Contemporary hypnosis : the journal of the British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis最新文献

A review of the world literature indicates that there is a multiplicity of treatment approaches for hyperhidrosis. Most of these concentrate on the symptom itself and range from topical applications to sympathectomy. This paper demonstrates the value of an integrative approach in which behaviour therapy, combined with hypnosis, is used in conjunction with psychodynamic psychotherapy. This is a case study of a 58-year-old single man who, due to his severe social anxiety, had suffered from excessive sweating throughout his life. The dual approach to treatment concentrates both on the hyperhidrosis as well as its causation. The patient made an excellent recovery and this was maintained over a two year period. Copyright © 2007 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This report describes the successful treatment of a 33-year-old Chinese woman who had affect dysregulation and chronic trauma symptoms resulting from an intra-familial childhood sexual abuse. A strategically phased multimodal treatment tailored to the needs of the client was used. The treatment framework consisted of three phases: training on affect management, strengthening the ego and re-processing the trauma. Hypnosis was utilized as a means for grounding and stabilizing the overwhelming emotions; for addressing the negative self-schema; and also for re-processing the traumatic memories in a safe and controlled way. Data from self-reports, observation and objective measures indicates a significant reduction in the trauma symptoms. Copyright © 2007 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cognitive functions associated with the frontal lobes of the brain may be specifically involved in hypnosis. Thus, the frontal area of the brain has recently been of great interest when searching for neural changes associated with hypnosis. We tested the hypothesis that EEG during pure hypnosis would differ from the normal non-hypnotic EEG especially above the frontal area of the brain. The composition of brain oscillations was examined in a broad frequency band (1–30 Hz) in the electroencephalogram (EEG) of a single virtuoso subject. Data was collected in two independent data collection periods separated by one year. The ‘hypnotic’ and ‘non-hypnotic’ conditions were repeated multiple times during each data acquisition session. We found that pure hypnosis induced reorganization in the composition of brain oscillations especially in prefrontal and right occipital EEG channels. Additionally, hypnosis was characterized by consistent right-side-dominance asymmetry. In the prefrontal EEG channels the composition of brain oscillations included spectral patterns during hypnosis that were completely different from those observed during non-hypnosis. Furthermore, the EEG spectral patterns observed overall during the hypnotic condition did not return to the pre-hypnotic baseline EEG immediately when hypnosis was terminated. This suggests that for the brain, the return to a normal neurophysiological baseline condition after hypnosis is a time-consuming process. The present results suggest that pure hypnosis is characterized by an increase in alertness and heightened attention, reflected as cognitive and neuronal activation. Taken together, the present data provide support for the hypothesis that in a very highly hypnotizable person (a hypnotic virtuoso) hypnosis as such may be accompanied by a changed pattern of neural activity in the brain. Copyright © 2007 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This report presents qualitative accounts from a pilot clinical study of six chronic stroke subjects. Our hypothesis was that a hypnotic procedure would help overcome learned nonuse, which is thought to contribute to impaired motor function of the paretic upper limb in chronic stroke patients. The hypnotic procedure involved selecting motor tasks that would challenge each subject, then (1) imagined practice of the challenging motor task revivified from prior to the stroke alternated with imagined practice in the present; (2) imagined practice in the present alternated with imagined practice during active-alert hypnosis; and (3) active-alert imagined practice alternated with actual physical performance. We observed qualitative improvements in motor function related to increased range of motion, increased grip strength, and reduced spasticity of the paretic upper limb. Subjects consistently reported an improved outlook, increased motivation, as well as greater awareness of and decreased effort to perform motor tasks with the paretic limb. Copyright © 2006 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aims: The validation of a new paper and pencil test (called Dyadic Interactional Harmony (DIH) questionnaire).

Method: Data of two samples of standardized experimental hypnosis sessions (E1 and E2) are presented. In E1, 232 subjects (Ss) have been hypnotized using the standard protocol of SHSS:A; in E2, 110 Ss participated in group sessions of WSGC.

Various well established measures of hypnosis (e.g. hypnotic susceptibility, AIM, PCI,) served as validating criteria for the 4 subscales of DIH: 1 Intimacy; 2 Communion; 3 Playfulness; 4 Tension.

Conclusions: The DIH subscales measured the way participants emotionally evaluated their session and the hypnotic relationship with Intimacy having the highest explanatory value. The hypnotizability of the Ss only moderately correlated with DIH subscales. Some characteristic differences were found regarding the pattern of relationship between the DIH subscales and the state effects of hypnosis between the hypnotists (Hs) and Ss.

The values of DIH are closest to that of the AIM Archaic Involvement measure (especially in cases of Hs), but seems to be independent from most of the phenomenological aspects of the hypnotic trance (especially in cases of Ss). The DIH is a promising measure with which to tap the interactional aspects of hypnotic relationship. Copyright © 2006 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.