Ericksonian hypnosis in chronic care support groups.

This Rogerian study examined how traditional and Ericksonian hypnotherapeutic support groups facilitated self-defined health-promoting goals and power as knowing participation in change for 49 participants with chronic physical illness. The participants were randomly assigned to either a traditional support group or an Ericksonian hypnotherapeutic support group. Measurements of power and self-defined health-promoting goals were obtained seven times over a 10-week period. The results indicated that both the traditional support groups and the Ericksonian hypnotherapeutic support groups experienced significantly enhanced power and progressed significantly toward their health-promoting goals. Correlations for the self-defined health-promoting goals and power progressively and significantly increased through time. This study supports Barrett's claim that power relates to health.

Nurs Sci Q. 2007 Oct;20(4):357-69. Larkin DM. The College of New Rochelle, School of Nursing, New Rochelle, New York, USA.