Medical Hypnosis Resources

Medical Hypnosis in the Hospital by Gérard V. Sunnen, M.D.
The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Hypnosis In The Relief of Pain: Part I October 1997.This is a no non-sense approach and discussion of the pain relieving capabilities of hypnosis. To order this publication, call: 1-805-499-9774
Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis by William S. Kroger, M.D. ISBN # 0-397-50377-6 See documentation proving that asthmatic attacks can be prevented despite evidence of a positive skin test. Read how asthmatic attacks have been induced with an artificial allergen: a fake rose instead of the real thing.
Clinical Hypnosis: Principles and Applications by Harold B. Crasilneck, Ph.D. and James A. Hall, M.D. ISBN # 0-205-10082-1
Significantly More Methadone Addicts Quit with Hypnosis. 94% Remained Narcotic Free. Significant differences were found on all measures. The experimental group had significantly less discomfort and illicit drug use, and a significantly greater amount of cessation. At six month follow up, 94% of the subjects in the experimental group who had achieved cessation remained narcotic free. A comparative study of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of methadone addicts. Manganiello AJ. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 1984; 26(4): 273-9.
Hypnosis Shows 77 Percent Success Rate for Drug Addiction. Treatment has been used with 18 clients over the last 7 years and has shown a 77 percent success rate for at least a 1-year follow-up. 15 were being seen for alcoholism or alcohol abuse, 2 clients were being seen for cocaine addiction, and 1 client had a marijuana addiction. Intensive Therapy: Utilizing Hypnosis in the Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jul 2004 by Potter, Greg
Raised Self-esteem & Serenity. Lowered Impulsivity and Anger In a research study on Self-hypnosis for relapse prevention training with chronic drug/alcohol users. Participants were 261 veterans admitted to Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (SARRTPs). individuals who used repeated self-hypnosis “at least 3 to 5 times a week,” at 7-week follow-up, reported the highest levels of self-esteem and serenity, and the least anger/impulsivity, in comparison to the minimal-practice and control groups.
American Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy
(a publication of the American Psychological Association)
2004 Apr;46(4):281-97)
Hypnosis was successfully used to overcome a $500 (five grams) per day cocaine addiction. The subject was a female in her twenties. After approximately 8 months of addiction, she decided to use hypnosis in an attempt to overcome the addiction itself. Over the next 4 months, she used hypnosis three times a day and at the end of this period, her addiction was broken, and she has been drug free for the past 9 years. Hypnosis was the only intervention, and no support network of any kind was available. The use of hypnosis in cocaine addiction.Page RA, Handley GW.
Ohio State University, Lima 45804. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis
1993 Oct;36(2):120-3
Brain Imaging Studies Investigate Pain Reduction By Hypnosis. ScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2005) — Although hypnosis has been shown to reduce pain perception, it is not clear how the technique works. Identifying a sound, scientific explanation for hypnosis’ effect might increase acceptance and use of this safe pain-reduction option in clinical settings. Researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the Technical University of Aachen, Germany, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to find out if hypnosis alters brain activity in a way that might explain pain reduction. <link to article> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050326100346.htm
Drug-free Treatments Offer Hope for Older People in Pain. (Sep. 12 2007) – Mind-body therapies, which focus on the interactions between the mind, body and behavior, and the ways in which emotional, mental, social and behavioral factors can affect health, may be of …
Frequency and Intensity of Migraines. Compared the treatment of migraine by hypnosis and autohypnosis with the treatment of migraine by the drug prochlorperazine (Stemetil)
Results show that the number of attacks and the number who suffered blinding attacks were significantly lower for the group receiving hypnotherapy than for the group receiving prochlorperazine. Anderson JA, Basker MA, Dalton R Migraine and hypnotherapy International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis 1975; 23(1): 48-58.
Hypnosis Reduces Pain and Speeds up Recovery from Surgery. Since 1992, we have used hypnosis routinely in more than 1400 patients undergoing surgery. We found that hypnosis used in patients as an adjunct to conscious sedation and local anesthesia was associated with improved intraoperative patient comfort, and with reduced anxiety, pain, Hypnosis and its application in surgery][Article in French]F aymonville ME, Defechereux T, Joris J, Adant JP, Hamoir E, Meurisse M. Service d’Anesthesie-Reanimation, Universite de Liege. Rev Med Liege. 1998 Jul;53(7):414-8.
Hypnosis Reduces Frequency and Intensity of Migraines. Compared the treatment of migraine by hypnosis and autohypnosis with the treatment of migraine by the drug prochlorperazine (Stemetil). Results show that the number of attacks and the number who suffered blinding attacks were significantly lower for the group receiving hypnotherapy than for the group receiving prochlorperazine. For the group on hypnotherapy, these 2 measures were significantly lower when on hypnotherapy than when on previous treatment. It is concluded that further trials of hypnotherapy are justified against some other treatment not solely associated with the ingestion of tablets. Anderson JA, Basker MA, Dalton R Migraine and hypnotherapy International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis 1975; 23(1): 48-58.
Hypnosis Reduces Pain Intensity. Analysis of the simple-simple main effects, holding both group and condition constant, revealed that application of hypnotic analgesia reduced report of pain intensity significantly more than report of pain unpleasantness. Dahlgren LA. Kurtz RM. Strube MJ. Malone MD. Differential effects of hypnotic suggestion on multiple dimensions of pain. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 1995; 10(6): 464-70.
Hypnosis Reduces Pain of Headaches and Anxiety. The improvement was confirmed by the subjective evaluation data gathered with the use of a questionnaire and by a significant reduction in anxiety scores. Melis PM. Rooimans W. Spierings EL. Hoogduin CA. Treatment of chronic tension-type headache with hypnotherapy: a single-blind time controlled study. Headache 1991; 31(10): 686-9.
Hypnosis Lowered Post-treatment Pain in Burn Injuries. Patients in the hypnosis group reported less post treatment pain than did patients in the control group. The findings are used to replicate earlier studies of burn pain hypnoanalgesia, explain discrepancies in the literature, and highlight the potential importance of motivation with this population. Patterson DR. Ptacek JT. Baseline pain as a moderator of hypnotic analgesia for burn injury treatment. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology 1997; 65(1): 60-7.
Hypnosis Lowered Phantom Limb Pain. Hypnotic procedures appear to be a useful adjunct to established strategies for the treatment of phantom limb pain and would repay further, more systematic, investigation. Suggestions are provided as to the factors which should be considered for a more systematic research program. Treatment of phantom limb pain using hypnotic imagery. Oakley DA, Whitman LG, Halligan PW.Department of Psychology, University College London, UK.
Hypnosis Has a Reliable and Significant Impact on Acute and Chronic Pain Hypnosis has been demonstrated to reduce analogue pain, and studies on the mechanisms of laboratory pain reduction have provided useful applications to clinical populations. Studies showing central nervous system activity during hypnotic procedures offer preliminary information concerning possible physiological mechanisms of hypnotic analgesia. Randomized controlled studies with clinical populations indicate that hypnosis has a reliable and significant impact on acute procedural pain and chronic pain conditions. Methodological issues of this body of research are discussed, as are methods to better integrate hypnosis into comprehensive pain treatment.. Hypnosis and clinical pain. Patterson DR, Jensen MP. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. 98104. Psychol Bull. 2003 Jul;129(4):495-521.
Hypnosis is a Powerful Tool in Pain Therapy and is Biological in Addition to Psychological. The patients experienced less pain during hypnosis than at rest.. Copyright 1999 European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Functional anatomy of hypnotic analgesia: a PET study of patients with fibromyalgia. Functional anatomy of hypnotic analgesia: a PET study of patients with fibromyalgia. Wik G, Fischer H, Bragee B, Finer B, Fredrikson M. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Karolinska Institute and Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Eur J Pain. 1999 Mar;3(1):7-12.
Hypnosis Useful in Hospital Emergency Rooms. Hypnosis can be a useful adjunct in the emergency department setting. Its efficacy in various clinical applications has been replicated in controlled studies. Application to burns, pain, pediatric procedures, surgery, psychiatric presentations (e.g., coma, somatoform disorder, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress), and obstetric situations (e.g., hyperemesis, labor, and delivery) are described. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2000 May;18(2):327-38, x.. The use of hypnosis in emergency medicine. Peebles-Kleiger MJ. Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Sciences, Menninger Clinic, Topeka, Kansas, USA. peeblemj@menninger.edu
Hypnosis Before Breast-Cancer Surgery Reduces Pain, Discomfort, and Cost. Women undergoing surgery for breast cancer who received a brief hypnosis session before entering the operating room required less anesthesia and pain medication during surgery, and reported less pain, nausea, fatigue, and discomfort after surgery than women who did not receive hypnosis. The overall cost of surgery was also significantly less for women undergoing hypnosis. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Sept. 5, 2007 (see the journal abstract). (J Natl Cancer Inst. 2007 Sep 5;99(17):1304-12. Epub 2007 Aug 28). http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/hypnosis0907
Watch a Television News Story Featuring Some Successful Clients. Perhaps you saw the feature article television’s 60 minutes had on hypnosis for childbirth. Or maybe you’ve read some of the findings from the National Institutes of Health or The Journal of the American Medical Association or Stanford University that all endorse hypnosis to reduce pain. Either way, after dozens of studies spanning decades hypnosis has been proven to work to reduce pain – both chronic and acute.
Hypnosis is no Panacea but it can help alleviate physical pain as well as phobia induced stress and anxiety. Natural Health – 2005 November
by Rachele Kanigel http://www.hypnosis.edu/articles/panacea.asp
The Power of Hypnosis Studies show that hypnosis can treat everything from chronic pain to poor study habits. Chances are, it can work for you.
2001 January – Psychology Today
Physical Pain and Phobia Induced Stress and Anxiety Hypnosis, or hypnotherapy, is becoming more common in medical clinics like the one at Stanford and in hospitals, where doctors are using it to sedate patients before surgery, ease the pain of burn victims, and prepare women for childbirth.
2005 November – Natural Health
Helped by Hypnosis Hypnotherapy in which practitioners encourage patients to enter a trance, a state of heightened suggestibility, to promote physical or emotional health doesn’t always have such dramatic or immediate effects.
2004 August – Self Healing
Hypnosis is no Panacea but it can help alleviate physical pain as well as phobia induced stress and anxiety. Natural Health – 2005 November by Rachele Kanigel http://www.hypnosis.edu/articles/panacea.asp
The Power of Hypnosis Studies show that hypnosis can treat everything from chronic pain to poor study habits. Chances are, it can work for you. 2001 January – Psychology Today
Physical Pain and Phobia Induced Stress and Anxiety Hypnosis, or hypnotherapy, is becoming more common in medical clinics like the one at Stanford and in hospitals, where doctors are using it to sedate patients before surgery, ease the pain of burn victims, and prepare women for childbirth.
2005 November – Natural Health
Helped by Hypnosis Hypnotherapy in which practitioners encourage patients to enter a trance, a state of heightened suggestibility, to promote physical or emotional health doesn’t always have such dramatic or immediate effects.
2004 August – Self Healing
Association, the American Medical Association, and the National Institute of Health approve hypnosis for clinical use. Additionally, clinical hypnotherapy is used in-house at Harvard University Medical Center, Stanford University, Kaiser Permanente, UCLA, and the University of Washington Harborview Burn Center to mention only a few.