In this study, Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A scores for 458 college students were compared with college yearbook records of their participation in student activities. Students who scored low in susceptibility showed significantly less participation in activities than others who were either moderate or high in susceptibility. Overall, females showed higher levels of participation than males, but there was no significant interaction between gender and hypnotic susceptibility. Spectral analysis showed participation scores to be somewhat more strongly related to easier HGSHS:A items than to more difficult items in the manner predicted by two-factor theory. Closer examination of the results revealed that this effect was primarily due to the fact that low susceptible subjects participated significantly less in student activities than subjects who were either moderate or high in hypnotic susceptibility. The results suggest that future research should further examine the unique contribution of low susceptibility subjects to hypnosis theory and research.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2003 Oct;46(2):139-45. Graham KR, Marra LC, Rudski JM. Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. krg6543@aol.com

The 'default mode' network refers to cortical areas that are active in the absence of goal-directed activity. In previous studies, decreased activity in the 'default mode' has always been associated with increased activation in task-relevant areas. We show that the induction of hypnosis can reduce anterior default mode activity during rest without increasing activity in other cortical regions. We assessed brain activation patterns of high and low suggestible people while resting in the fMRI scanner and while engaged in visual tasks, in and out of hypnosis. High suggestible participants in hypnosis showed decreased brain activity in the anterior parts of the default mode circuit. In low suggestible people, hypnotic induction produced no detectable changes in these regions, but instead deactivated areas involved in alertness. The findings indicate that hypnotic induction creates a distinctive and unique pattern of brain activation in highly suggestible subjects.

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Dec;18(4):848-55. Epub 2009 Sep 25. McGeown WJ, Mazzoni G, Venneri A, Kirsch I. Department of Psychology, University of Hull, UK.

We examined two potential correlates of hypnotic suggestibility: dissociation and cognitive inhibition. Dissociation is the foundation of two of the major theories of hypnosis and other theories commonly postulate that hypnotic responding is a result of attentional abilities (including inhibition). Participants were administered the Waterloo-Stanford Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form C. Under the guise of an unrelated study, 180 of these participants also completed: a version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale that is normally distributed in non-clinical populations; a latent inhibition task, a spatial negative priming task, and a memory task designed to measure negative priming. The data ruled out even moderate correlations between hypnotic suggestibility and all the measures of dissociation and cognitive inhibition overall, though they also indicated gender differences. The results are a challenge for existing theories of hypnosis.

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Dec;18(4):837-47. Epub 2009 Aug 25. Dienes Z, Brown E, Hutton S, Kirsch I, Mazzoni G, Wright DB. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK. dienes@sussex.ac.uk

This article considers four broad classes of psychological techniques and their effects on fibromyalgia (FM) pain. A literature search identified 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and operant-behavioral therapy (OBT), five relaxation RCTs, five biofeedback RCTs, five hypnotherapy RCTs, and two writing intervention RCTs. For psychoanalytic therapy in FM, no RCTs have been published. The highest effect sizes (r = 0.53-2.14) for pain reduction are found after CBT and OBT group treatments. Relaxation as a single treatment has not been proven useful. Hypnotherapy and writing intervention have demonstrated mild treatment effects, whereas psychological treatment is effective in FM pain. Considering the heterogeneity of FM, the promising effects of matched interventions such as CBT and OBT with pharmacotherapy, exercise, and other treatment domains require further research.

Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2009 Dec;11(6):443-50. Thieme K, Gracely RH. Center for Neurosensory Disorders, University of North Carolina, CB#7280, 3330 Thurston Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. kati_thieme@dentistry.unc.edu

Participants of low and high hypnotic susceptibility were tested on a temporal order judgement task, both with and without hypnosis. Judgements were made of the order of presentation of light flashes appearing in first one hemi-field then the other. There were differences in the inter-stimulus intervals required accurately to report the order, depending upon which hemi-field led. This asymmetry was most marked in hypnotically susceptible participants and reversed when they were hypnotised. This implies not only that brain activity changes in hypnosis, but also that there is a difference in brain function between people of low and high hypnotic susceptibility. The latter exhibited a faster-acting left hemisphere in the waking state, but faster right when hypnotised.

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Nov 7. Naish PL. Dept. of Psychology, The Open University, Briggs Building, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: Pain is a major issue after burns even when large doses of opioids are prescribed. The study focused on the impact of a pain protocol using hypnosis on pain intensity, anxiety, clinical course, and costs. METHODS: All patients admitted to the ICU, aged >18 years, with an ICU stay >24h, accepting to try hypnosis, and treated according to standardized pain protocol were included. Pain was scaled on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) (mean of daily multiple recordings), and basal and procedural opioid doses were recorded. Clinical outcome and economical data were retrieved from hospital charts and information system, respectively. Treated patients were matched with controls for sex, age, and the burned surface area. FINDINGS: Forty patients were admitted from 2006 to 2007: 17 met exclusion criteria, leaving 23 patients, who were matched with 23 historical controls. Altogether patients were 36+/-14 years old and burned 27+/-15%BSA. The first hypnosis session was performed after a median of 9 days. The protocol resulted in the early delivery of higher opioid doses/24h (p<0.0001) followed by a later reduction with lower pain scores (p<0.0001), less procedural related anxiety, less procedures under anaesthesia, reduced total grafting requirements (p=0.014), and lower hospital costs per patient. CONCLUSION: A pain protocol including hypnosis reduced pain intensity, improved opioid efficiency, reduced anxiety, improved wound outcome while reducing costs. The protocol guided use of opioids improved patient care without side effects, while hypnosis had significant psychological benefits.

Burns. 2009 Oct 30. Berger MM, Davadant M, Marin C, Wasserfallen JB, Pinget C, Maravic P, Koch N, Raffoul W, Chiolero RL. Service of Intensive Care Medicine & Burns Centre, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Introduction. Hypnosis is not only intrinsically interesting, but it can be used instrumentally as a powerful tool to investigate phenomena outside its immediate domain. In focusing on instrumental hypnosis research, we first sketch the many contributions of hypnosis across a range of areas in experimental psychopathology. In particular, we summarise the historical and more recent uses of hypnosis to create and explore clinically relevant, temporary delusions. Methods. We then describe in detail the steps that hypnosis researchers take in constructing a hypnotic paradigm to map the features and processes shared by clinical and hypnotic delusions, as well as their impact on information processing (including autobiographical memory). We illustrate with hypnotic versions of mirrored-self misidentification, somatoparaphrenia, alien control, and identity delusions. Results. Finding indicate that hypnotic analogues can produce compelling delusions with features that are strikingly similar to their clinical counterparts. These similarities encompass phenomenological features of delusions, delusional resistance to challenge, and autobiographical memory during delusions. Conclusion. We recognise important methodological issues and limitations of such hypnotic analogues, including: indexing response (behaviour vs. experience), alternative explanations (e.g., social compliance), the need for converging data, the need for close and continuing dialogue between the clinic and the laboratory, and generalisability of the findings.

Cogn Neuropsychiatry. 2009 Oct 28:1-31. Cox RE, Barnier AJ. Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Full Title: No Change in Rectal Sensitivity After Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy in Children With Irritible Bowel Syndrome

OBJECTIVES:Gut-directed hypnotherapy (HT) has recently been shown to be highly effective in treating children with functional abdominal pain (FAP) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study was conducted to determine the extent to which this treatment success is because of an improvement in rectal sensitivity.METHODS:A total of 46 patients (aged 8-18 years) with FAP (n=28) or IBS (n=18) were randomized to either 12 weeks of standard medical therapy (SMT) or HT. To assess rectal sensitivity, a pressure-controlled intermittent distension protocol (barostat) was performed before and after the therapy.RESULTS:Rectal sensitivity scores changed in SMT patients from 15.1+/-7.3 mm Hg at baseline to 18.6+/-8.5 mm Hg after 12 weeks of treatment (P=0.09) and in HT patients from 17.0+/-9.2 mm Hg to 22.5+/-10.1 mm Hg (P=0.09). The number of patients with rectal hypersensitivity decreased from 6 of 18 to 0 of 18 in the HT group (P=0.04) vs. 6 of 20 to 4 of 20 in the SMT group (P=0.67). No relationship was established between treatment success and rectal pain thresholds. Rectal sensitivity scores at baseline were not correlated with intensity, frequency, or duration of abdominal pain.CONCLUSIONS:Clinical success achieved with HT cannot be explained by improvement in rectal sensitivity. Furthermore, no association could be found between rectal barostat findings and clinical symptoms in children with FAP or IBS. Further studies are necessary to shed more light on both the role of rectal sensitivity in pediatric FAP and IBS and the mechanisms by which hypnotherapy results in improvement of clinical symptoms.Am J Gastroenterol advance online publication, 27 October 2009; doi:10.1038/ajg.2009.613.

Am J Gastroenterol. 2009 Oct 27. Vlieger AM, van den Berg MM, Menko-Frankenhuis C, Bongers ME, Tromp E, Benninga MA. Department of Pediatrics, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.

Background Although increases in obesity over the past 30 years have adversely affected the health of the U.S. population, there have been concomitant improvements in health because of reductions in smoking. Having a better understanding of the joint effects of these trends on longevity and quality of life will facilitate more efficient targeting of health care resources.

Methods For each year from 2005 through 2020, we forecasted life expectancy and quality-adjusted life expectancy for a representative 18-year-old, assuming a continuation of past trends in smoking (based on data from the National Health Interview Survey for 1978 through 1979, 1990 through 1991, 1999 through 2001, and 2004 through 2006) and past trends in body-mass index (BMI) (based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 1971 through 1975, 1988 through 1994, 1999 through 2002, and 2003 through 2006). The 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey was used to examine the effects of smoking and BMI on health-related quality of life.

Results The negative effects of increasing BMI overwhelmed the positive effects of declines in smoking in multiple scenarios. In the base case, increases in the remaining life expectancy of a typical 18-year-old are held back by 0.71 years or 0.91 quality-adjusted years between 2005 and 2020. If all U.S. adults became nonsmokers of normal weight by 2020, we forecast that the life expectancy of an 18-year-old would increase by 3.76 life-years or 5.16 quality-adjusted years.

Conclusions If past obesity trends continue unchecked, the negative effects on the health of the U.S. population will increasingly outweigh the positive effects gained from declining smoking rates. Failure to address continued increases in obesity could result in an erosion of the pattern of steady gains in health observed since early in the 20th century.

Susan T. Stewart, Ph.D., David M. Cutler, Ph.D., and Allison B. Rosen, M.D., Sc.D. From the Harvard University Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement, Boston (S.T.S.); the Department of Economics, Harvard University (D.M.C.), and the National Bureau of Economic Research (S.T.S., D.M.C., A.B.R.) -- both in Cambridge, MA; and the Departments of Internal Medicine and Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Ann Arbor (A.B.R.).

This article reports on the use of hypnosis to facilitate the diagnostic process and the treatment of an unusual case of adult psychogenic amnesia. An Iraqi citizen living in the U.S. developed an atypical case of Dissociative Amnesia, Systematized type, post-automotive collision. The amnesia presented with features encompassing complete loss of the patient's native language. Dissociation theory as a conceptualization of hysterical reactions was employed as the basis in the formulation of this case. The differential diagnosis was facilitated by the Hypnotic Diagnostic Interview for Hysterical Disorders (HDIHD) Adult Form, an interview tool specifically designed for cases such as this. Treatment consisted exclusively of ego strengthening and time projection approaches in hypnosis. It was hypothesized that, as the coping capacities became more viable, the dissociative symptoms would remiss. After 6 weekly visits the patient regained complete command of his native language. Follow-up at 6 months indicated that the patient remained devoid of symptoms.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2009 Oct;52(2):123-31. Iglesias A, Iglesias A. phdalex@aol.com

Full Title: A concurrent validity study between the Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP) and the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale for Adults (SHCS:A) in an inpatient sample: a brief report.

The Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP) is a brief, standardized assessment of hypnotizability which takes 5-10 minutes to administer. The Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale for Adults (SHCS:A) is a different clinical measure of hypnotizability that takes about 20-25 minutes to administer. Although both scales purport to measure the same thing, they were based on different theories of hypnosis and constructed using different psychometric techniques. The present investigation is a concurrent validation study comparing scores on the two instruments in a sample of 24 inpatients. The correlation between the SHCS:A and HIP Induction score was 0.41 (p < .01). However, the Eye Roll Sign (ERS) did not correlate significantly with either the SHCS:A (.04, ns) or the HIP-IND score (-.05, ns). These results indicate that while scores on the HIP and SHCS:A are significantly correlated the inter-correlations are not high enough to consider them as interchangeable measures. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2009 Oct;52(2):89-93. Gritzalis N, Oster M, Frischholz EJ. John J. Madden Mental Health Center, Hines, IL 60141-7000, USA. nina.gritzalis@illinois.gov

This research was aimed at learning more about the different psychological mechanisms underlying children's suggestibility to leading questions, on the one hand, and children's suggestibility to negative feedback, on the other, by distinguishing between interview questions concerning different types of information. Results showed that, unlike the developmental pattern of children's suggestibility to leading questions, the developmental pattern of children's suggestibility to negative feedback differed depending on whether the interview questions concerned external facts (physical states and events) or internal facts (mental states and events). This difference was not manifested in response to questions concerning central versus peripheral facts. Results are interpreted in terms of the hypothesis that children's suggestibility to negative feedback is differently affected by "Theory-of-Mind" abilities than children's suggestibility to leading questions. Further research is needed in order to test this hypothesis.

Cogn Process. 2009 Aug;10(3):199-207. Epub 2009 Jul 1. Hünefeldt T, Rossi-Arnaud C, Furia A. Department of Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy. thomas.huenefeldt@uniroma1.it

To analyze the effects of a Qigong program on various parameters of unstimulated saliva, including volume, pH and secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) level.

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A randomized controlled trial compared a group of bulimic patients receiving 6 weeks of individual guided imagery therapy with a control group receiving standard care. Fifty participants who met the criteria for bulimia nervosa completed the study. Measures of eating disorder symptoms, psychological functioning and the response to the guided imagery experience were used. The guided imagery treatment substantially reduced bingeing and purging episodes; the imagery group had a 74% mean reduction of bingeing and a 73% reduction of vomiting. The imagery treatment also demonstrated improvement in attitudes about eating, dieting and body weight in comparison to the control group. In addition, the guided imagery group demonstrated improvement on psychological measures of aloneness and the ability for self-comforting. The study concludes that guided imagery is an effective treatment for bulimia nervosa, at least in the short-term.

Many theories of hypnotic responding have proposed that differences in hypnotic trait rely on differences in frontal attentional functions. Evidence of hypnotizability-related attentional abilities are, however, very scant. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between hypnotizability and executive control components of attention in the spatial domain. We chose the Attention Network Test that enables to analyze alerting, orienting and executive control functions by measuring reaction times (RTs) to targets cued for different locations in space. According to Posner theory, alerting, orienting and executive control effects were found in both groups. No differences between highly susceptible (Highs) and low susceptible individuals (Lows) on executive control functions were found. However, in Highs alerting was significantly smaller than in Lows and Highs were significantly faster than Lows in the no and central cue conditions. These findings suggest that Highs would be endowed with a basal higher efficiency in achieving and maintaining their readiness to respond to incoming stimuli. This relation between hypnotizability and alerting, is discussed in terms of a possible more efficient noradrenergic activity driven by frontal attentional systems.

Castellani E, D'Alessandro L, Sebastiani L. Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Pisa, Via S. Zeno 31, 56127 Pisa, Italy.

by John Krukowski, C.H.

History:
The subject a physically fit athletic male 47 suffered a stroke while jogging when he was 41. The resulting paralysis was loss of use of left side. After 4 years of conventional therapy and some holistic therapy he regained a limited 25% use of his left side. It appeared the limits of this therapy for him had been reached with little or no improvement for the next 2.8 years.

Prior to hypnotherapy:
Visual observations; Subject's left foot turned out 45 degrees, Subject's left knee not flexing during walking with compensating movement transferred to hip. Subject's Left arm and hand had only about 3% usage with little more than the ability to make fingers move as a group and not independently. Also the left arm held to his chest with hand in a claw shape typical of many stroke sufferers. Visual muscle spasms in left leg. Subject's physical limitations in mobility were inability to negotiate steps higher that 8 inches(20 cm) or walking more that 150 feet (50 meters) without severe muscle spasms.

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This randomized, controlled clinical trial from Concord Hospital, New Hampshire, tests the effect of two mind-body-spirit nursing interventions - guided imagery and music therapy - on postoperative pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and length of stay, in 84 patients undergoing gynecologic laparoscopy.

During the perioperative period, patients were randomly assigned to one of 3 interventions: guided imagery audiotapes (GI), music audiotapes (MU), or standard care (C), and outcome measures were evaluated.

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Italian researchers at the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The University of Torino reviewed the literature to see how migraine headaches are treated during pregnancy, when hormones exacerbate the condition, while many standard drugs are contra-indicated.

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A recent meta-analysis by the Department of Women's Anaesthesia of Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia looked at the effects of hypnosis for pain relief during childbirth. Embase, Pubmed, and the Cochrane library 2004.1 were searched for clinical trials where hypnosis during pregnancy and childbirth was compared with a non-hypnosis intervention, no treatment or placebo. There were no language restrictions.

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The same principal investigator, E. Solberg, studied the effects of meditation on competitive shooting performance. Twenty-five elite shooters performed standardized test shooting, indoors and outdoors. Their performance was assessed before and after regular meditation training.

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When Dr. Rogerio Lobo, Chair of Columbia Presbyterian's Department of OBGYN, and Dr. Kwang Y. Cha, a researcher at Cha Hospital in Seoul, studied the effect of intercessory prayer on the pregnancy rates of 219 women, aged 26-46 years old, being treated with in vitro fertilization, they found that the prayed-for group had double the pregnancy rate (50% vs. 26%, P = .0013) and double the implantation rate (16.3% vs. 8%, P = .0005).

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In 1998, a research team led by Linda Halpin at the Inova Heart Center of Inova Fairfax Hospital compared cardiac surgical outcomes between two groups of heart patients - with and without guided imagery. A questionnaire was developed to assess the benefits of the guided imagery program to those who elected to participate in it, and, in addition, data from the hospital financial cost-accounting database were collected and matched to the two groups of patients.

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Meta-analysis by investigators at the Department of Women's Anaesthesia of Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, looked at evidence regarding the effects of hypnosis for pain relief during childbirth.

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Researchers at Peninsula Medical School, at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the UK conducted a review of the literature to determine the effectiveness of complementary therapies on reducing body weight.

Researchers at Peninsula Medical School, at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the UK conducted a review of the literature to determine the effectiveness of complementary therapies on reducing body weight.

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This study examines the effect of adding hypnosis to a behavioral weight-management program on short- and long-term weight change. One hundred nine subjects, ranging in age from 17 to 67, completed a behavioral treatment either with or without the addition of hypnosis.

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Researchers from Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK, looked to see whether hypnotherapy was effective for weight loss. A randomized, controlled, parallel study looked at two forms of hypnotherapy - one directed at stress reduction and the other at intake reduction, as compared to dietary advice alone, in 60 obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

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Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Connecticut published a 3rd meta-analysis of the effect of adding hypnosis to cognitive-behavioral treatments for weight reduction, using additional data from 2 new studies, and computational inaccuracies in both previous meta-analyses were corrected.

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Jeff Rossman, PhD, Director of Behavioral Medicine at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, conducted a study with 16 staff members as part of a general behavioral/educational program for weight loss. As with the Joslin study, half the group used the Weight Loss tape; the other half just listened to Music II. The group that listened daily to the weight loss guided imagery tape while attending an 8-week weight reduction program, lost an average of 8.5 pounds. The group that listened daily to just the music from the weight loss tape, while participating in the same program, lost an average of 4.25 pounds, exactly half. The study ran for eight weeks, and results are being tabulated now, even as you read this. Rossman says that at superficial glance, the guided imagery group seems to have done extremely well.

Researchers from the University of Connecticut at Storrs ran a third meta-analysis of the effect of adding hypnosis to a behavioral program for weight reduction. They collected data from 2 more studies, and corrected for computational inaccuracies in the 2 previous meta-analyses. Just as with the Canyon Ranch pilot study with our Weight Loss imagery, it continues to look like adding a right brain intervention like hypnosis and/or imagery to a behavioral program will double weight loss.

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Researchers from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Kowloon, in a randomized, controlled clinical trial, studied the efficacy of mental imagery at promoting relearning for people after a stroke. Subjects were forty-six inpatients, 60 years of age or older, after a cerebral infarction, who were patients in an inpatient rehabilitation stroke unit in Hong Kong. They were randomized to receive 15 sessions (1 hour a day for 3 weeks) of either the mental imagery program or the conventional functional training intervention on the relearning of daily living tasks.

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Researchers from the Department of Rehabilitation, Laval University and Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec City, ran a controlled, clinical trial examining the potential of using "mental practice" (MP) to promote the learning of 2 mobility tasks in people who suffered a stroke.

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Tiller, McCraty and Atkinson of the Institute of HeartMath found that subjects who were trained to use a heart-focused stress-reduction technique that shifted their attention away from stress and toward their hearts, while focusing on feelings of love, caring and appreciation, showed evidence of increased cardiac coherence and stability. This supports the imagery methodology we've been using on many of our tapes.

A placebo controlled, randomized study by J.A. Blumenthal et al, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 1997; 157: 2213-2223, (called Stress Management and Exercise Training in Cardiac Patients with Myocardial Ischemia: Effects on Prognosis and Evaluation of Mechanisms) showed that teaching stress reduction techniques to cardiac patients reduced their risk of having further heart problems by a whopping 75%.

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Researchers at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention evaluated the effects of stress management on the quality of life, functional capacity, and heart rate variability in a pilot study of 33 elderly patients with New York Heart Association class I-III congestive heart failure. Subjects were randomized to one of two treatment groups or a wait-listed control group.

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Researchers at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention evaluated the effects of stress management on the quality of life, functional capacity, and heart rate variability in a pilot study of 33 elderly patients with New York Heart Association class I-III congestive heart failure. Subjects were randomized to one of two treatment groups or a wait-listed control group. The 14 participants who completed the treatment attended eight training sessions during a 10-week period.

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Researchers from Texas A&M University's Health Science Center conducted a preliminary study of the efficacy of a 3-session hypnosis protocol for smoking cessation.

Thirty 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.

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That dynamic Danish research machine from Aarhus University, R. Zachariae, the same fellow who brought you scores of studies about the effects of hypnosis and imagery on reactions to poison ivy, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and other histamine and autoimmune afflictions, also did a nice study with psoriasis. We get a lot of questions about psoriasis and imagery, so we're pleased to show you this: Fifty-one patients with psoriasis vulgaris were randomly assigned to a treatment group (where they got 7 individual sessions over 12 weeks, learning stress management, guided imagery and relaxation skills) or a control group. All subjects were measured on the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Total Sign Score (TSS) and Laser Doppler Skin Blood Flow (LDBF) at weeks #4, #8 and after treatment was completed.

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Researchers at the University of Iowa studied how 3 conditions: stress, relaxation and a control condition, can affect an inflammatory response artificially induced by injecting capsaicin, the pungent compound in chili peppers, under the skin. 50 subjects 28 men and 22 women were pre-trained in relaxation, using an imagery-based relaxation tape, and then randomized to one of the experimental groups a 20-minute stress test, a relaxation tape or a video control, followed by a capsaicin injection in the forearm. Digitized measurements of flare were taken for 1 hour after the injection, as well as measurements at regular intervals of cardiovascular variables, cortisol, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, and norepinephrine.

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Researchers from the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan evaluate a post-treatment self-regulation program of self-management for 25 breast cancer patients and find it highly effective

Researchers from the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan evaluated a program of self-management for breast cancer patients after treatment. The program, called Taking CHARGE, involved a two-pronged approach building on self-regulation principles to (1) equip women with self-management skills to address concerns following breast cancer treatment, and (2) provide information about common survivorship topics.

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Investigators at Jaume I University reported their findings on the effectiveness of the "Talk to Me" interactive program on treating fear of public speaking. This internet-based, self-applied intervention has several components, including a diagnostic assessment, a structured treatment, and an outcome protocol that evaluates treatment efficacy in a continuous manner. One case study revealed a significant decrease in levels of fear and avoidance related to speaking in public. However, a pilot study is needed to confirm this promising but inconclusive case study.

Citation: Botella C, Hofmann SG, Moscovitch DA.A self-applied, Internet-based intervention for fear of public speaking. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2004 Aug; 60 (8): pages 821-30.