American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis最新文献

Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS) is associated with significant psychological and psychiatric comorbidities, including anxiety, depression, and psychosis. This case series explores the use of clinical hypnosis as a treatment to attenuate comorbid mental symptoms and enhance quality of life for individuals with VCFS. Sixteen cases aged 6 to 38 with genetically confirmed VCFS and psychological disorders were taught self-hypnosis and positive reframing. Caregivers assisted participants with practicing self-hypnosis and monitoring progress. Outcomes were assessed qualitatively based on symptomatic improvements reported by caregivers and patients across clinical visits. Treatment efficacy appeared influenced by patient engagement, caregiver support, and strategically directed hypnotic suggestions. Findings suggest therapy with hypnosis appears to be a low-cost, non-pharmacological approach for reducing anxiety, improving emotional-regulation, and alleviating some psychotic symptoms in VCFS.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder that is characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel habits and has a significant impact on quality of life. The current study aimed to assess the efficacy of hypnotherapy as a management strategy of IBS. This is a systematic review and meta-analysis that depended on randomized controlled trials to achieve the aims of the study. The main outcomes of the current review included abdominal pain reduction, dropout rates, and improved level of quality of life with pooled estimate cacluation for these outcomes using a random-effects model. Sixteen randomized controlled studies were included in the current review. Across studies, 40% to 81% of subjects experienced improvement of abdominal symptoms, with group hypnotherapy frequently matching individual sessions in terms of efficiency. The meta-analysis reported that the pooled rate of dropout among 12 studies was 8.0% with 95% confidence interval between 5% and13.0%. In addition, the strategy is associated with significant improvements in quality of life and reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms. The results of the current review confirm the important role of hypnotherapy as an effective and tolerable intervention for IBS.

Some individuals, when recalling or reliving a traumatic event, view it as something that they see happening to an image of themselves (observer perspective) versus seeing it from their original, internal viewpoint (field perspective). Twelve individuals who experienced flashbacks from the observer perspective, and who had vivid imaginative abilities, were given active-alert hypnotic suggestions that rapidly deactivated their flashbacks. The rationale for this approach is a combination of three theoretical frameworks: Putnam's Discrete Behavioral States Theory, the Predictive Processing framework, and Hilgard's concept of a Hidden Observer. This theoretical model conceptualizes posttraumatic flashbacks as activations of trauma-induced discrete behavioral states in patients who responded to a traumatic event by creating two simultaneous, and competing, types of states, one with a subjectively altered model of reality and one with a more objectively accurate model. Suggestions given without inducing trance deactivated flashbacks rapidly by suggesting that patients use their imagination to alter the images of themselves in the traumatic scenes. The procedure, the Move to a Safe Place intervention, takes only a few minutes to administer, and this article provides detailed instructions for how to provide it.

Self-injury, often triggered by emotional distress, is linked to a decline in adolescents' quality of life, affecting their emotional, social, and psychological well-being. This study explores the effectiveness of a hypnotic-oriented counseling case series in improving the quality of life of adolescents who engage in self-injury. Using a case series design with A-B-A observational structure, three adolescents identified with self-injury and average levels of quality of life participated in five individual counseling sessions. The sessions focused on releasing negative emotions, fostering positive affect, enhancing interpersonal relationships, and finding meaning in life. Data collected before, during, and after the intervention revealed noticeable improvements in participants' quality of life during the intervention and at a three-week follow-up, indicating positive short-term outcomes. The results show that hypnosis-oriented counseling is a promising approach to reduce self-injurious behavior in the short-term. Further research is recommended to assess its long-term effectiveness in broader and more diverse populations.

Crafting clinical interventions that are effective is of paramount importance in the therapeutic endeavor. How one conceptualizes people, intra and interpersonal factors, and the interplay between mind, body, and spirit, informs, and influences how one intervenes. In this journal paper, the concept of "gift wrapping" is employed to convey a way of conceptualizing aspects of the therapeutic encounter and the presentation of therapeutic interventions. It is rooted in Hypnotically Informed Psychotherapy (HIP) (Staffin, 2024a, in press). With HIP, the conscious mind is depotentiated, thus freeing up the unconscious mind. This movement from what Alldredge and Elkins (2023) refer to as the rational system to the experiential system is a central pillar of Hypnotically Informed Psychotherapy. HIP is an approach that relies on the associative manner in which the unconscious mind "thinks." It is a blending and integration of the microdynamics of induction outlined by Erickson etal. (1976), and the "Principles and core competencies of Ericksonian therapy" - Tailoring, Utilization, Strategic, Destabilization, Experiential, and Naturalistic - articulated by Short (2019). Gift wrapping is a naturalistic approach that relies on the core competencies of utilization and tailoring. As there are often engaging and enigmatic elements to the content that is gift wrapped, it further serves to fixate attention and depotentiate conscious sets. Gift wrapping is just one of many ways that this transition from the rational system to the experiential system can be fostered. The intent is to provide fertile ground upon which the seeds of interventions can be sown.

Emetophobia (fear of vomiting) is a persistent and severe specific phobia that can cause significant dysfunction in everyday life. It is an understudied phobia for which there is no manualized treatment method. The most commonly used technique for treating emetophobia is CBT involving exposure therapy. In this case report, we present a 15-year-old who underwent a variety of treatments used for emetophobia and OCD related to his phobia, and anxiety, beginning at the age of 5 years. Nonetheless, the patient's anxiety intensified significantly during adolescence. He began relying on his parents' reassurance multiple times a day to ensure he was safe. Despite the patient's engagement in traditional forms of exposure-response prevention (ERP) therapy, his symptoms were only greatly decreased following subconscious-facilitated ERP (sERP), defined as a hypnotically facilitated procedure wherein the patient's subconscious directs spontaneous imaginal exposures without conscious initiation. The novel use of hypnosis to facilitate sERP outlined in this paper may function as a workaround in the case of conscious resistance to ERP treatments. More research is needed to define the potential of sERP in the treatment of emetophobia.

Patients with ischemic heart disease exhibit lower subjective well-being. Although hypnosis involving imagery may enhance their well-being, its implementation remains inadequately investigated. Therefore, this feasibility study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of an online hypnotic guided imagery intervention for improving subjective well-being and the occurrence of adverse events in these patients. Ten sex-matched participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group receiving three hypnotic sessions or a control group getting two non-hypnotic sessions, followed by a delayed hypnosis intervention after the posttest. Hypnotic sessions encompassed induction, guided imagery problem-solving, and reinforcement of positive change. The feasibility, acceptability, and potential effects on subjective well-being were evaluated through qualitative feedback and descriptive statistics. The results revealed that online hypnosis was feasible, with the therapist successfully delivering online hypnosis without issues and participants experiencing relaxation, emotional release, and better sleep. The descriptive statistics showed that the experimental group demonstrated greater enhancement in subjective well-being than the control group. While two subjects reported mild dizziness, no serious adverse events were reported. The findings suggest that online hypnosis may be a promising intervention for promoting subjective well-being in ischemic heart disease patients. However, these discoveries require confirmation with larger samples and evaluation of unfavorable effects.

First-year university students often experience increased psychological distress during adaptation. Guided by the Dual-Factor Model, this study evaluated a combined intervention of mandala art therapy and Hypnotic Relaxation Therapy for Well-Being (HRT-WB) in reducing negative symptoms and enhancing well-being. Twenty-eight students with low mental health scores were randomly assigned to an experimental group (8-week intervention) or a control group (routine counseling). Outcomes were measured using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and post-intervention interviews. The experimental group showed significant increases in life satisfaction and reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress, The experimental group showed significant increases in life satisfaction and reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress. These effects were confirmed by mixed-design ANOVA and ANCOVA. Thematic analysis of interviews indicated enhanced self-awareness, emotional expression, and relaxation. These findings support the integration of mandala art therapy and HRT-WB in university counseling to address student mental health needs.

With the evolution of therapeutic approaches to controlling anxiety, hypnosis emerged and is now also being applied in the field of dentistry. Despite this, there is still little evidence of the application of hypnosis in the field. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the use of hypnosis as an alternative for reducing dental anxiety in patients at a school clinic at a public university. The 39 patients underwent restorative dental treatments of the same complexity, where no intervention was applied at the first appointment and a previous hypnosis session took place at the second appointment. The instrument used to assess the patients' level of anxiety was the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale. The results obtained were statistically significant (p < .001), showing that hypnosis was effective in reducing anxiety levels. The Corah Dental Anxiety Scale showed an average of 5.58 in the session in which the patients underwent hypnosis, compared to an average of 8.28 for the session in which there was no hypnosis. Thus, from this study, hypnosis proved to be an effective strategy for reducing dental anxiety.