Tuesday 23 April 2013

The Magical Nature of Beliefs By L Michael Hall Ph.D.


Introduction to Neuro Semantics Published 22/04/2013


The Magical Nature of Beliefs

Be careful what you believe!
What you believe will work as a self-fulfilling dynamic.

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

What is a belief? It is a thought which is embedded within a reality-confirmation frame. When we embed a thought inside a confirmation of reality, we create a phenomenon of the mind that we call a “belief.” And when we create a belief, we not only think of something, but we treat our thought as real. We attribute a meaning of reality to it.

So with a belief, with any belief, we frame our first thought as real. And to do that we frame it within another thought, a higher thought, so that it becomes a context (a mental context) for how we interpret the first thought. Then, having done that, we then begin to experience the content of our belief as being real so that from the inside-looking out, it has and gives off us all of the sense (and senses) of being real. What is the heart of beliefs? We construct “reality.” We create our inner sense of what’s real and what is not by the beliefs that we invent and adopt.

Reality-Endowing Perspective

It is in this way that beliefs are reality-endowing perspectives. In the creation of beliefs (e.g., in believing) we meta-state our thoughts with a higher level thought-and-feeling of various aspects of reality. That is, we bring the following states (mind-body states) to our basic idea:

“This is real.”
“This is actual.”
“This is the way it is.”
“This X is the meaning of Y.”
“This exists.”
“Things work this way.”
“This X leads to this Y.”

It is in this way we create beliefs about what is (what exists), how things work, the way we and others work, and the meaning of things— what is important (values), what to go for (intentions, outcomes), and how to feel or experience things (emotions).

These reality frames about ourselves, others, the world, what exists, what causes what, etc. describe how we confirm our thoughts. We confirm that our thoughts are legitimate, real, and actual. And it is this process of confirming that engages and elevates our thinking to the level of beliefs. Thoughts are at the first level— just representations in our mind of things. Beliefs are second thoughts about those first thoughts. Then we create beliefs about our beliefs.1

Mere thought only gives us ideas—content information about things. But we may or may not interpret such thoughts as real or valid. We may think that our thoughts are untrue, unreal, fantasy, wishful thinking, science fiction, myths, lies, and so on. These second thoughts about our first thoughts prevent us from treating them as something to direct our lives. We don’t act on such ideas. They do not refer to anything real. Or, just as equally we could say that these frames stop us so we do not “believe.”

Action Oriented

It is when we “believe” in an idea that we then act on it as a legitimate map about reality. We frame it as real—actual—legitimate and so we respond as if it is. All beliefs have this as if quality precisely because beliefs are not empirical thoughts, but operate at a second level to our first thoughts about the empirical world. That’s why beliefs do not have to be true, real, actual, or empirical to be believed. We all have, and do, believe things that are not true. Some of them hurt us; some help us.

Did you catch that? Beliefs do not have to be true, real, actual, or empirical to be believed. This is incredible!

Also, we can and do believe lots of things that we can’t “prove” to the satisfaction of all fair-minded people. In fact, this provides one way to determine if a thought is a belief or a first level representation of what you can see, hear, feel, smell, taste, etc. (empirical).

“Do all fair-minded people accept it?”
“Do non-believers accept it?”

If not, then you are working with a belief and not empirical information. And this is true regardless of the strength of your belief.

We do not “believe” in things that are empirical— things that we can see, hear, touch, and measure. At the primary level empirical things are the brute facts that all fair-minded people agree upon. Empirical things are simply accepted as existing. Even an unbeliever will acknowledge such. We study them so that we can more fully understand them. If the subject is not empirical and cannot be seen or measured, it is not a brute fact, but a belief fact.

When we believe, we think that we have enough or sufficient “proof” to go with our belief and to act upon it. We live our lives by thousands of beliefs simply because we have to assume that many things are so in order to take action. Otherwise we would be paralyzed from acting. Otherwise we would never get out and do anything.

Everyday we take actions believing that we will be able to do something, that what we do is important, and that our actions will bring forth the results we want, results that will make a difference in our lives and the lives of others. We don’t know that for sure. We act in belief that probability is on our side.

All of the Multiple Layers of Beliefs

All of this highlights that in believing we can have different degrees of evidence, different levels of beliefs that some are only one level away from the empirical things of brute facts and some are many levels away. We also have beliefs about our beliefs. We believe our beliefs are more sure, or less, more valid or less valid. This speaks to the strength of our beliefs.

How strong do you believe that?
Do you have any question or doubt about that?
Do you have some doubt? Will your doubt stop you?
Is your belief strong enough to get your through?
What else do you need to believe about that in order to step forward and act on that belief?
Do you have any limiting beliefs about that belief stopping you?
What would be the most powerful belief that would empower your first belief?

Beliefs are higher level frames or meta-states about our thoughts and ideas that embed our thoughts within the content of what we believe conviction that it is valid and legitimate. Beliefs then create our validity-frames. With them we see the content of the ideas that we believe as valid, real, and true. Beliefs govern our mapping of what’s true. We never believe what’s not true for us. If you think that something is not so, does not exist, is not true— you cannot believe it and you cannot believe in it. It will not govern your actions or mobilize your mind-body system. On the contrary you may dis-believe it— believe that it is not so. And we dis-believing you prevent it from commanding your neurology.

The Magic of Self-Fulfilling

All of this combines to create the self-fulfilling prophesy nature of beliefs. Whatever you believe, you will tend to see, hear, and experience. If it is possible to bring something into reality, then it is belief that mobilizes your mind-body to do so. Of course, not every belief can do that. You can believe all day and night that you can fly with your arms like superman but without that mechanism for flight in your neurology (unlike a bird or bee), your mind-body system will not be able to actualize that belief.

Beliefs create a self-fulfilling prophesy because a belief is a “command to the nervous system” abut what’s real.2 If you believe something is dangerous to your well-being, that belief will command your neurology to make the threat-to-your-being real and actual to you on the inside. It will organize the messages of your thoughts and ideas so that your nervous systems are informed about what’s happening and to mobilize your skills and resources to cope with that threat. That’s why your whole fight-flight system (the General Arousal System) is activated with all of the corresponding responses in your brain stem and body.

Creator Powers

The self-fulfilling prophesy nature of beliefs create both powers and problems. Beliefs that we can learn, that others have resources, that people are basically good, etc. enables as to call new realities into being. Whether things were that way originally, they become that way by our beliefs. But we can also believe in things that undermine us and sabotage the quality of our lives. If we believe that we are worthless, scum of the earth, that we will never amount to anything, that we don’t deserve to success, that others are cruel and want us to fail, etc., we similarly call those toxic experiences into existence.

Jesus noted this self-fulfilling nature and principle of beliefs when he said, “Be it unto you according to your faith.” Psychologically, the general principle is that life will work for you as you believe it will work for you. And that becomes even more true of your beliefs-in-yourbeliefs, for your higher level beliefs which comprise your belief sytems. It is by our beliefs that create our inner sense of reality, our inner maps about things, and then from there we create our our experience of reality. Beliefs endow us with creator powers for good or ill.

The Structure of Fanaticism

Beliefs are important at every level. And this becomes especially important if or when we believe in the validity of our beliefs. Do that and you have a command inside your Matrix of frames that will close your mind to seeing counter-evidence to your beliefs.3 You then become so sure of your beliefs, so confident, so convinced, that you may not even recognize your that your thinking at this level are beliefs. You may even say, “That’s not a belief, I know that.” And of course, at this stage you have moved into fanaticism.

In this, believing is one thing, but believing-in-the-rightness-of-your-beliefs is an entirely different thing. This is what does semantic damage to us because it shuts down the mind. It closes our minds. It sets a belief bias that colors the world and prevents us from detecting errors and making corrections. And this is true for every theological belief, philosophical belief, even for scientific beliefs about things.

Breaking through Beliefs

So can a strong absolute, even fanatical belief, be broken through? How could that happen? It typically happens when life does not work according to our beliefs.

Now generally, life operates according to our beliefs unless or until something intrudes into our life to rock our world in a way that prevents our beliefs from fulfilling themselves. It’s at those moments that reality hits and we crash and we begin to reconsider things.

At the same time, most of us actually work hard to protect ourselves from such. We insure that reality will not intrude by avoiding encountering experiences and people and books that would question our beliefs. That’s why we hang around people who believe as we believe, we read books and magazines that agree with our viewpoint, avoid experiences that would require a different belief, turn off TV programs we dislike, etc. We seek out people, books, and information that will reinforce our current beliefs. The self-fulfilling nature of beliefs drives this kind of behavior.

No wonder those who believe in something can become so sure, so absolute, and so fanatical. No wonder they close off any possibility that they could be wrong. That’s the question I ask people who knock on my door or come into my life who are so absolutely confident.

“Could you be wrong? Is that a possibility? If you could be wrong come in and let’s talk; if you can’t be wrong, please go and get some more life experiences.”

Confirmation Bias

If there’s no possibility that one could be wrong, then the person has shut the door of his or her mind to disconfirming information. Why is that? As they have become “true believers” to use Eric Hoeffer’s term, they have become fanatics. They can only see what their beliefs allow them to see. In this, beliefs create blindness of the mind so that a person can become blind to any information that differs from their understandings.

Belief Creation

It is because a thought does not have to be real or true or even legitimate to be believed that we can, and do, believe things that are wrong, false, untrue, hurtful, toxic, limiting, unsane, and even insane. This makes the quality of our beliefs of critical importance. It highlights our responsibility for choosing good, healthy beliefs that support our self-actualization, enhance our life and relationships, and empower us for continual development.

Ultimately no one is responsible for our beliefs, but ourselves. That’s because you and I only have the power to create them for ourselves. And what is the power that creates a belief? It is the power of confirmation. We confirm thoughts so they become beliefs. We confirm beliefs into existence— we call them into being, and when we do, we commission them to become commands to our nervous system, to set self-organizing attractors so that the belief will then create us in its image.

How is your power to create and to destroy beliefs? How skillfully competent are you at decommissioning limiting beliefs that do not serve you well? How easily and gracefully can you identify a limiting belief and pull it apart so that it is undone as a belief? So that it becomes a mere thought that does no semantic damage to you? How skilled are you in catching less-thangreat beliefs as you think and speak and reframe them on the spot? To do so is true mastery.

The Structure of Beliefs and Proof

Once you recognize the structure of a belief —a reality-confirming frame of a thought, then disconfirming the old and confirming the new gives you a quick, elegant, and powerful way to change beliefs. How? Say “No” to the old that de-commissions it and “Yes” to the new that enriches your responses. “Yes” and “No” make up the structures of the frames that generate reality-validating and dis-validating.

Yet merely saying “Yes” once to a thought will not suddenly transform it into a life-enhancing belief. We have to say “yes” to it repeatedly.

“Yes, I want to believe that! Yes, that would enrich my life. Yes, that would be nice.
Yes I am beginning to believe that. Yes I have some ideas about how that could be true and valid.”

Yes confirms. Yes welcomes an idea into our mind and enables us to begin to believe it. As we then say Yes to it for more reasons— this engages the higher levels of the mind to come up with understandings, explanations, and reasons for the belief.

Beliefs are like that—they need reasons for validation. The slow way to create a belief is to work with content, that is, to identify specific content information about something that enables us to make sense of the idea and to validate it. We can validate an idea with content by giving another person reasons to believe it. Yet this approach puts the belief at the disposal of the quality of the reasons, the logic of the reasons, and how the belief fits into the person’s networks of beliefs. If the new belief fits into the existing Matrix of beliefs makes sense (is meaningful), and matches the person’s way of reasoning (his or her logic and use of logic), then the new belief will go in and be accepted fairly easily.

Conversely, the less it fits into the person’s philosophies of life, basic understandings, and current belief systems and the more it differs from one’s way of thinking, the less it will make sense and so the more difficult it will be to take on and install as one’s belief.

That’s why the long, slow, and hard way to change beliefs is to argue, persuade, or reason ourselves or another into the belief. This content approach is how most people primarily attempts to alter beliefs, change beliefs, and take on new beliefs.

The Structural approach is to dis-validate the old with a No to clear mental-and-emotional space filled up by the old belief and to then validate the new belief with a Yes. Once this is accomplished, then the person’s own higher understandings will self-organize to find and invent supporting reasons and philosophies. And this mostly occurs outside-of-our-consciousness awareness. Because of this, the structural approach makes the process smoother and more elegant.

What is the FBI within the structural approach? It is that our beliefs lie embedded within higher frames, level upon level. So where ever there is a belief, there are higher frames-by-implication or FBI frames holding it in place. These are the premises, presuppositions, and assumptions that we operate from, mostly unconsciously, that support the belief. So when we confirm a new thought so it evokes a new belief, the higher levels, the presuppositional levels of our understandings, philosophies, etc. go to work to come up with acceptable explanations for our new belief. You can see this in others when they begin “justifying” their beliefs with legitimate and illegitimate reasons. It is not the content of the justifying that creates the belief, but the process of justifying— the process of finding and/or creating reasons.

“Proof” is in the mind of the beholder — in the mind of the believer. What “proves” a belief for you? What confirms it? ?What gives it validity and credibility for you? What makes it worthy of your trust? What do you use? For many people, credibility arises from the number of times they have heard something, or the emotional intensity, or if they read it in a book, or if an expert said it, or if there were numbers and statistics connected to it, or if they read it in a book, or if it seems practical, or if it fits into one’s referent group, etc. All kinds of things can be used for “proof.” Again, it is not the content of the proof, but the fact that we are “proving” to ourselves its validity and giving ourselves some reason to say Yes to it. It is the proving process that creates the “proofs.”

What convinces you?4 Are you easily convinced of things or do you tend to resist being convinced? Are you automatically convinced and give everything the benefit of the doubt? Are you that naïve and trusting? Or are you never convinced and have to be continuously convinced to consider same new idea at every moment? Are you that skeptical?

Because “proof” can consists of all kinds of things, what convinces one person will not convince another. What is proof for one person doesn’t persuade another in the least. What is proof for one leaves others empty and totally skeptical. It’s not the content of the proof that does the magic of creating a belief, but the presence of something that serves for a person as “proof.”

Believing and being a Believer

The bottom line is that we are all believers. Some believe in a higher intelligence called God; some believe that there is no God. Both are believers. No one has proof; each calls upon all kinds of evidence that for them are convincing. But both believe. Either is a choice. What is not a choice is whether to believe or not to believe. We don’t have that choice. Believe we must — and believe we do about a thousand things. So being a believer, the choice is whether you bring an absolutism to your belief or recognize that they are human maps— fallible, liable to error, and make them open to correction and refinement.

Summary

Beliefs are magical things —they are thoughts and yet they are more than thoughts. They are awarenesses and yet they are more than just awareness. Beliefs make up the construct of the Matrix of our minds—how we come to know and understand things, give meaning to things, and work inside our mind-body system to create energy, emotions, and actions.

The “magic” of beliefs is that they command our Neuro-Semantics thereby incorporating our ideas into our very neurology. The “magical” of beliefs can also be seen in their self-fulfilling nature—how they color our world and blinds us to what doesn’t filter the beliefs.

Author

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D. is a cognitive psychology who has turned his attention to the structure of experience through studies in NLP and Neuro-Semantics. For more about “beliefs” see his book, Sub-Modalities Going Meta and Mind-Lines.


For more information on this post: www.neurosemantics.com
For further information: contact Ross and Marie at www.abetterlife-perth.com.au

Sunday 21 April 2013

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Wednesday 17 April 2013

Information on a variety of interesting topics.   Published 17/4/2013

Research on Hypnosis to Quit Smoking

90.6% Success Rate Using Hypnosis
Of 43 consecutive patients undergoing this treatment protocol, 39 reported remaining abstinent at follow-up (6 months to 3 years post-treatment). This represents a 90.6% success rate using hypnosis.
University of Washington School of Medicine, Depts. of Anesthesiology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2001 Jul;49(3):257-66. Babe J. Freedom from smoking: integrating hypnotic methods and rapid smoking to facilitate smoking cessation.

90% Success Rate With Hypnosis
Authors report a success rate in smoking abstinence of over 90% with hypnosis.
MMW Fortschr
Med. 2004 May 13;146(20):16. Klager, R. [Article in German]PMID: 15344725 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
87% Reported Abstinence Using HypnosisA field study of 93 male and 93 female CMHC outpatients examined the facilitation of smoking cessation by using hypnosis. At 3-mo. follow-up, 86% of the men and 87% of the women reported continued abstinence using hypnosis.
Performance by gender in a stop-smoking program combining hypnosis and aversion.Johnson DL, Karkut RT. Adkar Associates, Inc., Bloomington, Indiana. Psychol Rep. 1994Oct;75(2):851-7.PMID: 7862796 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
81% Reported They Had Stopped SmokingThirty smokers enrolled in an HMO were referred by their primary physician for treatment. Twenty-one patients returned after an initial consultation and received hypnosis for smoking cessation. At the end of treatment, 81% of those patients reported that they had stopped smoking, and 48% reported abstinence at 12 months post-treatment.
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine, USA.Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2004
Jan;52(1):73-81. Clinical hypnosis for smoking cessation: preliminary results of a three-session intervention. Elkins GR, Rajab MH.
Hypnosis Patients Twice As Likely To QuitStudy of 71 smokers showed that after a two-year follow up, patients that quit with hypnosis were twice as likely to still be smoke-free than those who quit on their own.
Guided health imagery for smoking cessation and long-tem abstinence. Wynd CA. Journal of Nusring Scholarship, 2005; 37:3, pages 245-250
More Effective Than Drug InterventionsGroup hypnosis, evaluated at a less effective success rate than individualized hypnosis (at 22%). However, still demonstrated here as more effective than drug interventions.
Ohio State University, College of Nursing, Columbus 43210, USADescriptive outcomes of the American Lung Association of Ohio hypnotherapy smoking cessation program. Ahijevych K, Yerardi R, Nedilsky N.
Hypnosis Most Effective Says Largest Study Ever: Hypnosis has 3 Times the effectiveness of the patch and 15 Times the effectiveness of willpower.
Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit. A meta-analysis, statistically combining results of more than 600 studies of 72 000 people from America and Europe to compare various methods of quitting. On average – hypnosis was over three times as effective as nicotine replacement methods and 15 times as effective as trying to quit alone.
University of Iowa Journal of Applied Psychology How One in Five Give Up Smoking, October 1992.(Also New Scientist October 10, 1992) Schmidt, Chockalingam

Research on Hypnosis to Lose Weight

Hypnosis Over 30 Times as Effective for Weight LossInvestigated the effects of hypnosis in weight loss for 60 females, at least 20% overweight. Treatment included group hypnosis with metaphors for ego- strengthening, decision-making and motivation, ideomotor exploration in individual hypnosis, and group hypnosis with maintenance suggestions. Hypnosis was more effective than a control group 17lbs vs. 0.5 lbs on follow-up.
Cochane, Gordon; Friesen, J. (1986). Hypnotheapy in weight loss treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 489-492.
2 Years Later Hypnosis Subjects Continued To Lose Significant Weigh109 people completed a behavioral treatment for weight management either with or without the addition of hypnosis. At the end of the 9-week program, both interventions resulted in significant weight reduction. At 8-month and 2-year follow-ups, the hypnosis subjects were found to have continued to lose significant weight, while those in the behavioral-treatment-only group showed little further change.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1985)
Hypnosis Subjects Lost More Weight Than 90% of Others and Kept it OffResearchers analyzed 18 studies comparing a cognitive behavioral therapy, such as relaxation training, guided imagery, self monitoring or goal setting with the same therapy supplemented by hypnosis. Those who received the hypnosis lost more weight than 90 percent of the non-hypnosis, and maintained the weight loss two years after treatment ended.

University of Connecticut, Stos Allison DB, Faith MS. Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for obesity: a meta-analytic reappraisal. JConsult Clin Psychol. 1996;64(3):513-516
Hypnosis More Than Doubled Average Weight LossStudy of the effect of adding hypnosis to cognitive- behavioral treatments for weight reduction, additional data were obtained from authors of 2 studies. Analyses indicated that the benefits of hypnosis increased substantially over time.
Kisch, Iving (1996). Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioal weight loss teatments–Anothe meta-eanalysis. Jounal ofConsulting and Clinical Psychology, 64 (3), 517-519.
Hypnosis Showed Significantly Lower Post-Treatment WeightsTwo studies compared overweight smoking and non-smoking adult women in an hypnosis-based, weight-loss program. Both achieved significant weight losses and decreases in Body Mass Index. Follow-up study replicated significant weight losses and declines in Body Mass Index. The overt aversion and hypnosis program yielded significantly lower post-treatment weights and a greater average number of pounds lost.
Weight loss for women: studies of smokers and nonsmokers using hypnosis and multi-component treatments with and without overt aversion. Psychology Reprints. 1997 Jun;80(3 Pt 1):931-3.
Hypnotherapy group with stress eduction achieved significantly more weight loss than the other two treatments.
Randomized, controlled, parallel study of two forms of hypnotherapy (directed at stress reduction or energy intake reduction), vs dietary advice alone in 60 obese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea on nasal continuous positive airway pressure treatment.
Stadling, D Roberts, A Wilson and F Lovelock Chest Unit, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7LJ, UK
Hypnosis can more than double the effects of traditional weight loss approaches
… An analysis of five weight loss studies reported in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996 showed that the ” … weight loss reported in the five studies indicates that hypnosis can more than double the effects” of traditional weight loss approaches.
University of Connecticut Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996 (Vol. 64, No. 3, pgs 517-519)
Weight loss is greater where hypnosis is utilized

Research into cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatments established that weight loss is greater where hypnosis is utilized. It was also established that the benefits of hypnosis increase over time.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1996)
Showed Hypnosis As “An Effective Way To Lose Weight”A study of 60 females who were at least 20% overweight and not involved in other treatment showed hypnosis is an effective way to lose weight.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1986)


Research on Hypnosis for Pain Management
Theory: Research using positron emission tomography (PET) scans, shows that hypnosis might alleviate pain by decreasing the activity of brain areas involved in the experience of suffering. Scientists have found that hypnosis reduced the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex, an area known to be involved in pain, but did not affect the activity of the somatosensory cortex, where the sensations of pain are processed.

Hypnosis Reduces Frequency and Intensity of MigrainesCompared the treatment of migraine by hypnosis and autohypnosis with the treatment of migraine by the drug prochlorperazine (Stemetil).Results show that the number of attacks and the number who suffered blinding attacks were significantly lower for the group receiving hypnotherapy than for the group receiving prochlorperazine. For the group on hypnotherapy, these 2 measures were significantly lower when on hypnotherapy than when on previous treatment. It is concluded that further trials of hypnotherapy are justified against some other treatment not solely associated with the ingestion of tablets.
Anderson JA, Basker MA, Dalton R Migraine and hypnotherapy International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis 1975; 23(1): 48-58.
Hypnosis Reduces Pain and Speeds up Recovery from Surgery
Since 1992, we have used hypnosis routinely in more than 1400 patients undergoing surgery. We found that hypnosis used in patients as an adjunct to conscious sedation and local anesthesia was associated with improved intraoperative patient comfort, and with reduced anxiety, pain, intraoperative requirements for anxiolytic and analgesic drugs, optimal surgical conditions and a faster recovery of the patient. We reported our clinical experience and our fundamental research.
Hypnosis and its application in surgery [Article in French] Faymonville ME, Defechereux T, Joris J, Adant JP, Hamoir E, Meurisse M. Service d’Anesthesie-Reanimation, Universite de Liege. Rev Med Liege. 1998 Jul;53(7):414-8.
Hypnosis Reduces Pain Intensity
Analysis of the simple-simple main effects, holding both group and condition constant, revealed that application of hypnotic analgesia reduced report of pain intensity significantly more than report of pain unpleasantness.
Dahlgren LA. Kurtz RM. Strube MJ. Malone MD. Differential effects of hypnotic suggestion on multiple dimensions of pain. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 1995; 10(6): 464-70.
Hypnosis Reduces Pain of Headaches and Anxiety
The improvement was confirmed by the subjective evaluation data gathered with the use of a questionnaire and by a significant reduction in anxiety scores.
Melis PM. Rooimans W. Spierings EL. Hoogduin CA. Treatment of chronic tension-type headache with hypnotherapy: a single-blind time controlled study. Headache 1991; 31(10): 686-9.
Hypnosis Lowered Post-treatment Pain in Burn Injuries
Patients in the hypnosis group reported less post treatment pain than did patients in the control group. The findings are used to replicate earlier studies of burn pain hypnoanalgesia, explain discrepancies in the literature, and highlight the potential importance of motivation with this population.
Patterson DR. Ptacek JT. Baseline pain as a moderator of hypnotic analgesia for burn injury treatment. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology 1997; 65(1): 60-7.
Hypnosis Lowered Phantom Limb Pain
Hypnotic procedures appear to be a useful adjunct to established strategies for the treatment of phantom limb pain and would repay further, more systematic, investigation. Suggestions are provided as to the factors which should be considered for a more systematic research program.
Treatment of phantom limb pain using hypnotic imagery. Oakley DA, Whitman LG, Halligan PW.Department of Psychology, University College London, UK.
Hypnosis Has a Reliable and Significant Impact on Acute and Chronic Pain
Hypnosis has been demonstrated to reduce analogue pain, and studies on the mechanisms of laboratory pain reduction have provided useful applications to clinical populations. Studies showing central nervous system activity during hypnotic procedures offer preliminary information concerning possible physiological mechanisms of hypnotic analgesia. Randomized controlled studies with clinical populations indicate that hypnosis has a reliable and significant impact on acute procedural pain and chronic pain conditions. Methodological issues of this body of research are discussed, as are methods to better integrate hypnosis into comprehensive pain treatment.
Hypnosis and clinical pain. Patterson DR, Jensen MP. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle WA Psychol Bull. 2003 Jul;129(4):495-521.
Hypnosis is a Powerful Tool in Pain Therapy and is Biological in Addition to Psychological
Attempting to elucidate cerebral mechanisms behind hypnotic analgesia, we measured regional cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography in patients with fibromyalgia, during hypnotically-induced analgesia and resting wakefulness. The patients experienced less pain during hypnosis than at rest. The cerebral blood-flow was bilaterally increased in the orbitofrontal and subcallosial cingulate cortices, the right thalamus, and the left inferior parietal cortex, and was decreased bilaterally in the cingulate cortex. The observed blood-flow pattern supports notions of a multifactorial nature of hypnotic analgesia, with an interplay between cortical and subcortical brain dynamics.
Copyright 1999 European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain.
Functional anatomy of hypnotic analgesia: a PET study of patients with fibromyalgia.Wik G, Fischer H, Bragee B, Finer B, Fredrikson M. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Karolinska Institute and Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Eur J Pain. 1999 Mar;3(1):7-12.
Hypnosis Useful in Hospital Emergency Rooms
Hypnosis can be a useful adjunct in the emergency department setting. Its efficacy in various clinical applications has been replicated in controlled studies. Application to burns, pain, pediatric procedures, surgery, psychiatric presentations (e.g., coma, somatoform disorder, anxiety, and post traumatic stress), and obstetric situations (e.g., hyperemesis, labor, and delivery) are described.
Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2000 May;18(2):327-38, x. The use of hypnosis in emergency medicine.Peebles-Kleiger MJ. Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Sciences, Menninger Clinic, Topeka, Kansas, USA. peeblemj@menninger.edu
Research on Hypnosis for Alcohol & Drug Addiction
Significantly More Methadone Addicts Quit with Hypnosis. 94% Remained Narcotic Free
Significant differences were found on all measures. The experimental group had significantly less discomfort and illicit drug use, and a significantly greater amount of cessation. At six month follow up, 94% of the subjects in the experimental group who had achieved cessation remained narcotic free.
A comparative study of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of methadone addicts. Manganiello AJ.American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 1984; 26(4): 273-9.
Hypnosis Shows 77 Percent Success Rate for Drug Addiction
Treatment has been used with 18 clients over the last 7 years and has shown a 77 percent success rate for at least a 1-year follow-up. 15 were being seen for alcoholism or alcohol abuse, 2 clients were being seen for cocaine addiction, and 1 client had a marijuana addiction
Intensive Therapy: Utilizing Hypnosis in the Treatment of Substance
Abuse Disorders American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jul 2004 by Potter, Greg

Raised Self-esteem & Serenity. Lowered Impulsivity and Anger
In a research study on Self-hypnosis for relapse prevention training with chronic drug/alcohol users. Participants were 261 veterans admitted to Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (SARRTPs). Individuals who used repeated self-hypnosis “at least 3 to 5 times a week,” at 7-week follow-up, reported the highest levels of self-esteem and serenity, and the least anger/impulsivity, in comparison to the minimal-practice and control groups.
American Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy(a publication of the American Psychological Association)
2004 Apr;46(4):281-97)
Hypnosis For Cocaine Addiction Documented Case Study
Hypnosis was successfully used to overcome a $500 (five grams) per day cocaine addiction. The subject was a female in her twenties. After approximately 8 months of addiction, she decided to use hypnosis in an attempt to overcome the addiction itself. Over the next 4 months, she used hypnosis three times a day and at the end of this period, her addiction was broken, and she has been drug free for the past 9 years. Hypnosis was the only intervention, and no support network of any kind was available.
The use of hypnosis in cocaine addiction. Page RA, Handley GW. Ohio State University, Lima
45804. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis1993 Oct;36(2):120-3.
Healing Faster After Surgery
Healed 41% faster from fracture Healed significantly faster from surgery
Two studies from Harvard Medical School show hypnosis significantly reduces the time it takes to heal.
Study 1: Six weeks after an ankle fracture, those in the hypnosis group showed the equivalent of eight and a half weeks of healing.
Study 2: Three groups of people studied after breast reduction surgery. Hypnosis group healed “significantly faster” than supportive attention group and control group.
Harvard Medical School, Carol Ginandesand Union Institute in Cincinnati, Patricia
Brooks Harvard University Gazette Online at http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/05.08/01-hypnosis.html

Alcohol and Drug Hypnosis Research

Significantly More Methadone Addicts Quit with Hypnosis. 94% Remained Narcotic Free
Significant differences were found on all measures. The experimental group had significantly less discomfort and illicit drug use, and a significantly greater amount of cessation. At six month follow up, 94% of the subjects in the experimental group who had achieved cessation remained narcotic free. A comparative study of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of methadone addicts. Manganiello AJ. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 1984; 26(4): 273-9.
Hypnosis Shows 77 Percent Success Rate for Drug Addiction
Treatment has been used with 18 clients over the last 7 years and has shown a 77 percent success rate for at least a 1-year follow-up. 15 were being seen for alcoholism or alcohol abuse, 2 clients were being seen for cocaine addiction, and 1 client had a marijuana addiction Intensive Therapy: Utilizing Hypnosis in the Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jul 2004 by Potter, Greg
Raised Self-esteem & Serenity. Lowered Impulsivity and Anger
In a research study on Self-hypnosis for relapse prevention training with chronic drug/alcohol users. Participants were 261 veterans admitted to Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (SARRTPs). Individuals who used repeated self-hypnosis “at least 3 to 5 times a week,” at 7-week follow-up, reported the highest levels of self-esteem and serenity, and the least anger/impulsivity, in comparison to the minimal-practice and control groups. American Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy (a publication of the American Psychological Association)2004 Apr;46(4):281-97)
Hypnosis For Cocaine Addiction Documented Case Study
Hypnosis was successfully used to overcome a $500 (five grams) per day cocaine addiction. The subject was a female in her twenties. After approximately 8 months of addiction, she decided to use hypnosis in an attempt to overcome the addiction itself. Over the next 4 months, she used hypnosis three times a day and at the end of this period, her addiction was broken, and she has been drug free for the past 9 years. Hypnosis was the only intervention, and no support network of any kind was available. The use of hypnosis in cocaine addiction. Page RA, Handley GW. Ohio State University, Lima
45804. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 1993 Oct; 36(2):120-3.

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