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  1. [telephone and email]
  2. [Dr Torelli: who is?]
  3. [my approach]
  4. [the first in Italy]
  5. [with Ernest Rossi]
  6. [with Terence Watts]
  7. [with Ormond McGill]

Telephone and email

[up] FREE preliminary consultation

Dr Torelli: who is?

[up]. I carry on a full-time professional hypnosis practice in my office (in Cairo montenotte, province of Savona, ITALY), I'm actively involved in promoting professional hypnotism in Italy, and I'm also engaged in experimental hypnosis, research, and publication of scientific material about hypnosis. I'm member, teacher, and supervisor of the Association for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy (APHP, www.aphp.net,UK) and of the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH, www.ngh.net, USA), I'm the official Italian reference of the APHP and the NGH, I have an Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma (HPD) that is accredited at a national level in the United Kingdom (practitioner n. F035696), and I'm able to offer professional courses in hypnotism that are accredited internationally and allow to legally work within the European Union (EU). More detailed information on my qualifications can be found here. Copyright (C) Alberto Torelli

My approach

[up]. It is based on three key elements. 1) FREE PRE-TALK. This is needed because hypnosis is not a therapy where the therapist prescribes and the patient comply, but is a cooperation where I offer a tool named hypnosis, and you decide how to use it, because it is yours and within you. The work plan, therefore, is not decided upon some theory read on some book, but it depends on your individual reality, on your unique needs. You guide me, and this is the opposite of the common opinion about hypnosis. Sometimes hypnosis is not the best approach to achieve your goals, or a written referral from your physician can be mandatory before working hypnotically on clinical symptoms (I need to be certain that you are not trying to avoid diagnoses or therapies), or you may have too hurry or unrealistic expectancies, or it is also possible that the hypnotist is not compatible with your personality. In short, the preliminary talk is very important, especially for you. 2) HYPNOTIC TRAINING. By stimulating the unconscious mind, people become more effective, and this is somewhat amazing for them. What you don't know is that the merit is yours, not mine. It is just a matter of using better what is already available. And the results can be impressive. Hypnosis doesn't do miracles, but promotes neurophysiological and psychosomatic changes that are clinically relevant. Moreover, it facilitates the realization of desires, the satisfaction of personal needs, the achievement of individual goals, and the self-healing. This is done through an empowerment of the total personality that gives to people a feeling of security, absence of effort, and control of their own life. 3) MAXIMUM SKILL by practicing always and only hypnotism at my best. The hypnotic experience is extremely complex, because it uses the healthy resources, and its only center of interest is the wellbeing (instead of the illness); therefore it requires a good trainer which is able to serve as a promoter, a facilitator, and nothing else. So it is always better to prefer a specialized, professional service. The hypnotist must be able to cooperate; those who presume to have a therapeutic role in hypnosis are poor fools, because the therapist as such is often a serious obstacle for the hypnotic subject. The individual unconscious mind can be only stimulated, but it proves to be unforeseeable and uncontrollable. Erickson (one of the few experts that really deserve a serious consideration) used to say that only the patient can do the therapy. I hate and reject the association between hypnosis and therapy, because it is completely false, distorted, misleading, and dishonest. Thus I exist as a hypnologist, a hypnotist, because actually, as Erickson said, hypnotherapy doesn't exist. Finally, for its nature the hypnotic intervention is brief, and therefore, if the symptom persists, it is necessary to consult the physician again. In conclusion (Copyright (C) Alberto Torelli):

The first in Italy

[up]. At the best of my knowledge, I'm the first true professional hypnotist in Italy, because many people that claim that they are hypnotists actually are professionals in non-hypnotic activities. On the contrary, as reported on my identity card, depicted in fig. 1 (15 KB), I'm really a hypnosis practitioner, and hypnosis practice is my only job. In my knowledge, the first Italian plate of an independent professional hypnosis office is mine, and it has been exposed to the public in August 2003. It can be seen in fig. 2 (21 KB). Many people have asked to me how did I introduce professional hypnotism in Italy, so I have written the story. You can read it here. Copyright (C) Alberto Torelli.

With Ernest Rossi

[up]. I have been lucky to meet Ernest L. Rossi, a very famous and renowned psychotherapist (coauthor of Milton H. Erickson, and author of many pioneering books about hypnosis and psychobiology). This meeting happened almost miraculously. In fact, after an exchange of some emails, a sort of friendship developed, and we met in Italy, near my home. Rossi and his wife, Kathryn, spent some days of vacation in the 'riviera ligure' (the zone on the north-west coast of Italy, near my home and my office), and we discussed privately some special techniques of hypnotherapy. During the first 100 minutes I described to him some surprising cases encountered by me in my hypnotherapy practice, and Rossi defined my hypnotic approach as deeply Ericksonian. Then, on my request, we worked hypnotically for about 40 minutes (with me as hypnotic subject), and this ended wonderfully a memorable day about hypnosis. A photo with Rossi, taken at the end of a wonderful afternoon spent together, can be found in fig. 1 (47 KB). Rossi wanted also to send to me from Rome two of his books (about the influence of hypnosis on the human DNA), both autographed by him. I'm extremely proud of these gifts, of course. The cover of those books can be seen in fig. 2 (14 KB) and in fig. 3 (21 KB), while the dedications can be found in fig. 4 (20 KB) and in fig. 5 (12 KB). For further information about the exchange of ideas with Rossi, please visit this page. Copyright (C) Alberto Torelli.

With Terence Watts

[up]. In 2001 I was surfing online because I wanted to be trained within a serious and professional school of hypnosis. Well, I have found a teacher very suitable for me. He is Terence P. Watts, principal of the Essex Institute of Clinical Hypnosis (EICH), which was located (in that time) in Leigh on Sea, Essex, UK (now it is in Southend on Sea, Essex). Terence Watts is an excellent teacher, an extraordinary man (more unique than rare), and his creative, brilliant, and ingenious mind has also written several important books about hypnotherapy. He not only formed me in professional hypnotism, but with his example he also taught me to behave with compassion and humility. These two concepts can be also found in the APHP logo (the Association for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy), which the EICH refers to. This logo can be seen in fig. 1 (4 KB). A photo, taken with Terence during an international APHP convention, can be found in fig. 2 (16 KB). Copyright (C) Alberto Torelli.

With Ormond McGill

[up]. In memory of an outstanding mentor. Ormond McGill was born in Palo Alto, California, in June 15, 1913, and performed his first complete show in 1927, when he was 14 years old. Since then, his interest in hypnosis continued to grow, and with the stage name of Doctor Zomb he performed hypnotic stage shows all over the world (USA, Canada, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand, etc.). He wrote tens of books on hypnosis, he got his PhD from University, and he become rather known for his studies as conchologist (collecting and studying mollusc shells), but above all he has been certainly one of the most outstanding experts in hypnosis (stage hypnosis and also oriental hypnosis). After the death of his wife Delight because of a cancer (1976), he was about to put an end to his career, but fortunately he then changed his mind. From the '90s on, in his eighties, Ormond McGill turned his attention also to clinical hypnosis, developing some innovative techniques, and traveling again around the world teaching hypnotism in many important schools. When I met him for the first time in the USA, in Nashua (near Boston), it was wonderful to join his seminar and see him performing live demonstrations. The most extraordinary thing is that nobody had ever to say anything bad about this man, maybe because he had a noble and honest soul. He used to say: "if you don't have a gentle word to say, then keep yourself silent". He died in October 15, 2005, in Santa Rosa, California (USA). He was known as the 'dean' of American hypnotists. The only photo that I have of Ormond McGill, unique but linked to many unforgettable memories, can be seen in fig. 1 (15 KB). Copyright (C) Alberto Torelli
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