All of us are endowed with an innate ability to renew and heal ourselves in mind, body, and spirit. We can gain access to our inner healing resources by entering a concentrated state of being called "trance."

Our inner resources include both wisdom about what is needed and the power to effect change. In some cases the changes that occur are sudden and spectacular; in other cases they are gradual and ordinary.

In psychotherapy, trance states can be used to tap the client's inner wisdom about what is needed for healing and to mobilize the client's latent self-healing power. The relationship between client and therapist is important, not because the therapist has the answers or does the healing, but because the client's own healing resources can often best be accessed in rapport with a skilled guide.

Therapeutic trance makes use of a natural ability we all have to go into trance states--something that we do in everyday life without realizing it. Therapeutic trance shifts our focus from the outer world to the inner world, in that way making the inner mind accessible.

By giving us access to the inner mind, therapeutic trance can help us become aware of forgotten memories. It can also give us the opportunity to solve present problems and envision future possibilities.

There are many misconceptions about the nature of trance. It is not a mystical or occult state. It does not involve one person having control over another. It does not produce unconsciousness--awareness is maintained through the whole experience and a memory of what has happened remains at the end.

Therapeutic trance is not magic--but it is a powerful tool for personal growth. It provides a safe environment in which the individual can become aware of the riches of the inner mind and make use of them in whatever way is most helpful.