Assessing the Phenomenological Effects of Several Stress Management Strategies

Abstract

The present study compared the reported phenomenological effects associated with several stress management techniques (hypnosis, progressive relaxation, deep abdominal breathing) and a baseline condition (eyes-closed) as a function of hypnotic susceptibility. Three hundred nursing students experienced the aforementioned conditions and retrospectively completed a self-report questionnaire, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), in reference to each condition. The PCI allows for reliable and valid quantification of various (sub)dimensions of phenomenological experience. The results indicated that stress management techniques like hypnosis or progressive relaxation are not phenomenologically equivalent, and their effects are further moderated by a subject's hypnotic susceptibility.