. Behaviour therapy and the treatment of sexual perversions. (1967) Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 15, 351-357.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I. The use of methohexitone sodium in the systematic desensitization of premature ejaculation. (1968a) British Journal of Psychiatry, 114, 351-352.

Kraft, T & Al-Issa, I. Desensitization and the treatment of alcohol addiction. (1968b), British Journal of Addiction, 63, 19-23.

Kraft, T. Experience in the treatment of alcoholism. (1968) In Progress in Behaviour      Therapy (Edited by H Freeman) Wright: Bristol (Pp 25-33.)

Kraft, T. Desensitization and the treatment of sexual disorders. (1969a) Journal of Sex Research,      5, 130-134.

Kraft, T. Psychoanalysis and behaviorism: a false antithesis. (1969b) American Journal of Psychotherapy, 23, 482-487.

Kraft, T. Alcoholism treated by systematic desensitization. A follow-up of eight cases.

(1969c) Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 18, 336-340.

Kraft, T. Systematic desensitization using emotional imagery only. (1970a) Perceptual and Motor Skills, 30, 293-294.

Kraft, T & Wijesinghe B. Systematic desensitization of social anxiety in the treatment of alcoholism: a psychometric evaluation of change. (1970) British Journal of Psychiatry, 117, 443-444.

Kraft, T. Psychotherapy and behaviour therapy: a combined technique. (1970b) London Hospital Gazette, October, 8-12,

Kraft, T. Social anxiety model of alcoholism. (1971).Perceptual and Motor Skills, 33, 797-798.

Kraft, T. The treatment of phobias by systematic desensitization: a follow-up of three cases. (1973) London Hospital Gazette, October, 2-6.

Kraft, T. Behaviour therapy and personality change. (1975) International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 21, 111-116.

Kraft, T. The combined behaviour therapy-psychotherapy approach. (1976) Projective Psychology, 23,15-29.

Kraft, T. Systematic desensitization in a patient with poor visual imagery. (1984a)

Proceedings of the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis, 5, 45-47.

Kraft, T. Injection phobia: a case study. (1984b) British Journal of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis, 1, 13-18.

Kraft, T. Successful treatment of a case of hyperhidrosis. (1985) Proceedings of the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis, 6, 11-13.

Kraft, T. Hypnotherapy for the terminally ill: the Edenhall experience. (1991) Proceedings of the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis, 7, No 5, 21-24.

Kraft, T. Counteracting pain in malignant disease by hypnotic techniques: five case studies. (1992) Contemporary Hypnosis, 9, 123-129.

Kraft, T. Using hypnosis with cancer patients: six case studies. (1993a), Contemporary Hypnosis, 10, No 1, 43-48.

Kraft, T. A case of chemotherapy Phobia: an integrative approach. (1993b), Contemporary Hypnosis, 10, No 2, 105-111.

Kraft, T. The combined use of hypnosis and in vivo desensitization in the successful treatment of a case of balloon phobia, (1994a) Contemporary Hypnosis,11, No 2,71-76

Kraft, T. Successful treatment of a case of stuttering, with a 10-year follow-up. (1994b) Contemporary Hypnosis, 11, No 3, 131-136.

Kraft, T. Treatment options for snoring. (2003) Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine 96,  No 9. 473.

Kraft, T & Kraft, D. Creating a virtual reality in hypnosis: a case of driving phobia (2004), Contemporary Hypnosis. 21, No. 2, 79 – 85.

Kraft, T & Kraft, D. Covert Sensitization revisited: Six Case Studies (2005) Contemporary Hypnosis, 22, No. 4: 202-209. 

Kraft, T & Kraft, D. An integrative approach to the treatment of Hyperhidrosis: Review and Case Study (2007a) Contemporary Hypnosis, 24, No 1: 38-45.

Kraft, T & Kraft, D. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: symptomatic treatment approaches versus integrative psychotherapy’ Contemporary Hypnosis (2007b), 24, (4): 161-177.

Wolpe, J (1958). Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

If you would like to find a therapist in London, why not ring London Hypnotherapy UK. Here, you will find highly qualified therapists who have been trained to use hypnosis as an adjunct to therapy.

David Kraft is a psychotherapist who uses hypnosis in treatment to enhance his work. Hypnosis is a tool to be used in conjunction with psychotherapy, CBT, medical or dental work.

David Kraft is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH).

If you would like help in finding a therapist, please call 0207 467 8564, for an appointment.

David Kraft

Psychotherapist and Hypnotherapist

For more information about BSCAH, please go to their website at http://www.bscah.com/

Finding a therapist in London can be hard work, so it is often helpful to go to a recognized organization in order find a suitable therapist who can help you. London Hypnotherapy UK recommends UKCP and BSCAH.

David Kraft is a psychotherapist with a successful practice in Harley Street, London. He also uses hypnosis in is work. He has published several articles in academic journals on many subjects including agoraphobia, social phobia, sleeping disorders, anxiety, and the treatment of alcoholism. David is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of BSCAH.

For an appointment, please do not hesitate to ring the office on 0207 467 8564.

London Hypnotherapy UK has treated a number of IBS sufferers succesfully over the last few years. Dr Kraft uses a combined approach combining psychodynamically-orientated psychotherapy with hypnotherapy. During the hypnotherapy, there are several approaches that have been shown to be effective in treatment. The river approach and an approach which uses the warmth of one’s hand and transfers feelings of comfort from the hand to the stomach. This is known as gut directed hypnotherapy, and is very effective for individuals that suffer from visceral hypersensitivity.

For an appointment, please phone Dr Kraft on 0207 467 8564.

Dr David Kraft is a specialist hypnotherapist and psychotherapist in private practice. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis. He runs a successful clinic in Harley Street, London.

On the 6th of June 2011, Dr Kraft will be giving a presentation on the use of hypnosis for smoking cessation. David will present a case study which illustrates that hypnosis can be used effectively to help individuals stop smoking in one hour. The case study looks at a 33 year old man who had been a heavy smoker for over 20 years. He gave up smoking after one hour and did not smoke one cigarette for then on. At the year follow up, Philip, was still smoke free.

Dr Kraft will talk about the importance of building rapport while booking the session and building expectation on the phone. He will then describe his unique approach to treatment which incorporates the use of aversion, chaining suggestions, poetic repetition, response sets, split screen imagery and the ‘Non Smoker Walk’.

Smoking Hypnotherapy with Dr Kraft is a highly effective form off treatment which has no side effects.

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Dr David Kraft is a psychotherapist who also uses psychodynamic psychotherapy with hypnosis. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a member of the Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine Section and a member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). He has published several articles in both national and international journals on subjects including: anorexia, bulimia, sleeping disorders, sexual disorders, hyperhidrosis, agoraphobia, social phobia, alcoholism, cover sensitization, driving phobia, mouse phobia and anxiety. David runs a successful practice in Harley Street, London, UK.

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Dr David Kraft is the managing director of both London Psychotherapy and London Hypnotherapy UK. He has had a great deal of experience treating the full range of psychological conditions, and his practice is based at 10 Harley Street in central London. This year, he has treated a number of clients to help them stop smoking, and, so far, all his clients have given up smoking in one session. Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy is a fast evolving treatment programme, and Dr David Kraft uses the following techniques during the process: aversion therapy (covert sensitization), indirect and direct suggestions, future orientation in time, as well as many of the principles of healthy living (psychoneuroimmunology). Over the years, he has helped many people give up smoking in a very short period of time; the effects are long lasting. Nowadays, smoking is not as socially acceptable as it was in, say, the 1940s. Dr David Kraft points out that many physical conditions occur as a result of smoking including,  cardiovascular disease, emphysema,  chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, shortness of breath, bladder problems, cancer of the oesophagus, kidneys complications, cancer of the pancreas and cervical cancer.

It is time to stop smoking now.

For an appointment, please ring Dr David Kraft at London Hypnotherapy UK on 0207 467 8564.

Dr David Kraft is a specialist hypnotherapist and psychotherapist  with a successful private practice in Harley Street, in central London. He specializes in phobic anxiety, sleep disorders, PTSD, psychosomatic pain and generalized anxiety disorder. Recently, he has had a considerable amount of success helping patients who are about to, or have undertaken cardiac surgery–in particular coronary, valvular and aortic surgery and ‘redo’ procedures. He has also worked in conjunction with gynaecologists helping patients to overcome anxieties in relation to having had hysterectomies: further, using hypnotherapy, he has helped to reduce flooding and clotting, and has helped patients suffering from vaginismus and dispareunia. This year, Dr Kraft has help a number  of clients to stop smoking, and, in all cases, clients have given up in one session.