Therapeutic Hypnosis: Current Research

The following is an exerpt from The Harvard Gazette regarding the use of hypnosis to help surgical wounds mend faster. A portion of the article is below. The whole article can be found at http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/05.08/01-hypnosis.html

Marie McBrown was invited to test whether or not hypnosis would help heal the scars from her breast surgery. Marie (not her real name) and 17 other women underwent surgery to reduce their breast size.  It's a common operation for women whose breasts are large enough to cause back and shoulder strain, interfere with routine tasks, or prompt social and psychological problems. The pain during the course of healing from such surgery is well-known, and a team of researchers headed by Carol Ginandes of Harvard Medical School and Patricia Brooks of the Union Institute in Cincinnati wanted to determine if hypnosis could speed wound healing and recovery.

"Hypnosis has been used in Western medicine for more than 150 years to treat everything from anxiety to pain, from easing the nausea of cancer chemotherapy to enhancing sports performance," Ginandes says. A list of applications she provides includes treatment of phobias, panic, low self-esteem, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, stress, smoking, colitis, warts, headaches, and high blood pressure.

"All these functional uses may help a person feel better," Ginandes continues. "I am also interested in using hypnosis to help people get better physically. That means using the mind to make structural changes in the body, to accelerate healing at the tissue level."

Four years ago, Ginandes and Daniel Rosenthal, professor of radiology at the Harvard Medical School, published a report on their study of hypnosis to speed up the mending of broken bones. They recruited 12 people with broken ankles who did not require surgery and who received the usual treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In addition, Ginandes hypnotized half of them once a week for 12 weeks, while the other half received only normal treatment. The same doctor applied the casts and other care, and the same radiologists took regular X-rays to monitor how well they healed. A radiologist who evaluated the X-rays did not know which patients underwent hypnosis.

The result stood out like a sore ankle. Those who were hypnotized healed faster.

Hypnosis Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome By: Olafur S. Palsson, Psy.D., Research Associate, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Mind and IBS

The standard medical methods currently used to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are of some help to the majority of people with the disorder. However, up to half(1) of IBS sufferers are dissatisfied with the results of standard medical management, and many continue to have frequent symptoms after seeing doctors about them.

In recent years, other alternatives have been sought to help these individuals. There has been growing interest in the possibility of using the mind to soothe the symptoms of IBS. Mental states clearly affect the way the gut behaves in people with IBS, and in fact, also in people who have no gastrointestinal problems. Although IBS is probably not caused by stress directly, it is well established from research that psychological stress increases the symptoms of many people who have the disorder. If the mind can have such a powerful negative influence on the intestinal tract, it would seem to make sense that the mind could be used to have a positive or calming influence on the intestines.

Several psychological methods to treat IBS symptoms have been tested in formal research studies, including biofeedback, cognitive therapy, psychodynamic (insight-oriented) therapy, and hypnosis treatment. It is unclear, to date, which of these psychological treatment methods is most effective, for they have generally not been tested side by side. However, cognitive therapy(2,3) and hypnosis treatment(4-7) have had the highest reported success rates in repeated formal research studies, with improvement seen in 80% or more of all treated patients in some studies.

(This article first appeared in the Fall 2002 issue of Participate.)

Clinical trials of therapeutic hypnosis confirm its potential benefits. Christina Liossi, a psychologist at the University of Wales in Swansea, recently conducted a study of 80 cancer patients aged 6 to 16. She found that those under hypnosis experienced far less pain during treatments than control children, who simply talked to the researchers normally.

According to studies done at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, suggestions given in a hypnotic state, even once, can produce actions in human beings that are the same type of actions that would have resulted from more long-term conditioning and practice.

In a research study on Self-hypnosis for relapse prevention training with chronic drug/alcohol users, (Am J Clin Hypn. 2004 Apr;46(4):281-97), individuals who played self-hypnosis audiotapes "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.

In a research study done with 60 college student volunteers (Spring of 2004 at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona), using hypnosis with ego-enhancement suggestions showed "significantly dramatic effects" in brain-wave patterns, subjective sense of self-confidence, and test scores.

Research using positron emission tomography (PET) scans, shows that hypnosis may alleviate pain by decreasing the activity of brain areas involved in the experience of suffering. Scientists have found that hypnosis reduced the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex, an area known to be involved in pain, but did not affect the activity of the somatosensory cortex, where the sensations of pain are processed.

According to published results of clinical studies (Am J Clin Hypn. 2004 Apr), the use of hypnosis facilitates a more uncomplicated birth process. In a separate research study done by University of Florida counseling psychologist Paul Schauble, it was also found that women who learn hypnosis before delivering babies suffer fewer complications, need less medication and are more likely to have healthier babies than are women without hypnosis. Schauble's first study involved adolescents getting prenatal care at a public health clinic. A group of 20 patients who received hypnosis preparation were compared with 20 who were given supportive counseling and 20 patients in a control group who received only the standard prenatal care. None of the women who received hypnosis required surgical intervention in their deliveries, compared with 12 in the supportive counseling group and eight in the control group, he said. "Patients who are prepared for labor and delivery in hypnosis are more likely to absorb and benefit from information because they are in a relaxed, highly focused state," he said.

In an ongoing pilot study being done by University of Florida counseling psychologist Paul Schauble, preliminary results show hypnotized patients with hypertension are more easily able to make lifestyle improvements that can lower blood pressure.

As of December 15, 2004 results from more than 3,000 clinical research studies are available showing positive benefits from hypnosis. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/)

The above information was compiled by Gwyneth McNeil, Certified Hypnotist and Certified Instructor with the National Guild of Hypnotists and Managing Director of Academy of Life Management in Salt Lake City, Utah.