Use the links on the left to
find out more about how hypnosis can help with various
illnesses and conditions.
Hypnosis has been
shown to alleviate the subjective distress of patients with
asthma: there were less frequent attacks, and less
medication was required.
(1)
In another study
comparing Hypnosis and relaxation therapy the improvement
with the Hypnotherapy group was much greater. And only
Hypnosis subjects showed an improvement in physiologic
measures of respiration. (2)
References:
(1) Maher-Loughnan, G.P. (1970). "Hypnosis
and AutoHypnosis for the Treatment of Asthma." International
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 18, 1- 14.
(2) Maher-Loughnan, G.P., MacDonald, N., Mason, A.A. & Fry,
L. (1962). "Controlled Trial of Hypnosis in the Symptomatic
Treatment of Asthma." British Medical Journal, 2, 371-376.
Following
Hypnotherapy, patients with arthritis achieved significant
decreases in pain, anxiety, and depression, and an increases
in beta-endorphin-like immunoreactive material.
References:
Domangue, B.B., Margolis, C.G., Lieberman,
D. & Kaji, H. (1985). "Biochemical Correlates of
Hypnoanalgesia in Arthritic Pain Patients." Journal of
Clinical Psychiatry, 46, 235-238.
The Harvard Medical
School conducted research on the use of hypnosis to enhance
physical healing. Twelve people with a recent bone fracture
were divided into two groups. One group received hypnosis
and the other group served as control. Both groups received
standard orthopedic treatment. The hypnosis group had
individual hypnotic sessions and listened to audio tapes
designed to increase bone healing. Xray and orthopedic
evaluations were made during the 12 weeks of the experiment.
The results showed a faster healing for the hypnosis group
at week 9 of the experiment. Xrays revealed a notable
difference at the edge of the fracture at week 6 of the
experiment. The hypnosis group also had better mobility and
used less pain killers. The researchers conclude by saying
that "despite a small sample size.... these data suggest
that hypnosis may be capable of enhancing both anatomical
and functional fracture healing, and that further
investigation of hypnosis to accelerate healing is
warranted.
References:
Ginandes, CS, Rosenthal, DI.1999, "Using
hypnosis to accelerate the healing of bone fractures: a
randomized controlled pilot study", Therapy Health
Medicine, May, 5(2), pp.67-75.
Women with metastatic
breast cancer who received group Hypnosis therapy were able
to reduce their pain experience by 50% compared to a control
group. (1)
At a 10-year follow-up
of these same women, the Hypnosis treatment group had double
the survival rate of the control group.(2)
Both adolescent and adult cancer
patients undergoing chemotherapy have fewer symptoms of
anticipatory nausea and vomiting following Hypnotic
interventions. (3)
References:
(1) Spiegel, D. & Bloom, J.R. (1983b)."Group
therapy and Hypnosis Reduce Metastatic Breast Carcinoma
Pain." Psychosomatic Medicine, 45, 333-339.
(2) Spiegel, D., Bloom, J.R., Kraemer, H.,C.
& Gottheil, E. (1989a) "Effect of Psychosocial Treatment on
Survival of Patients with Metatastic Breast Cancer." Lancet
pp. 888-891.
(3) Zeltzer, L.; LeBaron, S. & Zeltzer, P.M.
(1984).The Effectiveness of Behavioral Intervention for
Reduction of Nausea and Vomiting in Children and Adolescents
Receiving Chemotherapy." Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2,
683-690. Cotanch, P., Hockenberry, M. & Herman, S. (1985).
"Self-Hypnosis Antiemetic Therapy in Children Receiving
Chemotherapy." Oncology Nursing Forum, 12, 41- 46. Zeltzer,
L., LeBaron, S. & Zeltzer, P.M. (1984).
Hypnotherapy has been
used successfully to prolong pregnancy and prevent premature
delivery. (1)
In Britain 55% of
birthing women using hypnosis required no medication for
pain relief, compared with 22% of women in non-hypnosis
groups. In two other reports 58% of women using hypnotic
analgesia required no medication. And five other reports
quoted 60-79% of women using hypnosis required no
medication. Check out
www.easybirthing.com/science_and_research . In
another study subjects given hypnosis reported reduced pain,
shorter stage 1 labours, less medication, higher Apgar
scores, more frequent spontaneous deliveries than other
group. Some had lower depression scores after birth than the
other groups.(2)
References:
(1) Schwartz, M. (1963) The Cessation of
Labor Using Hypnotic Techniques." American Journal of
Clinical Hypnosis, 5, 211-213.
(2) Harmon, T.M., Hynan, M., & Tyre, T.E.
(1990). "Improved obstetric outcomes using hypnotic
analgesia and skill mastery combined with childbirth
education." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
58, 525, 530, 1990.
Cognitive Hypnotherapy
for Depression: An Empirical Study: To investigate the
effectiveness of cognitive hypnotherapy (CH), hypnosis
combined with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), on
depression, 84 depressives were randomly assigned to 16
weeks of treatment of either CH or CBT alone. At the end of
treatment, patients from both groups significantly improved
compared to baseline scores. However, the CH group produced
significantly larger changes in Beck Depression Inventory,
Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Hopelessness Scale. Effect
size calculations showed that the CH group produced 6%, 5%,
and 8% greater reduction in depression, anxiety, and
hopelessness, respectively, over and above the CBT group.
The effect size was maintained at 6-month and 12-month
follow-ups. This study represents the first controlled
comparison of hypnotherapy with a well-established
psychotherapy for depression, meeting the APA criteria for a
“probably efficacious” treatment for depression.
(1)
Alternative Treatments
for Long-Term Depressed Mood: Meditation and Hypnosis The
purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness to two
alternative treatments for long-term depressed mood:
mindfulness meditation and hypnosis. The need to find
effective treatments for those suffering from long-term
low-to-moderate level depression has been known for over a
century. Although, there have been some recent advances in
the types of drug and psychotherapy treatments available for
this condition, some people do not respond to such
interventions, have considerable side effects (from the
drugs), or are not satisfied for other reasons with these
treatment options.
The present study
represents an innovative investigation into two alternatives
to traditional treatments for long-term depressed mood:
mindfulness meditation (plus gentle hatha yoga) and hypnosis
in a group therapy format. Although both meditation and
hypnosis have shown success in treating stress, anxiety, and
pain in studies of non-clinical populations, neither has
been systematically investigated as a possible treatment for
long-term depressed mood. (2)
References:
(1)
Assen Alladin
and Alisha Alibhai (2000) The International Journal of
Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis; Volume
55, Number 2 -
May 2000.
(2)
Spiegel, D.
MD; Butler, L.D. Ph.D. Xin-Hua Chen; Abramson, M. DDS,
Waelde, L. Ph.D. Mental Insight Foundation
more
about how hypnotherapy can help overcome depression
Most clinicians and
researchers agree that stress affects the course of
dermatitis and eczema, and reducing stress levels has a
positive effect on the course of the disease. Emotional
factors have been shown to have a strong correlation with
onset of the disease and also with flare-ups. Further more,
several documented case studies have revealed that hypnosis
can offer a successful treatment for sufferers.
References:
Kantor, S.D.
(1990).Stress and psoriasis. Psoriasis Research Institute,
Palo Alto, California 94301. Cutis (USA) Oct 1990, 46 (4)
p321-2
Haemophiliac patients
taught self-hypnosis significantly reduced both their level
of self-reported distress and the amount of the factor
concentrate required to control bleeding when compared with
a control group of patients who did not undergo Hypnosis.
References:
Swirsky-Saccetti, T.; Margolis, C.G. (1986)."The Effects of
a Comprehensive Self- Hypnosis Training Program on the Use
of Factor VIII in Severe Hemophilia." International Journal
of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 34, 71-83.
Hypnotherapy is one of
the most successful treatment methods, giving 80+% success
rate for abdominal pain and distension. It often results in
assisting with other problems such as migraine and tension
headaches. With patients who have severe chronic IBS, it was
Hypnotherapy patients that showed dramatic improvement in
all measures, and they maintained that improvement at a two
year follow-up. (1)
Cognitive
Behavioral Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Irritable Bowel
Syndrome–Induced Agoraphobia
There are a number of
clinical studies and a body of research on the effectiveness
of hypnotherapy in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome
(IBS). Likewise, there exists research demonstrating the
efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the
treatment of IBS. However, there is little written about the
integration of CBT and hypnotherapy in the treatment of IBS
and a lack of clinical information about IBS-induced
agoraphobia. This paper describes the etiology and treatment
of IBS-induced agoraphobia. Cognitive, behavioral, and
hypnotherapeutic techniques are integrated to provide an
effective cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy (CBH) treatment
for IBS-induced agoraphobia. This CBH approach for treating
IBS-induced agoraphobia is described and clinical data are
reported. (2)
References:
(1) Whorwell
P.J; Prior A; Faragher E.B. (1988 & 1987). Whorwell, P.J.,
Prior, A. & Faragher, E.B. (1984). "Controlled Trial of
Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Severe Refractory
Irritable-Bowel Syndrome." Lancet, pp. 1232-1234. Whorwell,
P.J., Prior, A. & Colgan, S.M. (1987). "Hypnotherapy in
Severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Further Experience." Gut,
28, 423-425.
(2) Golden W.L.
(2000) The International Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Hypnosis; Volume 55, Number 2 - May 2000
Hypnosis is highly
effective in the treatment of chronic migraine headaches.
All Hypnotic methods appear to be superior to standard
treatment relying on pharmacological approaches alone.
Patients treated with Hypnosis had a significant reduction
in severity and the number of attacks compared to a control
group treated with traditional medications. At the one year
follow-up the number of patients in the Hypnosis group who
had no headaches for over three months was significantly
higher. (1)
Review of the Efficacy of Clinical
Hypnosis with Headaches and Migraines
The 12-member National
Institute of Health Technology Assessment Panel on
Integration of Behavioral and Relaxation Approaches into the
Treatment of Chronic Pain and Insomnia (1996) reviewed
outcome studies on hypnosis with cancer pain and concluded
that research evidence was strong and that other evidence
suggested hypnosis may be effective with some chronic pain,
including tension headaches. This paper provides an updated
review of the literature on the effectiveness of hypnosis in
the treatment of headaches and migraines, concluding that it
meets the clinical psychology research criteria for being a
well-established and efficacious treatment and is virtually
free of the side effects, risks of adverse reactions, and
ongoing expense associated with medication treatments.
(2)
References:
(1) Anderson,
J.A., Basker, M.A, Dalton, R. (1975). "Migraine and
Hypnotherapy." International Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Hypnosis, 23, 48-58.
(2) Hammond C.
(2000) The International Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Hypnosis; Volume 55, Number 2 - May 2000
Hypnosis was found to
be effective in reducing pain and discomfort associated with
repeated unpleasant medical interventions in a study of
children with cancer. (1)
A significant
reduction of pain and dysphoria was found following Hypnosis
in a study of 19 patients with a variety of musculoskeletal
disorders. (2)
References:
(1) Hilgard,
E.R. (1977). "Divided Consciousness: Multiple Controls in
Human Thought and Action". NY: John Wiley. 1977
(2) Domangue,
B.B., Margolis, C.G., Lieberman, D. & Kaji, H. (1985).
Biochemical Correlates of Hypnoanalgesia in Arthritic Pain
Patients." Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 46, 235-238
Student
test anxiety
Students taught
self-hypnosis showed a significant reduction in anxiety
scores (maintained at 6-month follow-up) then a control
group. (1)
Public
speaking
The group who received
hypnosis had a greater expectation for change and that
change was achieved, than those who had non-hypnotic
treatment.
Fear of
flying
50% of patients afraid
of flying were improved or cured after Hypnosis treatment.
References:
(1) Stanton, H. E. (1994)
(2) Schoenberger, N. E.; Kirsch, I.; Gearan, P.;
Montgomery, G.; Pastyrnak, S.L. (1997).
(3) Spiegel, D. (1998) Report in the Harvard Mental Health
Letter, September 1998, vol. 15, p. 5-6
In a recent stop
smoking study, where smokers attended individual
hypnotherapy for stop smoking over three sessions, 81% had
stopped smoking after the treatment ended, and at a 12 month
follow-up nearly 50% remained smoke free. And 95% of the
people were satisfied with their treatment.
References:
(1) Elkins GR,
Rajab MH. (2004) "Clinical hypnosis for Smoking Cessation:
preliminary results of a three session intervention."
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
2004 Jan; 52 (1):73-81
A trial compared
Hypnosis with biofeedback or a combination of both. All
groups had significant reduction in blood pressure. (1)
However, at six-month
follow-up only patients receiving Hypnosis had maintained
the reduction. (2)
References:
(1) Friedman,
H. & Taub, H. (1977). "The Use of Hypnosis and Biofeedback
Procedures for Essential Hypertension." International
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25, 335-347.
(2) Friedman,
H. & Taub, H. (1978). "A Six Month Follow-up of the Use of
Hypnosis and Biofeedback Procedures in Essential
Hypertension." American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 20,
184-188
Patients trained with
Hypnosis before surgery had significantly shorter stays in
hospital. Research shows that Hypnosis methods have been
used successfully for anxiety associated with medical
procedures.
References:
(1) Rapkin,
D.A., Straubing, M., Singh, A. & Holroyd, J.C. (1988).
"Guided Imagery and Hypnosis: Effect on Acute Recovery from
Head and Neck Cancer Surgery" Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental
Hypnosis, Asheville, N.C. Spiegel, D, (1998). Report in the
Harvard Mental Health Letter, September 1998, vol. 15, p.
5-6.
Prepubertal children
respond to Hypnotherapy almost without exception, although
adults sometimes do not. Clinically, many adults who fail to
respond to hypnotherapy will heal with individual
hypnoanalytic (combination of hypnotherapy and
psychotherapy) techniques. By using hypnoanalysis on those
who failed to respond to hypnotherapy, 33 of 41 (80%)
consecutive patients were completely cured. Self-hypnosis
was not used. (1)
There was a
particularly interesting report of hypnosis used to treat a
7-year-old girl who had 82 common warts. The warts had been
present for 12-18 months and were not amenable to any of the
routine medical treatments. Hypnotic suggestions were given
for the facial warts to disappear before warts from the rest
of the body. After 2 weeks, eight of 16 facial warts were
gone, with no other changes. After three additional biweekly
sessions, all 82 warts were gone. This was, to our
knowledge, the first reported case of systematic wart
removal in children and the researchers concluded that there
is an intimate relationship between psychological mechanisms
and the immune system. (2)
References:
(1) Ewin DM
Hypnotherapy for warts (verruca vulgaris): 41 consecutive
cases with 33 cures. Tulane Medical School, New Orleans, LA.
Am J Clin Hypn (UNITED STATES) Jul 1992, 35(1) p1-10
(2)
Hypnotherapy of a child with warts.Noll RB Department of
Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State
University,East Lansing 48824.J Dev Behav Pediatr Apr 1988,
9 (2) p89-91
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