The use of hypnosis in establishing a holding environment to facilitate affect tolerance and integration in impulsive patients

This paper is concerned with the use of hypnosis in establishing a facilitating and holding environment in the treatment of impulsive behavior across a range of diagnoses. The reason for this cross-diagnostic viewpoint is to underscore the common sources of such action and the needs to be met in its treatment. Illustrations from work with two patients are presented: One was a hypomanic and bulimic woman who was successful in her profession; the other was an underemployed and sometimes unemployed schizophrenic man. Both were inclined to self-defeating impulsive action-bulimia in the woman, assault in the man.