Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy vs Ericksonian Hypnosis in the treatment of depressive neurosis. The use of the patient’s “imagery”: from psychic defence of therapeutic potential

Journal title IPNOSI
Author/s Cielo Ferrauti, Ruggero Dargenio
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1
Language Italian Pages 13 P. 29-41 File size 73 KB
DOI 10.3280/IPN2026-001003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Among the significant changes introduced in DSM 5, particular attention was given to the diagnostic category relating to depressive disorders. Regarding the efficacy of different forms of psychotherapy, there have been several studies, since depression, as a syndrome, is not always responsive to certain type of intervention, instead benefiting from integrated treatments. Hypnosis appears to be, in this area, a quite recent application, since previously the idea was wide reinforcing psychotic drift and possible suicidal behaviour. So, in order to evaluate the potential of ericksonian hypnosis in the treatment of depressive disorder in comparison with a therapeutic approach considered more orthodox, such as psychoanalysis, a clinical case will be presented in which the poor efficacy obtained with a psychoanalytic therapy was changed in the direction of an ericksonian hypnotic approach, with a positive outcome.

Keywords: psychoanalysis, hypnosis, depression, tailoring, psychic resistance, therapeutic metaphor.

  1. Bandler R., Grinder J. (1981). La struttura della magia. Roma: Astrolabio.
  2. Bandler R., Grinder J. (1984). I modelli della tecnica ipnotica di Milton H. Erickson. Roma: Astrolabio.
  3. Barker R.P. (1987). L’uso della metafora in psicoterapia. Roma: Astrolabio.
  4. Bibring E. (1973). Il meccanismo della depressione. In Gaylin W., a cura di, Il significato della depressione. Roma: Astrolabio.
  5. De Benedittis G. (2019). Dall’ipnosi alla psicoanalisi e ritorno. Un secolo di ipnoanalisi. Rivista Italiana di Ipnosi e Clinica Sperimentale, 1: 5-17.
  6. Del Castello E., Loriedo C. (1995). Tecniche dirette e indirette in ipnosi e psicoterapia. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  7. Del Castello E., Casilli C. (2007). L’induzione ipnotica. Manuale pratico. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  8. DSM 5. (2014). Manuale diagnostico e statistico dei disturbi mentali. Quinta Edizione. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
  9. DSM 5-TR. (2023). Manuale diagnostico e statistico dei disturbi mentali. Quinta edizione. Text Revision. Milano: Raffaello Cortina
  10. Freud S. (1975). Introduzione al narcisismo. Torino: Bollato Boringhieri.
  11. Gabbard G. (2002). Psichiatria psicodinamica. Terza Edizione. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
  12. Erickson M.H. (1952). Deep hypnosis and its induction. In Le Cron L.M., ed., Experimental hypnosis. New York: MacMillan.
  13. Erickson M.H., Rossi E.L. (1982). L’approccio di disseminazione, di “Ipnoterapia”. Roma: Astrolabio.
  14. Erickson M.H., Rossi. E.L. (1983). La mia voce ti accompagnerà. Roma: Astrolabio.
  15. Hadfield J. (1920). The influence of hypnotic suggestion on inflammatory conditions. The Lancet, 190(4914): 678-679.
  16. Vaillant G. (1992). Ego mechanisms of defence: A guide for clinicians and researchers. Washington: American Psychiatric Association.
  17. Wan J., Pang V., Subramaniam P., Amit N., Wahab S., Moustafa A. (2024). Hypnotherapy as treatment for depression: a scoping review. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28: 1-34. DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2024.2317193
  18. World Health Organization. (2022). Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders Global Health Estimates. Geneva: World Health Organization.
  19. Yapko M.D. (2002). Rompere gli schemi della depressione. Firenze: Ponte alle Grazie.
  20. Yapko M.D. (2021). Lavorare con l’ipnosi. Vol. 1: Le basi teoriche per comprendere e utilizzare l’ipnosi. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  21. Yapko M.D. (2021). Lavorare con l’ipnosi. Vol. 2: Ipnosi clinica, competenze necessarie e istruzioni per l’uso. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Cielo Ferrauti, Ruggero Dargenio, Psicoterapia psicoanalitica vs ipnosi ericksoniana nel trattamento di una nevrosi depressiva. L’utilizzazione dell’immaginario del paziente: da difesa psichica a potenziale terapeutico in "IPNOSI" 1/2026, pp 29-41, DOI: 10.3280/IPN2026-001003