Welcome to The International Hypnosis Research Institute Web site. Our intention is to support and promote the further worldwide integration of comprehensive evidence-based research and clinical hypnotherapy with mainstream mental health, medicine, and coaching. We do so by disseminating, supporting, and conducting research, providing professional level education, advocating increased level of practitioner competency, and supporting the viability and success of clinical practitioners. Although currently over 80% of our membership is comprised of mental health practitioners, we fully recognize the role, support, involvement, and needs of those in the medical and coaching fields. This site is not intended as a source of medical or psychological advice. Tim Brunson, PhD

Pain-related emotions modulate experimental pain perception and autonomic responses

Posted At : December 3, 2005 4:42 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Pain Management

The effect of emotions on pain perception is generally recognized but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, emotions related to pain were induced in healthy volunteers using hypnosis, during 1-min immersions of the hand in painfully hot water. In Experiment 1, hypnotic suggestions were designed to induce various positive or negative emotions. Compared to a control condition with hypnotic-relaxation, negative emotions produced robust increases in pain. In Experiment 2, induction of pain-related anger and sadness were found to increase pain. Pain increases were associated with increases in self-rated desire for relief and decreases in expectation of relief, and with increases in arousal, negative affective valence and decreases in perceived control. In Experiment 3, hypnotic suggestions specifically designed to increase and decrease the desire for relief produced increases and decreases in pain, respectively. In all three experiments, emotion-induced changes in pain were most consistently found on ratings of pain unpleasantness compared to pain intensity. Changes in pain-evoked cardiac responses (R-R interval decrease), measured in experiments 2 and 3, were consistent with changes in pain unpleasantness. Correlation and multiple regression analyses suggest that negative emotions and desire for relief influence primarily pain affect and that pain-evoked autonomic responses are strongly associated with pain affect. These results confirm the hypothesized influence of the desire for relief on pain perception, and particularly on pain affect, and support the functional relation between pain affect and autonomic nociceptive responses. This study provides further experimental confirmation that pain-related emotions influence pain perception and pain-related physiological responses.

Departement de Stomatologie, Faculte de medecine dentaire, Universite de Montreal, CP. 6128, Succ. Centre-ville, Montreal, Que., Canada H3C 1J7. pierre.rainville@umontreal.ca

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BIS monitor findings during self-hypnosis

Posted At : December 3, 2005 4:23 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Anaesthesiology

We describe BIS values for a patient undergoing breast surgery under self-hypnosis in order to access the value of global surface EEG measures occurring during this process. METHODS: Following verbal consent, a BIS(TM) monitor (Aspect Medical, Newton MA) was placed and values measured while the patient performed self-hypnosis for a simple mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy. RESULTS: Thirty-nine minutes after incision the BIS value decreased transiently to 72 followed by several other transient decreases, the lowest of which was 59. Values remained at approximately 90 throughout most of the operative period. The BIS value returned to baseline after completion of the operation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the hypothesis that hypnosis is a dynamic cerebral process incorporating many changes within brain activation centers and one distinct from dissociative patterns seen under anesthesia. Current algorithms employed by the BIS(TM) monitor add little to the management of patients utilizing hypnosis for analgesia.

Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. burkle.christopher@mayo.edu

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Autogenic training as a therapy for adjustment disorder in adults

Posted At : December 3, 2005 3:23 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Mental Disorders

Autogenic training is a widely recognised psychotherapy technique. The British School of Autogenic Training cites a large list of disorders, states, and changes, where autogenic training may prove to be of help. We wanted to explore the application of autogenic training as a therapy for adjustment disorder in adults. Our sample consisted of a homogeneous group of 35 individuals, with an average age of 39.3 +/- 1.6 years, who were diagnosed with adjustment disorder, F 43.2, in accordance with ICD 10 search criteria. AIM: The aim of our study was to research the effectiveness of autogenic training as a therapy for adjustment disorder in adults, by checking the influence of autogenic training on the biophysical and biochemical indicators of adjustment disorder. METHOD: We measured the indicators of adjustment disorder and their changes in three phases: before the beginning, immediately after the beginning, and six months after the completion, of a practical course in autogenic training. We measured systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressure, brachial pulse rate as well as the levels of cortisol in plasma, of cholesterol in blood, and of glucose. During that period, autogenic training functioned as the sole therapy. RESULTS: The study confirmed our preliminary assumptions. The measurements we performed demonstrated that arterial blood pressure, pulse rate, concentration of cholesterol and cortisol, after the application of autogenic training among the subjects suffering from adjustment disorder, were lower in comparison to the initial values. These values remained lower even six months after the completion of the practical course in autogenic training. CONCLUSION: Autogenic training significantly decreases the values of physiological indicators of adjustment disorder, diminishes the effects of stress in an individual, and helps adults to cope with stress, facilitating their recuperation.

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