Ability of Hypnosis to Facilitate Movement Through Stages of Change for Smoking Cessation.

On the basis of the transtheoretical model of change, we hypothesized that hypnosis would facilitate significantly greater movement through the stages of change toward smoking cessation in contrast to psychoeducation. Thirty participants were pretested for hypnotizability using the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS). Participants' readiness for change was assessed using the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment scale (URICA). The EHS relaxation induction was used to induce hypnosis. Hypnotic suggestions addressed motivation and ambivalence. The URICA was administered following the intervention and at a 10-day follow-up. Two-factor split-plot ANOVAs showed significant changes within groups on the contemplation subscale (p = .002), action subscale (p = .00007), and the number of cigarettes smoked per day (p = .003).

Effects of Hypnosis on Regression to Primary-Process Thinking.

The authors tested the hypothesis that hypnotic age regression produces a shift from secondary- to primary-thought processing in hypnotizable participants. Thirty participants were tested for hypnotizability using the Elkins Scale of Hypnotizability (EHS). Participants were exposed to a tailored hypnotic arm-levitation induction and a hypnotic suggestion to age regress to 5 years of age and to have a dream. Primary-process thinking was assessed using the Primary-Process Thinking Scale. An independent t test with 2 levels of hypnotizability (middle and high) showed high hypnotizables demonstrated higher ratings of primary thought processing than those in the middle group.

Induction Technique: Beyond Simple Response to Suggestion.

The hypnotic induction is intended to induce hypnosis. This implies that what is sought is intended to go beyond what might be wrought by mere suggestion, expectancy, and social influence. The experimentally controlled research showing that the induction makes a difference and how small changes in wording of suggestions can produce orthogonal responses is briefly reviewed. This article explains the principles of induction and three critical phases of hypnotic induction in detail. An arm levitation scripted protocol demonstrating how to respond to the patient using the three phases to maximize responses to hypnotic suggestions is presented.

Effects of Dry Flotation Restricted Environmental Stimulation on Hypnotizability and Pain Control.

The effects of dry flotation restricted environmental stimulation (REST) on hypnotizability and pain control were tested in lighted and unlighted conditions. Participants (N = 30, ages 18-30) were exposed to hypnosis maximizing (plateauing) experiences prior to the experiment. Participants were exposed to 6 hours of lighted REST (N = 10), 6 hours of unlighted REST (N = 10), or 6 hours of normal stimulation (N = 10). The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C (SHSS: C) (Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1962) and standardized ischemic pain tests were administered before and after the conditions and at a 2-week follow-up. Both REST groups shared significantly higher SHSS: C scores and significantly lower pain scores from pre-test to post-test and follow-up. The lighted REST group showed significantly higher SHSS: C scores and significantly lower pain scores than the unlighted REST group at post-test and follow-up. The findings supported Barabasz's (1982) theory of REST responding.

Efficacy of single-session abreactive ego state therapy for combat stress injury, PTSD, and ASD.

Using abreactive Ego State Therapy (EST), 36 patients meeting DSM-IV-TR and PTSD checklist (PCL) criteria were exposed to either 5-6 hours of manualized treatment or placebo in a single session. EST emphasizes repeated hypnotically activated abreactive "reliving" of the trauma experience combined with therapists' ego strength. Both the placebo and EST treatment groups showed significant reductions in PTSD checklist scores immediately posttreatment (placebo: mean 17.34 points; EST: mean 53.11 points) but only the EST patients maintained significant treatment effect at 4-week and 16- to 18-week follow-ups. Abreactive EST appears to be an effective and durable treatment for PTSD inclusive of combat stress injury and acute stress disorder.

Efficacy of abreactive ego state therapy for PTSD: trauma resolution, depression, and anxiety.

Using manualized abreactive Ego State Therapy (EST), 30 subjects meeting DSM-IV-TR and Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) criteria were exposed to either 5-6 hours of treatment or the Ochberg Counting Method (placebo) in a single session. EST emphasized repeated hypnotically activated abreactive "reliving" of the trauma and ego strengthening by the cotherapists. Posttreatment 1-month and 3-month follow-ups showed EST to be an effective treatment for PTSD. Using the Davidson Trauma Scale, Beck Depression II, and Beck Anxiety Scales, EST subjects showed significant positive effects from pretreatment levels at all posttreatment measurement periods in contrast to the placebo treatment. Most of the EST subjects responded and showed further improvement over time.

Single-session manualized ego state therapy (EST) for combat stress injury, PTSD, and ASD, Part 2: the procedure.

An abbreviated description of our single-session 5- to 6-hour procedure is provided. In contrast to trauma reframing approaches, such as cognitive processing therapy (CPT) or traditional psychoanalytic interventions, our manualized procedure rapidly demystifies subconscious processes, making them accessible and understandable by the patient. The therapist's supportive ego strength is integrated into the intense repeated emotional and physiological releases of the traumatized ego states. The abreactive component of this 5-phase procedure exhausts the bound-up psychological and physiological reactions but also serves to quickly overcome the trauma and to restructure the personality. The patient becomes empowered to release the trauma memories and to emerge with the ability to be adaptive, assertive, giving, strong, and able to express anger appropriately yet be caring with family/friends.

Cognitive hypnotherapy with bulimia.

Research on the efficacy of hypnosis in the treatment of bulimia nervosa has produced mixed findings. This is due in part to the interplay between the characteristics of people with bulimia and the wide variety of hypnosis interventions that have been employed. Several authors have noted that methodological limitations in hypnosis research often make evaluation of treatment efficacy difficult. Many of the studies extant provide insufficient information regarding the specifics of participants' hypnotizability, the hypnotic induction, or the hypnotic suggestion(s) employed. Such limitations preclude replication and clinical implementation. This article reviews the literature with replicable methodologies and discusses the implications for evaluating treatment efficacy.

An investigation of Taiwanese norms for the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C (Mandarin Chinese Translation).

This study establishes normative data for the Mandarin Chinese Translation of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C-MCT). Fourteen administrators gave the SHSS:C-MCT as well as demographic and meditation questionnaires to 322 participants of Taiwanese nationality. Score distributions, normality, internal consistency, item difficulty, and comparisons with other SHSS:C samples are presented. Scores on the SHSS:C-MCT were compared to both demographic and meditation practice data. The psychometric properties of the SHSS:C-MCT were found to be similar to those of other samples, and the Taiwanese mean score was found to be higher than most other samples, providing support for continued and expanded use of hypnosis in relative treatment applications in Taiwan.

Single-session manualized ego state therapy (EST) for combat stress injury, PTSD, and ASD, part 1: the theory.

Ego state therapy (EST) evolved from a psychodynamic understanding of personality as a product of an individual's ego states to a conceptualization of how ego-energized and object-energized elements are bound together to cope with a traumatic event. Neurobiological studies now substantiate Watkins's war neuroses conceptualizations. Because of their severity, trauma memories are encoded in the subcortical-subconscious brain regions that are accessed by the single-session manualized EST procedure but not by the popular cognitive-behavioral management therapies. The imprint of the trauma is not accessible or resolvable by such top-down verbal understanding or reframing; EST is a bottom-up therapy. Abreactive hypnosis facilitates ego state expression at physiologically and psychologically intense levels sufficient to activate subcortical processes to release affect in the presence of the therapist, who adds ego strength to the patient. This is followed by interpretation and reintegration. The result is a reconstructed personality that is adaptive and resilient.

Efficacy of hypnosis in the treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV) in women: rural and urban samples.

This article investigates the effect of hypnosis on immunity and whether this is the key mechanism in the hypnotic treatment of the genital infection caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease and can lead to cervical and other cancers. Current medical treatments are aimed at tissue assault (acids, freezing, surgery). Medical wart clearance rates are only 30% to 70% and recurrence is common. Our research contrasted hypnosis-only with medical-only therapies, using both urban hospital and rural community samples. Both hypnosis and medical therapy resulted in a statistically significant (p < .04) reduction in areas and numbers of lesions. Yet, at the 12-week follow-up, complete clearance rates were 5 to 1 in favor of hypnosis.

Effects of an affect bridge for age regression.

The authors tested tailored hypnotic inductions for age regression with an affect bridge to access meaning-laden events. They used emotional intensity, spontaneity, elaboration, and transitional-object measures to assess the genuineness of the topographic shift to primary process characteristic of hypnotic age regression. An affect bridge was used to access stressful events within the age range of 3 to 6 years. The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C was administered to determine high hypnotizables-reals, (n = 8, scores 9-12) and low hypnotizables-simulators, (n = 8, scores 3 or less). The groups behaved differently on frequency of transitional objects, spontaneity, and intensity but not on elaboration. The hypnotizable-reals but not the simulators produced a plethora of primary-process childlike affective responses that could not be produced by the role-playing simulators.

Efficacy of hypnotherapy in the treatment of eating disorders.

Research on the efficacy of hypnosis in the treatment of eating disorders has produced mixed findings. This is due in part to the interplay between the characteristics of people with eating disorders and the phenomena of hypnosis. In addition, several authors have noted that methodological limitations in hypnosis research often make evaluation of treatment efficacy difficult. Many of the studies extant provide insufficient information regarding the specifics of the hypnotic intervention(s) to facilitate replication and clinical implementation. Therefore, this paper only reviews literature with replicable methodological descriptions. It focuses on the three primary disorders of interest to clinicians: bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and obesity. The implications for evaluating treatment efficacy are discussed.

Effects of tailored and manualized hypnotic inductions for complicated irritable bowel syndrome patients.

This modest clinical pilot study was intended to provide preliminary data on the effects of hypnotic inductions tailored to an irritable bowel syndrome patient at each session compared to Palsson's manualized protocol. Patients (N = 8) who had not previously responded to any form of treatment were assigned randomly to either a tailored or manualized induction condition. Other than pretesting for hypnotizability, the procedure followed for the manualized group (n = 4) was exactly as prescribed by O. Palsson (1998). The identical procedure was used for the other 4 patients except that the inductions were individualized. All 8 patients showed favorable responses to treatment immediately posttreatment and at 10-month follow-up. Only the tailored group showed no incapacitating pain at posttreatment but greater emotional stress than the manualized group. The tailored group continued to improve and showed better results than the manualized group at 10 months, and the posttreatment emotional distress was significantly attenuated.