During the past several years there have been ever-increasing numbers of physicians, dentists, and psychologists interested in hypnosis, both therapeutic and investigative. Reliable sources of clinical information and instruction were practically non-existent except for a few scattered individuals. To meet this need, to interest universities, and to stimulate medical and dental schools to an awareness of the importance of teaching clinical hypnosis, a group of experienced clinicians competent in teaching were formed. Throughout the United States, under the auspices of various professional societies and universities, this group conducted seminars on hypnosis. This book is compiled from the tape recordings of dozens of those seminars, and thus it contains the material as it was presented, with all the simplicity, directness, and effectiveness of the classroom presentation. It is no more, no less, than a comprehensive presentation of the material upon which thousands of clinicians throughout the United States have based the initiation and development of their successful clinical use of hypnosis. -Milton H. Erickson, M.D. (1961)