Hypnosis gains legitimacy, respect, in diverse clinical specialties

Abstract

ABSTRACT From the birth to the death process, and at many points in between, hypnosis continues to be a valuable adjunctive therapeutic tool.But it is only an adjunct, emphasized speaker after speaker at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis in Denver. With that caveat, the practitioners went on to tell of the help hypnosis been in an imposing array of medical situations (see also JAMA [MEDICAL NEWS] 1978; 239:475-479; 483-484; 493).In obstetrics, for example, Simon W. Chiasson, MD, of Youngstown, Ohio, said: I use it during labor and delivery, and finally at episiotomy.Like many other delegates to the meeting, Chiasson, a past president of the society, started using hypnosis after the American Medical Association determined in 1958 that the technique has a recognized place in medicine. Since then, he said, he used it in several thousand cases.Chiasson begins training at varying