Clinical hypnotherapy is an amazing study where a person is induced into a state of trance so he or she can better manage painful sensations or emotions. Therapists use this treatment to prepare for surgery, to recover from trauma or to deal with chronic pain related to cancer or something like fibromyalgia. Hypnosis meditation has been a popular study since the seventies, when New Age philosophy bloomed. Yet many maintain that it is this “occult” or “mystical” application that hurts the credibility of hypnosis as a legitimate scientific study.
Let us look at the application of clinical hypnotherapy to treat chronic pain such as fibromyalgia or cancer patients. In one study, 35 cancer patients were assigned to three groups: clinical hypnosis, cognitive behavioral training and placebo (Syrjala, 1992). During hypnosis, patients were relaxed and received a post hypnotic suggestion to reduce pain, nausea and anxiety, while given healing phrases and imagery aimed at helping them cope. The behavioral therapy group was relaxed and explored the meaning of their illness, while working toward cognitive restructuring. The placebo group saw a normal physician/therapist. Compared to the other two groups, the hypnosis group saw a significant decrease in pain and used less medication.
Another type of clinical hypnotherapy is known as “hypnoanesthesia,” a practice which dates back to the 1800s, before modern day anesthesia was developed. In 1990, researcher Eron Grant Manusov found that hypnoanesthesia (without chemical induction) is feasible in only 10-16% of the population, but works surprisingly well in suggestible patients. Other tests showed that patients given chemical anesthesia were able to receive hypnotic suggestions while in a state of trance, so that they had reduced hospital stays, needed less medication and required less anesthesia in future procedures.
A 2005 clinical hypnotherapy study done at the University of Iowa found similar findings using magnetic resonance imaging, that there is “reduced activity in areas of the pain network and increased activity in other areas of the brain.” The primary sensory cortex, the brain’s pain center, showed limited functioning. On the other hand, the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia lit up with overwhelming activity. The left anterior cingulate cortex is the area of the brain associated with heart rate, blood pressure, reward anticipation and decision making processes. The basal ganglia, which are a group of nuclei in the brain, comprise the motor control, cognition and learning center of the brain. No wonder clinical hypnosis can change a person’s beliefs and behaviors! The researchers concluded that these regions may be an inhibition pathway to block pain signals from reaching higher cortical areas responsible for pain perception. The limitation of hypnosis techniques is that it’s believed only 10% of the population is highly hypnotizable, another 80% may be hypnotizable and another 10% cannot be hypnotized at all.
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