The Practitioner’s Guide to Mirroring Hands: A Client-Responsive Therapy That Facilitates Natural Problem Solving and Mind-Body Healing

305 Pages·2017·7.73 MB·English

by  Richard Hill

Have you ever wondered how to help a client access their unconscious? Building on the work of
Milton H. Erickson, Ernest L. Rossi developed Mirroring Hands to do just that, and, along with
Richard Hill, he has now brought it to you. Not only do Hill and Rossi give clear step-by-step
instructions for how to use Mirroring Hands, but they also lay out the framework for understanding
the dynamic power of this tool.
The Practitioner’s Guide to Mirroring Hands is a well-rounded resource full of practical applications
and illustrative casebook studies. Readers will find themselves both informed and empowered by this
guide.
Ruth Buczynski, Ph.D., licensed psychologist,
President, National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine
Providing extensive research background for the theories on which the Mirroring Hands technique
is based, The Practitioner’s Guide to Mirroring Hands is an outstanding manual accomplished with
precision and clarity. It takes readers on a journey through neurophysiological and genomic discoveries
and offers intriguing speculations on quantum influences which may give readers a glimpse of the
inevitable future of psychotherapy.
Stephen Lankton, M.S.W., D.A.H.B., editor-in-chief, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis,
author of The Answer Within and Tools of Intention
There is plenty of research and ideas presented here that made me think new thoughts, and you can’t
ask much more from a book. I’m sure The Practitioner’s Guide to Mirroring Hands will be one I return
to repeatedly.
Trevor Silvester, Q.C.H.P.A. (Reg), N.C.H. (Fellow), H.P.D.,
Training Director, The Quest Institute Ltd, author of Cognitive
Hypnotherapy, Wordweaving, and The Question is the Answer
The Practitioner’s Guide to Mirroring Hands really does do magnificent credit to Richard Hill’s
documentation and to his dedication in uncovering the genius of Rossi and Erickson, and will provide
you with a never-ending source of wisdom on your professional journey in the therapy room. The
authors should be commended for this text, which obviously sets out to achieve a quite remarkable
feat in its presentation of the Mirroring Hands process, and it doesn’t disappoint. It is indeed a tour
de force which will – and should – become a classic.
Dr. Tom Barber, founder, Contemporary College of Therapeutic Studies,
educator, psychotherapist, coach, and bestselling author
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The Practitioner’s Guide to
MIRRORING
HANDS
A Client-Responsive Therapy
That Facilitates Natural Problem-Solving
and Mind–Body Healing
Richard Hill and Ernest L. Rossi
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First published by
Crown House Publishing Ltd
Crown Buildings, Bancyfelin, Carmarthen,
Wales, SA33 5ND, UK
www.crownhouse.co.uk
and
Crown House Publishing Company LLC
PO Box 2223, Williston, VT 05495, USA
www.crownhousepublishing.com
© Richard Hill and Ernest L. Rossi, 2017
The right of Richard Hill and Ernest L. Rossi to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted
by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied,
stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or
reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Enquiries
should be addressed to Crown House Publishing Limited.
Page 206: Figure 14.1: Ravitz, L. J. (1950). Electrometric correlates of the hypnotic state. Science, 112, 341–342. Reproduced with permission. Pages 242–243: Extract from von
Baeyer, H. (2013). Quantum weirdness? It’s all in your mind. Scientific American, 308(6), 46–51 at 47–48. Reproduced with permission. Page 246: Extract from Stetka, B. (2014).
Changing our DNA through mind control? Scientific American (16 December). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/changing-our-dna-through-mind-control/.
Reproduced with permission. Page 251: Extract from Crease, R. (2010). The Great Equations: Breakthroughs in Science from Pythagoras to Heisenberg. New York: W.W. Norton, pp.
242–245. Reproduced with permission. Page 252: Extract from Fedak, W. & Prentis, J. (2009). The 1925 Born and Jordan paper “On quantum mechanics.” American Journal of
Physics, 77(2), 128–139 at 133. Reproduced from American Journal of Physics, with permission of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Page 257: Figure AB.7a: Nave,
R. (2016). HyperPhysics. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html [website]. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta. Page 259:
Figure AB.7d: Stodolna, A. S., Rouzée, A., Lépine, F., Cohen, S., Robicheaux, F., Gijsbertsen, A. et al. (2013). Hydrogen atoms under magnification: direct observation of the nodal
structure of stark states. Physical Review Letters, 110(21), 213001. Reproduced with permission. Page 265: Extract from Beautiful Question: Finding Nature’s Deep Design by Frank
Wilczek © 2015 by Frank Wilczek. Used by permission of Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Crown House Publishing has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or
third-party websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.
Print ISBN 978-178583246-8
Mobi ISBN 978-178583290-1
ePub ISBN 978-178583291-8
ePDF ISBN 978-178583292-5
LCCN 2017955324
Printed and bound in the UK by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall
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This book honors two extraordinary women:
Kathryn Lane Rossi and Susan Jamie Louise
Davis who have not only made our lives an
immeasurable pleasure, but have also been a
source of healing for many thousands of people.
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Acknowledgments
This volume spans many decades of growth and change, so acknowledging everyone who has made
a contribution is probably impossible. We would like to begin with a heartfelt thank you to all our
patients and clients over the years who have been, in a very special way, co-creators in the emergence
and development of Mirroring Hands. It almost goes without saying that we equally acknowledge
the numinous, and continuing, presence of Milton H. Erickson.
Richard Hill extends the first acknowledgment and his unqualified gratitude to Ernest Rossi, who
has facilitated his becoming as a therapist for more than a decade. Starting a new career in midlife
is so much more possible when surrounded by the best.
We must, again, thank our wives, Kathryn Rossi and Susan Davis, for their enormous contribu-
tion, on both professional and personal levels. Almost as dedicated has been Michael Hoyt, in San
Francisco, who has generously read and re-read progressive drafts, providing invaluable guidance
and advice. Many thanks to Nick Kuys, from Tasmania, Australia, for his kindly role play as our
“quintessential practitioner,” helping us to appreciate what was interesting and important. A very
special thanks to Jeff Zeig for contributing the foreword. He is an icon of professional excellence
throughout the world and tireless in his work as founder and board member of the Milton H.
Erickson Foundation.
We have been befriended and gently encouraged by wonderful people, including John Arden, Bonnie
Badenoch, Rubin Battino, Steve Carey, Giovanna Cilia, Lou Cozolino, Mauro Cozzolino, Matthew
Dahlitz, Jan Dyba, Roxanna Erickson-Klein, John Falcon, Bruce and Brigitta Gregory, Salvatore Ian-
notti, Paul Lange, Stephen Lankton, Paul Leslie, Scott Miller, Michael Munion, Carmen Nicotra,
Bill O’Hanlon, Kirk Olson, Debra Pearce-McCall, Susan Sandy, Dan Siegel, Lawrence Sugarman,
Reid Wilson, Michael and Diane Yapko, and Shane Warren. There are more we hold dear to our
hearts, including colleagues and friends at the Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology
Studies (GAINS) who are more family than just friends; the wonderful people at the Milton H.
Erickson Foundation; and Venkat Pulla and our Strengths Based Practice Social Work community
in Australia, Asia, and the Subcontinent. It has been a wonderful journey. Thank you all.
Our appreciation goes to the whole team at Crown House Publishing who have believed in the
value of this book and done so much to make it possible. Thanks to Mark Tracten for being an
annual presence for many years, David and Karen Bowman, Tom Fitton, Rosalie Williams, and all
the hard-working Crown House team around the globe.
vii
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Contents
Acknowledgments ...................................................................vii
Foreword .........................................................................xi
Introduction ........................................................................1
1. The History of Mirroring Hands: Ernest Rossi in Conversation with Richard Hill ........11
2. Thinking IN the Systems of Life: Preparing the Therapeutic Mind .....................27
3. Unlocking Natural Connections: How We Begin .....................................43
4. Language Principles: Client-Responsive Language ....................................55
5. The Rhythms and Cycles of Life in Therapy: The Natural Foundations of
Mirroring Hands ................................................................73
6. What Is and What Can Be: Internal Review .........................................95
7. Natural, Comfortable, and Sensitive Observation: The Art of Client-Responsive Therapy .107
8. Holding Both Sides of the Mirror: Revealing Potential and Possibility .................123
9. Curiosity and the Elephant in the Room: What We Miss .............................137
10. Clearing Out the Negative, Preparing for the Positive: Closing the Door ................153
11. Symptom Scaling for Enlightenment: The Symptom is a Message .....................167
12. Improvising, Drama, and Mirroring Hands: The Flow of Client-Responsive Therapy .....181
13. Personal Access to Your Growing Edge: Solo and Personal Use of Mirroring Hands .....191
14. Research and Experiments: From Ravitz to Rossi ...................................205
15. Down the Rabbit Hole: Quantum and the Yet-To-Be-Known .........................221
Appendix A. The Nuntius Nuclei: A New Neuroscience for Curiosity ...................... 231
Appendix B. An Integrated Quantum Field Theory of Physics, Math, Biology, and Psychology .... 239
References ....................................................................... 269
Index ........................................................................... 287
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Foreword
Ernest Rossi has been a seminal contributor to and a historical figure
in the evolution of psychotherapy. He is blessed to have Richard Hill
as a collaborator.
Rossi has contributed in many professional arenas, including advanc-
ing Jungian perspectives and the work of Milton H. Erickson, M.D.,
who was the dean of 20th century medical hypnosis. Rossi was Erick-
son’s Boswell and the person who was primary in making Erickson’s
work available to the world. But Rossi’s own groundbreaking con-
tributions have been in psycho-neuro-biology. He pioneered the use
of hypnotic techniques in mind–body therapy, including the way in
which hypnotic suggestion alters gene expression. How the mind
creates the brain and the body is a door that Rossi has unlocked so
that other investigators can enter and explore.
Contributions to hypnosis have also been central to Rossi’s work. He is a specialist in ideodynamic
activity – the way in which associations and mental representations alter behavior and sensory
experience. When you think vividly about a lemon, you salivate. If you’re a passenger in a car, and
you want it to stop quickly, you stomp on the imaginary brake. These ideodynamic principles can
guide psychotherapy and are the foundation of this important book.
Rossi invented the Mirroring Hands technique, which can be used both for hypnotic induction and
hypnotherapy. The protocol and accompanying theory are presented and enriched with clear clini-
cal examples. Variations are explained and limitations are offered. Therapists who want to advance
their technique can now learn from a psychotherapeutic master.
Richard Hill is a co-author, not merely an expositor. He expounds on the importance of curiosity
as a palliative factor and enriches perspectives on using the brain to alter the body. Orientations are
developed to aid clinicians to avoid burnout.
Not only is this book an important resource for those who practice hypnosis, it can also be an impor-
tant introduction for any psychotherapist who wants to learn about mind–body therapy. This manual
provides keys to the solutions to problems that have previously evaded psychotherapeutic technique.
Ernest Rossi and Richard Hill are to be commended for their vibrant exposition. They have cleared
previous undergrowth and created a path that others will be wise to follow.
Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D.
Milton H. Erickson Foundation
xi
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