I had heard about you and I wanted to meet you and you looked so interested and you shook hands so warmly. All of a sudden my arm was gone and your face changed and got so far away. Then the left side of your head began to disappear, and I could see only the right side of your face until that slowly vanished also.... Your face slowly came back, and you came close and smiled.... Then I noticed my hand and asked you about it because I couldn't feel my whole arm. You said to keep it that way just a little while for the experience.[7] [7] Milton H. Erickson, Ernest L. Rossi, and Sheila I. Rossi, _Hypnotic Realities: The Induction of Clinical Hypnosis and Forms of Indirect Suggestion_ (New York: Irvington Publishers, 1976), pp. 108-109. APPLICATIONS OF HYPNOSIS It is much easier to bring about a hypnotic trance than to know how to make effective therapeutic use of the trance state once it is produced. Depending on the depth of trance that you will accept, these are the kinds of goals that can be achieved: In a light trance, your eyes are closed, you are physically {221} relaxed, and it is possible to convey to you, for example, that you are unable to move an arm. At this stage, the therapist can often be effective in offering you support and encouraging you to begin to make changes in your behavior. In a medium trance, relaxation is still deeper. A partial anesthesia of a hand or arm can be achieved, and you will comply in a slow, semiautomatic way with instructions from the therapist. In this state, many clients can learn rather quickly how to bring about _self_-hypnosis, which they can then practice on their own. At this stage, it is sometimes possible to suggest gradual personality changes. In a deep trance, more extensive anesthesias are possible. A therapist can encourage you to experience emotional changes, to hallucinate, and to regress to a younger age--i.e., to re-experience memories of past events and to feel and behave as you did at that time. In a deep trance state, it is possible to use hypnotic desensitization techniques to help you overcome anxieties and fears. Hypnotherapy lends itself well to use on your own. Once you have learned how to induce light trance states on your own, you can begin to suggest certain attitudes, feelings, or behavioral changes you would like to bring about in yourself. Being successful at this--as with any skill--requires regular practice and regular and gradual strengthening of the habits that are being formed. Some psychotherapists will make a audio recording for the individual client to use at home on a daily basis. Hypnosis has been used to treat many problems, including these: ulcers frigidity impotence headaches and migraines insomnia arthritic pain colitis tachycardia obesity depression phobias antisocial behavior {222}