The Story of Little No Name

The Story of Little No Name is a tale about a little girl who lives all alone in a great forest. She is happy with her life in the forest except for one thing: she has no name. One day, in order to find out about herself, she ventures deeper into the dark forest. On her journey she meets three lovable forest creatures who try to help her. They are biased, unfortunately, by the limitations of their own experiences. The adventure helps her grow as a person but especially provides opportunities for deep and restful sleep. As you will see, the induction of healthy sleep is the tale's primary goal.

Written in classical fairy-tale style, this story is designed to capture the magical essence found in these ancient tales. According to eminent psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, no form of narrative teaches and entertains as well as fairy tales. However, The Story of Little No Name was also designed to draw on the modern science of hypnosis. It contains many direct and indirect hypnotic suggestions of the kind developed by renowned psychiatrist Milton Erikson. The story was crafted specifically to have an irresistible sleep-producing effect. I believe it is one of the most hypnotic fairy tales ever written.

Woven into the tale are frequent suggestions for security, trust, optimism, confidence, steadfastness, and especially sleep. The need to face one's fears and to overcome them, as well as the quest for identity and for one's unique relationship with the world, are played out and resolved in the tale. This story was initially intended only for children but was found to be just as effective with adults. Perhaps we are all really children in our hearts. In clinical trials with both children and adults, most fell asleep very quickly. In addition many claimed that even with frequent attempts, they never experienced the end of the tale. And this included people who had suffered for years from insomnia.