Hypno Journal

Below is an excerpt from Helene Pavlov’s 10/28/09 Huffington Post article, “Hypnosis and Other Amenities Before Imaging Exams – Unlocking the Key to Relaxing.”

A recent study from Harvard University reported that teaching advanced communication skills and self-hypnotic relaxation techniques to MRI staff members can help them deal more effectively with patients and significantly increase the number of successful scans, even among patients with claustrophobia.

Read the whole article here.

Below are a few highlights from Helen Pilcher’s  fascinating article, “The Science of Voodoo: When Mind Attacks Body,” which was published on NewScientist magazine’s website on May 15, 2009.

The idea that believing you are ill can make you ill may seem far-fetched, yet rigorous trials have established beyond doubt that the converse is true – that the power of suggestion can improve health. This is the well-known placebo effect. Placebos cannot produce miracles, but they do produce measurable physical effects.

The placebo effect has an evil twin: the nocebo effect, in which dummy pills and negative expectations can produce harmful effects.

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Nocebo effects are also seen in normal medical practice. Around 60 per cent of patients undergoing chemotherapy start feeling sick before their treatment. “It can happen days before, or on the journey on the way in,” says clinical psychologist Guy Montgomery from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Sometimes the mere thought of treatment or the doctor’s voice is enough to make patients feel unwell. This “anticipatory nausea” may be partly due to conditioning – when patients subconsciously link some part of their experience with nausea – and partly due to expectation.

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This means doctors need to choose their words carefully so as to minimise negative expectations, says Montgomery. “It’s all about how you say it.”

Hypnosis might also help. “Hypnosis changes expectancies, which decreases anxiety and stress, which improves the outcome,” Montgomery says. “I think hypnosis could be applied to a wide variety of symptoms where expectancy plays a role.”

Read the whole article here.

Below is an excerpt from “5 Ways to Cope with Money Stress,” Nancy Palmer’s article recently published in Oprah Magazine. At the top of the list is “Get Hypnotized.”

For years people have turned to hypnosis for help quitting smoking and losing weight, but the technique is also becoming popular among business types desperate to overcome financial stress, according to a November report in The Wall Street Journal. Generally, in hypnosis, a therapist uses verbal cues to put clients into a deeply relaxed state, where they become absorbed in their inner thoughts, then offers suggestions to shift an attitude so they can better tackle a problem. In this case, the suggestions might be “Money is energy that comes and goes” or “Your net worth doesn’t equal your personal worth,” to deflect the paralysis and insecurity that financial panic can cause. Ideally, clients learn the process on their own.

“Hypnosis is very similar to meditation,” explains Dwight Damon, president of the National Guild of Hypnotists, who recommends trying a professional session before using the method on yourself. “While it won’t make you richer, it will help you handle, and feel better about, the money you do have.” Click here for the article.

People Are More Suggestible Under Laughing Gas

ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2009) — The pain-relieving effects of nitrous oxide – laughing gas – may be enhanced by suggestion or hypnosis, according to a new study by UCL (University College London). The study’s findings – that people are more suggestible under the gas – mean that dental patients may benefit from being coached to relax while undergoing sedation.

Read the rest of the article here.

Hypnotic Help

The global financial meltdown is driving more and more Americans to enlist the aid of professional hypnotists, according to National Guild of Hypnotists president Dwight F. Damon. Calming tones or music is typically used to ease clients into what hypnotists call a wakeful state of focused attention, followed by a pattern of suggestions designed to achieve a desired behavioral result. People are also turning to hypnosis to extricate themselves from debt by curbing their spending habits, Damon says.

From Blair S. Walker’s column, “Now Hear This: People, Trends and Ideas” in the January 2009 edition of the AARP Bulletin.

On November 3, 2008, Jane E. Brody published an article on hypnosis in The New York Times: “The Possibilities in Hypnosis, Where the Patient Has the Power.” Here’s an excerpt:

“In effect, hypnosis is the epitome of mind-body medicine. It can enable the mind to tell the body how to react, and modify the messages that the body sends to the mind. It has been used to counter the nausea of pregnancy and chemotherapy; dental and test-taking anxiety; pain associated with surgery, root canal treatment and childbirth; fear of flying and public speaking; compulsive hair-pulling; and intractable hiccups, among many other troublesome health problems.”