Learning Clinical Hypnosis Wide Awake: Can We Teach Hypnosis Hypnotically?

Conversational hypnosis has been promoted as both more congruent with mechanisms of psychobiological change and more feasibly integrated into clinical care than the more dominant, ritualistic, hierarchical, induction-based Standards of Training in Clinical Hypnosis. Further, it has been argued that, in teaching the legacy standard, clinical hypnosis training lacks pedagogical integrity. This article builds on these premises by piloting a mixed-methods approach to studying the pedagogy and participant evaluations of two professional education events that focused on conversational hypnosis. Results indicate that this is an effective methodology for studying the impact of teaching hypnosis hypnotically and fostering wider integration of hypnosis into health and care.

Treating Panic Disorder Hypnotically.

A hypnosis protocol for treating panic disorder is provided. The implementation of this protocol is demonstrated through a case example involving the successful treatment of a 28-year-old firefighter presenting with a 4-month history of near-daily panic attacks. Core principles associated with this protocol include: (1) Elementary education about the physiology of panic; (2) A review of primary factors contributing to the evolution and manifestation of panic; (3) Encouragement of physical activity; (4) Utilization of hypnosis applications; and (5) Monitoring and measuring progress evidenced by a reduction in the frequency and intensity of panic attacks. Six years after his last hypnosis session, "Jason," the once panicked firefighter returned to my office for concerns unrelated to panic, and reported that he remained panic-free, retained his job, and was twice promoted.

Hypnotic Induction: Enhancing Trance or Mostly Myth?

Hypnosis has often, and primarily, been portrayed as a mystical means that controls and exploits vulnerable and defenseless people. Sources accused of perpetuating hypnosis myths and misconceptions have included numerous media productions and stage demonstrations at state fairs and festivals. Ironically, one largely unexamined potential culprit disseminating misinformation about hypnosis is the field of clinical hypnosis itself. This article not only questions the legitimacy of the term "hypnotic induction" and its derivatives but also explores the potential impact these terms have on the perpetuation of hypnosis myths and misconceptions. Through an examination of a selective history of hypnotic induction, the customary language of hypnosis, and information promoted by professional hypnosis societies, some of the contributing terminology is identified. Alternative terms that more appropriately embody the manifestation of trance are offered and discussed.

A Case Study of Hypnosis for Phagophobia: It's No Choking Matter.

In this case study the author reviews the benefits of hypnosis for a 13-year-old female suffering from a specific phobia involving a fear of choking and generalized fear of swallowing that resulted in an episode of Restrictive Food Intake Disorder with associated significant weight loss. At the time of the initial consultation, three weeks after her choking episode, the patient weighed 93 pounds. Standing at 5'2", her Body Mass Index (BMI) was 17 (15th percentile) indicative of healthy weight for a child her age and height. She continued to lose weight over the course of 2 months and at her worst weighed 85 pounds (BMI = 15.5, 3rd percentile, classified as underweight). Prior to the incident, she weighed 105 pounds with a BMI of 19.2 (46th percentile). Treatment initially consisted of 12 hypnosis sessions (over a 5-month period), conducted on a weekly and eventually biweekly basis. A scheduled one-month follow-up visit was conducted following the 12th session, at which time the patient was consuming solid foods without fear of choking. Her BMI at that time was 18.7 (39th percentile). Two months after terminating treatment, the patient experienced a mild relapse triggered by conflicts with some female peers. After four additional hypnosis sessions, the patient's symptoms again remitted. During her last session we shared a pizza, providing clear and convincing evidence that she had overcome her fear of swallowing. She retained therapeutic benefits for at least 3 years following treatment.

Hypnosis Without Empathy? Perspectives From Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Stage Hypnosis.

Despite volumes of published studies supporting the efficacy of hypnosis for ego-strengthening, performance, and physical and psychological disorders, the precise nature of hypnosis, and in particular, the neurobiological underpinnings of trance-phenomenon, remains tenuous at best. With his empathic involvement theory of hypnosis, Wickramasekera II (2015) brings us closer to an understanding of the elusive nature of hypnotic processes by proposing a bridging of two long-standing and seemingly incongruent theories of hypnosis (i.e., neodissociative versus socio-cognitive). Borrowing from neuroscientific studies of empathy, the empathic involvement theory maintains that empathy, beyond any other human dynamic (including emotions, behavior, personality, and imagination), facilitates and enhances hypnotic experiences for both recipient and provider alike. By the same token, one can reasonably infer from the empathic involvement theory that non-empathic individuals are less likely to benefit from hypnosis. With this perspective in mind, the empathic involvement theory's identification of empathy as an apparent "Holy Grail" of the neural underpinnings and precise nature of hypnosis may be challenged on a number of grounds. Individuals with autistic spectrum disorder, especially those suffering from alexithymia, have been identified as empathy deficient, and therefore according to the empathic involvement theory would be classified as "low-hypnotizable," yet empirical studies, albeit limited in number, suggest otherwise. Furthermore, hypnotic inductions of audience volunteers by stage hypnotists challenge the empathic involvement theory's supposition that empathy is a required component of hypnosis. It is this author's contention that empathy is a beneficial, though not essential, element of successful hypnosis.