Trance on Trial

The book's detailed examination of both investigative and therapeutic hypnosis identifies common legal pitfalls and ways to avoid them. Receiving special attention are those actions that can jeopardize the admissibility of a client's testimony. Considered here are the ever-evolving standards of admissibility governing evidence acquired with the aid of hypnosis.

Therapists are increasingly called to court to testify as practitioners or expert witnesses. How does a non-legally trained hypnotherapist prepare for a court appearance? How does he or she handle direct and, especially, cross-examination? What guidelines are recommended for routine therapeutic procedures that will ensure protection of the legal rights and interests of clients, while also meeting the legal and ethical standards of professional codes?
It is our desire to equip therapists, hypnosis experts, lawyers, and others with enough useful references and suggestions to save dozens of hours of research. It is also our intention to provide specific and detailed information about hypnosis topics that will enable therapists and lawyers going into court to prepare and perform properly.
Written primarily for clinicians who practice hypnotherapy, Trance on Trial offers a comprehensive, authoritative evaluation of the use of hypnosis in the courts, as well as practical strategies for maximizing the legal rights of clients while minimizing the liabilities of practitioners.
At the center of the legal debates over the use of hypnosis to refresh the memory of prospective witnesses are several crucial questions: What is hypnosis? How does it relate to memory in general? Can it alter a person's recall? Does it remove impediments to the perception of reality, or just strengthen a subject's belief, real or imagined? Should a person who has been previously hypnotized be permitted to testify in court? These and other fundamental questions are systematically addressed.
The book's detailed examination of both investigative and therapeutic hypnosis identifies common legal pitfalls and ways to avoid them. Receiving special attention are those actions that can jeopardize the admissibility of a client's testimony. Considered here are the ever-evolving standards of admissibility governing evidence acquired with the aid of hypnosis.
For the therapist called upon to testify in court--whether as an expert witness or on his or her own behalf--Trance on Trial provides reassuring guidance. It reveals the strategies lawyers commonly use--both in direct and cross-examination--and outlines effective counterstrategies. Also of note: Included in appendix format for ready reference is a state-by-state review of laws concerning hypnosis and admissibility of evidence.
While the legal history of forensic hypnosis may be relatively modern, it is becoming an increasingly complex and controversial issue. Illustrated with numerous case examples, enlivened by simulated direct and cross-examination exchanges, and extensively referenced to the current legal and psychiatric literature, Trance on Trial is an invaluable resource for hypnotherapists, hypnosis researchers, forensic psychiatrists and psychologists, and lawyers.

Alan W. Scheflin, LL.M. is Professor of Law at Santa Clara University Law School. Author of two previous books with three others currently in preparation, Scheflin has also written a number of articles for professional journals and law reviews. He was invited to give testimony before the United States Congress and the California Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and appeared as an expert witness on mind and behavior control in Federal District Court.
Jerrold Lee Shapiro, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the Graduate Division of Couseling Psychology and Education at Santa Clara University. Co-Director of OHANA Family Therapy Institute of San Jose and Los Altos, California, he also serves on the Clinical Faculty at Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in Menlo Park. He has authored four other books as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles.