The Worst is Over

Title: The Worst is Over
Author: Judith Acosta and Judith Simon Prager
Format: Book
Source: Half-Price Books
Price: $4.84 (Amazon)
Rating: Good

The Worst is Over is a critical text on "verbal first aid," the application of hypnotic and NLP techniques to emergency and other medical situations. Aimed primarily at medical personnel but applicable to people in all walks of life, this book first explores the mind-body connection and then gives protocols for handling various situations. At all times, the book is grounded in practical advice; it emphasizes that verbal first aid and treatment go hand-in-hand with physical treatment.

In addition to exact protocols, the book lays out a sequence which is useful for any hypnotist to know: gain rapport, extend the contract, and give therapeutic suggestions. Because people in emergency situations are already in an altered, highly suggestible state, this simple format does not require knowledge of inductions or deepeners. For the same reasons, it's important for medical personnel to be aware of the dangers of saying the wrong thing in critical moments, and the book does an excellent job of preparing the reader to say the right thing. The methods in this book are worth internalizing, so that the reader can use them even in a highly stressful situation. Just remembering the title can be key in helping any trauma victim move past a disaster and into the healing zone.

Although the book is all about techniques which are employed in hypnosis, the authors avoid using the "H-word" for most of the opening chapters, and then mention it only lightly. One suspects that the authors get better reception from medical personnel by not coming right out and using the word "hypnosis"; it's a sad truth that even with decades of clinical research, hypnosis still struggles with a negative reputation in some quarters.

After addressing emergency situations, the authors go on to show how to apply similar techniques to pain management, chronic conditions, emotional disturbance, suicide attempts, and even grief counseling. (For this reason, a minister friend of mine was quite intrigued by the book; he instantly recognized its applications in pastoral care.) A final section gives valuable advice on using the techniques on oneself, recognizing that a caregiver needs internal mechanisms for dealing with the stress helping others. Again, though not aimed specifically at hypnotists, the recommendations of this section are valuable to anyone who practices therapeutic hypnosis.

Considering how affordable paperback editions of this book are, there's no reason every hypnotist shouldn't have it on the shelf.