The use of hypnosis for medical purposes is an ancient practice that began as early as 1500 B.C, when Egyptians and Greeks used it as a tool during healing rituals. The idea that hypnosis can aid in the healing processes still exists today and has gained so much popularity that one can establish a career as a Medical Hypnotherapist. There are many established institutions such as
Toronto Hypnotherapy where one can seek out medical hypnosis as treatment.
Medical hypnosis allows the patient to enter an altered state of awareness that helps treat the psychological and physiological problem at hand. It should not be confused with stage hypnosis where volunteers during a performance are put into a trance by the hypnotist and usually do humorous things on stage, then later have no recollection of what occurred. In medical hypnosis a specific goal is set before the session occurs, and hypnosis helps achieve this goal, whereas stage hypnosis is performed for the entertainment of others.
By entering an
altered state of awareness, a patient rids themselves of negative emotional patterns of thought. Two common problems that medical hypnosis can help to relieve are high anxiety levels or physical pain due to illness or injury. While one session can be beneficial for short-term relief, a series of treatments over time produces an amplified effect. Hypnosis can also be beneficial to those who have experienced an illness or accident and are going through rehabilitation. It can even be used in addition to other approaches for cancer treatment, since this illness usually comes with symptoms like amnesia, fatigue, and malaise that hypnosis can help to relieve.
Patients who are scheduled for
surgery could use medical hypnosis if they are anxious about the procedure, and there are several astonishing cases where patients have remained “
awake” throughout the duration of their surgery with only medical hypnosis and local anesthesia (which prevents pain in thearea being operated on). In one particularly interesting case, a singer from Guinea remained awake and sang through her surgery to protect her voice after undergoing medical hypnosis
[1].
Hypnotherapists can work independently or in hospital settings. They first consult with clients to determine the problem that needs to be fixed, and induce the client into a hypnotic state that alters behaviour pattern and/or motivation. Before they enter into a hypnosis session, they typically test their clients to determine their level of suggestibility, or how receptive they are willing to be throughout the session. The actual techniques used will be based on the client's suggestibility. Hypnotherapists can also teach clients how to perform self-hypnosis
[2].
During medical hypnosis, the patient often experiences a series of standard physiological changes like an increase in
alpha brain waves and the slowing of pulse and respiration. It has been hypothesized that if medical hypnosis is performed correctly, enough endogenous agents (agents that occur naturally in the body) can be produced that all perceptions of pain are blocked. Whether it's a placebo effect or an increase in the production of endogenous agents, medical hypnosis has been proven to help with physiological pain.
In summary, there are various benefits to medical hypnosis. If you have a psychological or physical problem and you're open to the idea of medical hypnosis, try it for yourself – you may be surprised by the results!
