An interview with André M. Weitzenhofer, Ph.D., Sc.B., Sc.M., M.A. Interview by Michael D. Yapko

The hypnosis world recently lost one of its giant figures, André Weitzenhoffer. Dr. Weitzenhoffer devoted almost his entire professional life to the study of hypnosis and hypnotic phenomena. While almost everyone in the field is familiar with his many professional contributions, not as many had the privilege of hearing the man speak candidly about his career and personal views. This is a transcript of an interview with André Weitzenhoffer conducted by Michael Yapko in 1988. In it he describes his personal history and how his interest in hypnosis began, how the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales came about, why he feels the Scales are irrelevant in clinical practice, his views on Milton Erickson, and a number of other topics of general interest.