Hypnotic Intervention Research Articles

Hypnotic-based intervention for people with non-communicable diseases : A scoping review

This scoping study aimed to explore the use of hypnotic-based interventions for individuals with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Four research questions were addressed: the types of hypnosis-based interventions, the types of NCDs studied, the targeted outcomes, and the evidence of effectiveness. Using Arksey and O'Malley's framework, a systematic search of databases (Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed) was conducted from March to April 2021. Studies published in English between 2001 and 2021, employing Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), were included. Out of 6,382 unique records, 11 primary studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 589 participants across four NCD subgroups: diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Five types of hypnotic interventions were identified: mindfulness, relaxation, self-hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and cognitive behavior therapy plus hypnosis. The outcomes assessed included pain, fatigue, anxiety, sleep quality, dyspnoea, emotion, panic, and quality of life. While the results suggest that hypnotic-based interventions hold promise as supportive therapy for NCD patients, especially in addressing psychological symptoms, the evidence remains inconclusive. Further research is needed to establish the overall effectiveness of hypnosis in this context. Nonetheless, these findings highlight the potential of hypnosis to complement medical treatments for NCDs.

5 Finger Hypnotic Intervention Can Reduce The Stress Of NursesProfessional Students That Will Take The Exam

The average Indonesian Nurse Competency Examination (UKNI) graduation at one of the private universities in Pekanbaru City is still around 80-95%, while UKNI graduation is a graduation requirement for professional student education. Students expressed anxiety in facing UKNI coupled with the experience of many seniors who participated in UKNI more than 2 times (re-takers). The purpose of this community service activity was to overcome the anxiety of professional nurse students in preparation for facing UKNI. This community service activity uses a consultation and counseling approach to the Nurse’s students, totaling 32 people. The intervention carried out was 5-finger hypnosis and psychological consultation with UKNI for 5 working days. Anxiety score assessment using the DASS instrument. The results of this activity obtained a decrease in the anxiety level of nursing profession students by 13.06. This shows that the 5-finger relaxation intervention can be used as an alternative to overcome the anxiety of nursing profession students facing UKNI. It is hoped that nursing education institutions will be able to make a 5-finger hypnosis intervention as a form of consultation to overcome the anxiety of nursing professional students facing UKNI.

A systematic review exploring the effectiveness of Hypnotherapy as an intervention for the cessation of smoking in individual

A significant number of individuals who smoke understand the risks of smoking but are unsuccessful when it comes to implementing smoking cessation. Hypnotherapy is often described as a tool that helps individuals shift their self-image from that of a smoker to a non-smoker. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the status of existing research on the impact of hypnotherapy on smoking cessation in terms of type of hypnotherapy, type of application, relapse rate, duration of intervention, extent, and safety of smoking cessation, along the effectiveness in comparison with other pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. For this study, the authors used databases such as APA, Scopus, PubMed, JSTOR, and Frontiers for studies that used hypnotic interventions for smoking cessation. The Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were adhered to for screening of the research papers and finalizing of data, from which the PRISMA flowchart was constructed. The authors extracted data on the nature and characteristics of the studies, the types of interventions used [hypnotherapy as a sole intervention or paired with other interventions], characteristics of the sample population [sample size, control groups, and demographic details of the sample], duration of the interventions, and the method of assessment of smoking abstinence. The results show that there is inconclusive effect of hypnotherapy on smoking cessation in the target population. Hypnotherapy has an apparent effect on behavior formation and change; this review paper will consequently serve to provide a holistic understanding of smoking cessation and hypnotherapy as a tool for it.

The influence of experience and modality of presentation (online vs. offline) on hypnotizability.

Hypnotizability is conceptualized as a stable personality trait describing the ability to respond to suggestions given under hypnosis. Hypnotizability is a key factor in explaining variance in the effects of hypnotic suggestions on behavior and neural correlates, revealing robust changes mostly in high hypnotizable participants. However, repeated experience and training have been discussed as possible ways to increase willingness, motivation, and ability to follow hypnotic suggestions, although their direct influence on hypnotizability are still unclear. Additionally, it is important whether hypnotizability can be assessed reliably online. We investigated the influence of the degree of experience with hypnosis and the presentation mode (online versus live) on the stability of hypnotizability in two groups of 77 and 102 young, healthy students, respectively. The first group was tested twice with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS) after two weeks. During this period, participants either repeatedly listened to a hypnosis or trained on a progressive muscle relaxation or served as waitlist control group. In the secondgroup, participants performed both an online or offline version of the HGSHS, with varying time intervals (1-6 weeks). Contrary to our expectations, hypnotizability declined from the first to second assessment in the first group. The reductionwas most prominent in initially highly hypnotizable subjects and independent of the experience intervention. We observed a similar reduction of hypnotizability in the second group, independent of presentation modality. The reduction was again driven by initially highly hypnotizable subjects, while the scores of low hypnotizable subjects remained stable. The presentation modality (online vs. offline) did not influence HGSHS scores, but the test-retest reliability was low to moderate (rtt = 0.44). Our results favor the conclusion that generally, hypnotizability is a relatively stable personality trait which shows no major influence of preexperience or modality of assessment. However, particularly highly hypnotizable subjects are likely to experience a decline in hypnotizability in a retest. The role of the concrete assessment tool, psychological factors, and interval length are discussed. Future studies should replicate the experiments in a clinical sample which might have higher intrinsic motivation of increasing responsiveness toward hypnotic interventions or be more sensitive to presentation mode.

Nerva, a mobile application of gut-directed hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: User characteristics, patterns of use, and predictors of persistence.

Hypnotic intervention for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or gut-directed hypnotherapy (GDH), is an effective treatment for improving IBS symptoms with minimal burden and risk in delivery to patients. The Nerva app, developed by Mindset Health, shows promise for dissemination and implementation of evidence-based GDH intervention for IBS. This study aimed to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of Nerva app users, examine usage patterns, and explore potential factors associated with Nerva app usage. A retrospective analysis of data was conducted of 14,898 individuals who downloaded and used the Nerva app between January 2022 and September 2022. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests of independence were calculated to examine demographic/clinical characteristics, usage patterns, and their associations to program persistence. Simple linear regression models were used for correlations of GI symptoms severity scores to user persistence. Users predominantly identified as female (77.2%; n = 11,503) and had a mean age of 38.59 years old (SD = 13.38). Thirty-one percent of users persisted with the program, and a small statistically significant association was found between Nerva app program persistence and age, χ2 (6, N = 6745) = 164.82, p < 0.001, V = .16. The present study found promising adherence rates for the Nerva app program within the first six weeks of use. Statistics in prevalence estimates of IBS agree with previous literature and significant associations were found between user/clinical characteristics and Nerva app program persistence.

Using Hypnotic Techniques and Guided Imagery in Treatment of a Highly Hypnosible Woman with Slowly Progressing Chronic Organic Brain Disorder: A Case Study

A therapeutic intervention combines guided imagery and hypnotic techniques (including self-hypnosis), direct and indirect suggestions, medical treatments, and highly improving patient condition. A variety of hypnotic intervention techniques were introduced to treat a highly hypnotizable patient suffering from an advanced organic brain disorder due to an autoimmune disease and resistant to traditional medicine, showing no improvement despite being highly motivated and cooperating with conventional measures. Progress in the Patient's condition and symptoms has been achieved during these hypnotic interventions: increased appetite and weight gain with a decrease in symptoms of gastroparesis, decreased limb spasticity while walking, improved speech and pronunciation, improved muscular power, improved balance and posture, pain diminution and improved mood.

Five-Finger Hypnosis and Murottal Therapy to Prevent Preeclampsia in Pregnant Women

The incidence of preeclampsia in Indonesia for the Southeast Asian continent is relatively high, with roughly 190 per 100,000 live births. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the condition accounts for 12% of maternal deaths. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Five-Finger hypnosis and murottal therapy in stabilizing blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and activating endorphins. The study employed a quantitative method, specifically a quasi-experimental one-group pre and post-test design. Univariate data analysis was conducted to examine the characteristics of the sample, including age, education, and parity, and the Wilcoxon test was employed as the statistical test. The results showed that pregnant women were at risk of developing preeclampsia, as indicated by the age, education level, and parity of 9, 14, and 24 pregnant women. Furthermore, a significant difference was observed between the pretest and posttest, with an average decrease in blood pressure ranging from 2 to 6 mmHg (p=0.000). This result study provided that five-Finger hypnosis intervention and murottal therapy were effective in preventing preeclampsia. Consequently, the study strongly recommended the dissemination of the Five-Finger and murottal hypnotic intervention modules to a wider population as a preventive measure against preeclampsia.&#x0D;

Demystifying hypnosis: Unravelling facts, exploring the historical roots of myths, and discerning what is hypnosis

Background and purposeHypnosis, a mind-body treatment dating back to early human history, has regained attention in the last decade, with research suggesting its effectiveness for varied physiological and psychological ailments such as distress, pain, and psychosomatic disorders. However, myths and misconceptions have prevailed among the general public and clinicians, hindering the adoption and acceptance of hypnosis. It is important to distinguish myths from facts and discern what is hypnosis and what is not to enhance the understanding, acceptance, and adoption of hypnotic interventions. MethodsThis narrative review traces the history of myths surrounding hypnosis in contrast to the evolution of hypnosis as a treatment modality. In addition to comparing hypnosis to other interventions with similar procedures and features, the review unravels misconceptions that have impeded the adoption and acceptance of hypnosis in clinical and research settings and presents evidence to demystify this intervention. ResultsThis review examines the roots of myths while presenting historical facts and evidence that support hypnosis as a treatment modality and alleviate misconceptions depicting it as mystical. Further, the review distinguishes hypnotic and non-hypnotic interventions with overlapping procedures and phenomenological features to enhance our understanding of hypnotic techniques and phenomena. ConclusionThis review enhances the understanding of hypnosis in historical, clinical, and research contexts by disproving related myths and misconceptions to promote the adoption of hypnosis in clinical and research contexts. Further, this review highlights knowledge gaps requiring further investigations to steer research towards an evidence-based practice of hypnosis and optimise multimodal therapies embedding hypnosis.

Hypnosis with depressed children and teens: Building skills, creating connection

ABSTRACT Depression in children and teens has been on the rise for several years. Recent increases in anxiety and loneliness, both contributors to the development of depression, are putting more young people at risk for chronic and comorbid mental health struggles. The use of hypnosis with depressed children offers the opportunity to target the identified skills depressed and anxious children need and is a modality clinicians should embrace. This article describes how to create hypnotic interventions focusing on improved emotional and cognitive management, better sleep, and the ability to make positive social connections. Such interventions serve to not only build the resources depressed children need for recovery, but also support a paradigm shift toward prevention in children and families.

Chasing Bodily-Self Ghost: Interoception-Aided Hypnosis in the Treatment for Depersonalization-A Case Study

This paper aims to introduce a relatively novel approach for Hypnosis to treat Depersonalization-derealization Disorder (DPRD). Depersonalization is conceptualized as a disrupted interoceptive process disorder. Based on this conceptualization, Hypnotic intervention is tailored to counter the flawed process. It is exemplified by a case of a young man suffering from depersonalization disorder who couldn't bear looking at himself in the mirror. The hypnotic intervention used in this case is then explained by predictive coding theory.

Feasibility of the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale–Spanish Translation

ABSTRACT The absence of a Spanish translation of the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS) suggests access to clinical research and hypnotic interventions may be limited for those in predominantly Spanish-speaking populations. The present study aims to mitigate this disparity by providing a translation of the EHS to facilitate participation in experimental research and clinical care in Spanish-speaking communities. The EHS was translated and administered to 9 participants. No major modifications were done to the characteristics or structure of the EHS after translation. To assess feasibility, mean hypnotizability levels and self-reported levels of pleasantness and comprehension were observed and compared to the English EHS. The results provide a Spanish translation of the EHS. This study demonstrates the Spanish translation of the EHS is feasible for further research.

Efficacy of Hypnosis on Dental Anxiety and Phobia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Hypnosis is a commonly used therapy option in dentistry and medicine for fear and pain reduction. Nevertheless, it is viewed very critically, as there is still insufficient evidence for a treatment effect. Specific phobia of dental treatment and dental anxiety are prevalent conditions that can cause an oral health impairment. This paper critically reviews 19 clinical trials aimed at reducing dental anxiety and fear avoidance in adults, published in peer-reviewed journals between 1979 and 2021. The search identified 257 papers; 223 were selected after removing duplicates. A total of 188 articles were excluded after title and abstract evaluation; 35 full text articles were assessed for eligibility. Another 10 papers were discharged after full text evaluation, as these were case reports and questionnaires. Six papers were discharged due to the lack of a comparable scale to measure dental anxiety. The following treatment techniques were reviewed: various forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), relaxation training, benzodiazepine premedication, self-hypnosis by audio therapy, hypnotherapy, hypnosis, and nitrous oxide sedation. CBT delivered in a variety of formats, including one-session treatment, showed the most evidence for the efficacy of reducing anxiety. A wide heterogeneity of methods allowed only the inclusion of five studies to the performed meta-analysis, showing contrasting results for the application of hypnosis. The main reason for this issue is the great variety in methods used, making a distinct assessment of hypnotic interventions difficult. However, the results of the systematic review are promising in that hypnosis can also be regarded as powerful and successful method for anxiety reduction, while there are also studies with a small or even slightly negative effect. Therefore, further research is needed. Within the limitations of the current study, a more consistent use of methods to examine anxiety for hypnosis research is recommended.

Age progression in hypnosis for pain and fatigue in individuals with disabilities

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to describe in detail a specific age progression approach that we use in our clinical practice and clinical trials in interventions including hypnosis for chronic pain and fatigue in individuals with disabilities. Moreover, we present preliminary evidence regarding the effects of the hypnosis sessions that use age progression suggestions compared to hypnosis sessions that provide different suggestions, as well as to sessions that did not include hypnotic procedures. Findings indicate that age progression suggestions for pain management with individuals participating in hypnosis treatment resulted in substantial immediate reductions in pain intensity, which were greater than pain reductions associated with treatments sessions providing pain education or cognitive therapy. In addition, age progression sessions provided to individuals receiving online hypnosis treatment for fatigue resulted in immediate large reductions in fatigue severity. Although the design of these two studies does not allow to report specific or long-term effects of the age progression techniques, findings indicate that including age progression suggestions to hypnosis protocols for pain and fatigue management is effective for reducing the immediate level of both symptoms. The development and continued evaluation of hypnotic interventions that increase or restore hope in, and optimism, for the future has the potential for enhancing the psychosocial well-being and quality of life of individuals with pain and fatigue.

Potential Feasibility of an Online Hypnosis Intervention for Women with Persistent Pelvic Pain

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine the potential feasibility of an online hypnotic intervention for women with persistent pelvic pain. The secondary aim was to explore the effect of the hypnosis intervention on anxiety, depression, pain severity, coping, pain catastrophizing, and pain disability in comparison to a no-intervention control. Twenty women with persistent pelvic pain completed assessment questionnaires and were recruited from a variety of social media sites related to persistent pelvic pain and randomized to either control or hypnotic intervention groups. The intervention group completed a 7-week online hypnotic intervention. Results found a 30% dropout rate and modest compliance (90%-40%) with practice of audio recordings. Comments from the 7 participants who completed the hypnosis intervention indicated it was acceptable. Significant reductions in screening measures of anxiety and depression were found; however, there were no significant effects shown for pain severity, avoidant coping, pain catastrophizing, or pain disability. The intervention is potentially feasible, but further refinement and optimization is needed to increase retention, compliance, and potential effects.

Encouraging hindsight in advance: Age progression in therapy – and life

ABSTRACT Each person forms a relationship to the dimension of time, called a “temporal orientation.” How that relationship is defined and prioritized, whether consciously or non-consciously, plays a huge role in the way people go about living their lives. In psychotherapy, the quality of one’s expectations plays a pivotal role in virtually every phase of treatment. As a class of hypnotic interventions, age progression treatment strategies are intricately connected to expectancy since they typically involve guiding the client experientially, i.e., subjectively, into the future. While absorbed in this suggested projection, clients may have the opportunity to imagine and experience the consequences of current or new choices, integrate suggestions at deeper levels for eventual activation, rehearse new patterns of thought, feeling or behavior, and, in general, obtain a greater overview of his or her life than a narrower focus on day-to-day living typically affords. To paraphrase Milton Erickson, one can think of it as encouraging hindsight while it is still foresight.

Hypnotherapy for procedural pain, itch, and state anxiety in children with acute burns: a feasibility and acceptability study protocol

BackgroundBurns and related procedures are painful and distressing for children, exposing them to acute and chronic sequelae that can negatively affect their physiological, psychological, and social functions. Non-pharmacological interventions such as distraction techniques are beneficial adjuncts to pharmacological agents for procedural pain, state anxiety, and itch in children with burns but have limitations (e.g. lack of research on burn-related itch, tailoring, and consensus on optimal treatment). Hypnotherapy is a non-pharmacological intervention that can be tailored for varied settings and populations with evidence of benefit for itch and superior effectiveness in comparison to other non-pharmacological interventions for children’s procedural pain and state anxiety. Thus, children with burns can benefit from hypnotherapy as an adjunct to pharmacological agents. Yet, in paediatric burns, rigorous studies of effectiveness are limited and no studies have been identified that screen for hypnotic suggestibility, an important predictor of hypnotherapy outcomes. Considering potential barriers to the delivery of hypnotherapy in paediatric burns, the proposed study will examine the feasibility and acceptability of hypnotic suggestibility screening followed by hypnotherapy for procedural pain, state anxiety, and itch in children with acute burns.MethodsAn observational mixed-methods feasibility and acceptability study will be conducted over 15 weeks. Eligible children (N = 30) aged 4 to 16 years presenting to a paediatric burns outpatient centre in a metropolitan children’s hospital in Australia with acute burns requiring dressing changes will be included. Eligible parents of children (N = up to 30) and clinicians who perform dressing changes (N = up to 20) will also be included. Child participants screened as having medium to high suggestibility as assessed by behavioural measures will receive hypnotherapy during dressing changes. A process evaluation will target feasibility and acceptability as primary outcomes and implementation (i.e. fidelity in delivery), reach, potential effectiveness, and adoption of evaluation procedures and intervention as secondary outcomes.DiscussionEthical approval was obtained from the Queensland Children’s Hospital and Health Service ethics committee. Results will be published in peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings.The findings will guide the design of future trials on the effectiveness of hypnotherapy and inform the development of child-centred hypnotic interventions in children with burns.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000988954

Boosting the hypnotic experience. Inhibition of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex alters hypnotizability and sense of agency. A randomized, double-blind and sham-controlled tDCS study

Hypnotizability refers to the individual responsiveness to hypnosis, and literature shows that the greater the hypnotizability, the more effective the hypnotic suggestions. So far, few studies attempted to enhance hypnotizability, and only two adopted brain stimulation with magnetic pulses. In the present study, we aimed to boost hypnotizability through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). To this aim, bilateral tDCS was applied over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) with the target electrode providing negative current (cathodal stimulation) over the left hemisphere. Twenty-nine subjects participated in the study and they were randomly assigned to the sham or the active group in a double-blind design. The hypnotic experience was assessed before and after the stimulation through a phenomenological measure of consciousness (the PCI-HAP). The main findings revealed that a single tDCS session enhanced the hypnotic depth by 11% and reduced the volitional control by 30%, while no differences emerged in the sham group. This is the first study adopting the electrical neurostimulation to produce an alteration of hypnotizability and sense of agency, and confirmed the key-role of the DLPFC and executive control in the hypnotic phenomena. If confirmed, these findings could have relevant implications as enhanced hypnotizability could be translated into better outcomes for many hypnotic interventions.

Hypnotherapy in Treatment of Mastocytosis: A Prospective Study

ABSTRACT Mastocytosis is an orphan disease associated with many systemic symptoms, chronic handicap, and potentially marked social consequences despite improved therapies. In this study, the authors aimed to measure the effect of 2 hypnosis sessions on mastocytosis symptoms in a clinical setting. Questionnaires (pain, flushes, energy, digestive symptoms, quality of life, perceived symptom severity, and global impression of change) were completed pre- and posthypnosis intervention. Data from 20 patients were analyzed (mean age: 53.3 years, 75% female). Compared to baseline assessment, patients exhibited a significant improvement immediately after the first and second hypnosis sessions with regard to the number of days with abdominal pain, abdominal pain intensity and fatigue (p = .03 and p = .005; p = .05 and p = .02; p = .034, and p = .039, respectively). Perceived severity of symptoms was significantly improved throughout the study (p = .0075). Long-term improvement in global impression of change was observed in half the responders (8/16). Patients with mastocytosis had an improvement in disabling symptoms with the impact of hypnotic intervention persisting at 1 month. Several patients experienced long-term improvement.

Effect of Hypnosis on Anxiety: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial with Women in Postmenopause.

Anxiety is common, yet often under-treated, among women in postmenopause. This study examined the effect of a hypnotic intervention designed to reduce hot flashes, on anxiety levels of postmenopausal women. Anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale, and a visual analog scale. Additionally, hypnotizability was tested as a moderator of anxiety reductions. Significant reductions in anxiety were found from baseline to endpoint and follow-up and hypnosis was superior to the control condition. Additionally, ratings of Current Anxiety decreased from pre-session to post-session at each weekly visit and the pre-session scores reduced continuously. Hypnotizability was found to moderate anxiety reductions, but regardless of hypnotizability level participants, on average, experienced significant symptom improvement from baseline scores. These data provide initial support for the use of hypnosis to reduce symptoms of anxiety among postmenopausal women.Trial registration: This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on February 11, 2011 under Identifier number NCT01293695 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01293695?term=Elkins&cond=hot+flashes&draw=2&rank=2 ).

Impact d’une prise en charge par hypnose sur le vécu et l’observances des recommandations hydriques en hémodialyse : résultats d’un protocole à cas unique chez deux patients

IntroductionHemodialysis is associated with dietary and fluid restrictions, which can be a source of frustration, suffering and non-compliance in many patients. Hypnosis, a booming therapeutic tool in the health field, could improve patients’ feelings. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of hypnosis on fluid restrictions experience. MethodThe effectiveness of the hypnotic intervention was evaluated using a single-case protocol (ABA type) with two patients. A protocol in 3 phases of 3 weeks was used with three sessions of hypnosis. Several measurement tools have been used: the KDQoL-36 for quality of life, the Health-Specific Self-Efficacy Scales (adapted for dialysis patients) for self-efficacy, and numeric scales for therapeutic compliance and thirst. ResultsSome significant changes were observed with maintenance of the effects after hypnosis: improvement in the global quality of life for patient 1, improvement of self-efficacy (barrier) for patient 2. The visual analysis showed improvements but without significant effect as alleviation of thirst and discomfort, improvement of perceived compliance. ConclusionThese preliminary results concerning the effects of hypnosis on the experience of fluid restrictions are mixed reflecting variability between patients. However, these results are encouraging and show the need to continue this evaluation with more patients thanks to the advantages of the single-case protocol method.