Chronic psychosomatic pain alleviated by brief therapy

Abstract

AbstractA case is presented of a male patient with intractable pain that responded very rapidly to the therapeutic release of a suppressed negative emotion (anger) and a re‐vivification of a previously experienced successful use of acupuncture for pain relief. The case demonstrates the mind–body link found in somatization or psychosomatic disorders and shows how this was used in its resolution. The interventions involved seeding, anchoring, utilization and re‐vivification, silent abreaction and imagery. During hypnosis the patient no longer complained of his pain, a state which continued after hypnosis had been reversed. Clinical outcome in routine evaluation (CORE) forms were used both before and two weeks after the therapeutic session and showed a dramatic change to normalization, which was maintained at a four‐month follow‐up. The treatment, which consisted of 15 minutes in surgery and a therapy session of one hour, demonstrates that sometimes very brief therapy can be very productive. Copyright © 2002 British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis