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Donald is a writer and trainer, with over twenty years’ experience. He’s a specialist in teaching evidence-based psychological skills, and known as an expert on the relationship between modern cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and and classical Greek and Roman philosophy.
Donald is the original founder of The UK College of Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy, setting up in 2003 under the name Hypnosynthesis.
Donald developed the evidence-based hypnotherapy approach taught in the College. He also has been instrumental in the further integration of hypnosis with CBT – both via the training courses of the College and his publication: The Practice of Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy. He passed the College along to Mark Davis in 2013.
Previously Donald was a registered hypnotherapist (GHR) and a UKCP and EAP registered hypno-psychotherapist. He specialises in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), cognitive-behavioural and evidence-based approaches to hypnotherapy, philosophical approaches to therapy, and the treatment of anxiety. He has over 15 years’ experience of teaching and clinical practice both as a hypnotherapist and as a schools counsellor in London. Donald has designed self-help materials as part of a clinical research project commissioned by Defra on the use of stress management techniques and hypnotherapy for noise-related stress.
Donald continues to develop his work in bringing Greek Stoic philosophy into daily application in the 21st century.
Donald’s website is here: https://donaldrobertson.name
Donald now lives in Canada.
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius (2019)
Stoicism and the Art of Happiness (2013), part of Hodder’s Teach Yourself series
Build your Resilience (2012), part of Hodder’s Teach Yourself series
The Practice of Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy: A Manual for Evidence-Based Clinical Hypnosis (2012)
The Philosophy of CBT: Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy (2010)
The Discovery of Hypnosis: The Complete Writings of James Braid (2008)
Donald’s Website: https://donaldrobertson.name
Google Scholar page: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=D9kUdfAAAAAJ&hl=en
Do you want to become a professional hypnotherapist? Call the UK College now on freephone 0800 195 9809 to order a prospectus and you could save 10% on the cost of your training and receive a free copy of the new book The Discovery of Hypnosis. Terms and conditions apply.
This article outlines some basic concepts and strategies employed in cognitive-behavioural hypnotherapy.
This article aims to evaluate the relevance of cognitive-behavioural theory in the field of hypnosis for the practice of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). It begins with a brief historical overview of the theorists and concepts in question and definition of key terms. It proceeds to discuss the relationship between theories of psychopathology in hypnotherapy and CBT, and finally to consider the relationship between clinical interventions employed in cognitive-behavioural hypnotherapy and their practical relevance to CBT.
This detailed article reviews the central concepts and techniques used by Émile Coué in his famous method of “Conscious Autosuggestion” an important self-help system, cousin of hypnotherapy and precusor to modern self-hypnosis and cognitive-behavioural skills training methods in psychotherapy.
This article attempts to briefly outline the historical context and origin of cognitive-behavioural hypnotherapy, a major sub-modality of modern hypnotherapy. It proceeds to examine the relationship between hypnotherapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) from this perspective.
Hypno-CBT(rtm) is a proprietary model of cognitive-behavioural hypnotherapy. This article provides a basic overview and explanation of this approach.
Morton Prince’s approach to psychotherapy, as described in his 1906 article, illustrates the use of “rational persuasion” methods in hypnotherapy, an early precursor of modern cognitive-behavioural hypnotherapy.
James Braid, the founder of hypnotherapy, coined the term “hypnotism” but reserved the concept of hypnotic “trance” (from a word meaning “half-dead”) for a tiny percentage of exceptional cases in which a state of total unconsciousness could be induced resembling coma, chemical anaesthesia, or animal hibernation. Braid’s use of the term is therefore more consistent with modern cognitive-behavioural theorists, both preferring to describe hypnosis as an “ordinary” state rather than “trance”.
James Braid, the founder of hypnotherapy, was unaware of oriental meditation techniques until a few years after introducing his technique of eye-fixation hypnotism. He subsequently embraced the notion that hypnotism and yogic meditation were distant cousins, and even that they were more closely-related than hypnotism and its immediate precursor, Mesmer’s animal magnetism.