Tim Brunson DCH

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

Stress Management Improves Long-Term Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes

Posted At : December 18, 2006 3:19 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Stress reduction techniques such as relaxation and breathing exercises can help lower A1c (HbA1c) levels by as much as 1% or more, according to principle investigator, Richard Surwit of Duke University Medical Center.

The study worked with 108 patients with type 2 (adult onset) diabetes. All patients took part in 5 30-minute educational sessions about diabetes. Half also got stress management training as well. There were no differences in weight, diet or exercise between the 2 groups.

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Long-term Improvement in Functional Dyspepsia using Hypnotherapy

Posted At : December 18, 2006 3:19 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


This study assessed the efficacy of hypnotherapy in treating functional dyspepsia (FD). A total of 126 patients were randomized to either a hypnotherapy condition, a supportive therapy plus placebo medication condition, or a medical treatment condition, for a total of 16 weeks of treatment.

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Hypnosis Treatment for Severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Posted At : December 17, 2006 2:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


A team of researchers from UNC Chapel Hill, interested in learning how hypnosis manages to improve irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), designed two studies that measured and separated out possible physiological mechanisms from psychological ones.

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Effect of Meditation on Respiratory System, Cardiovascular System and Lipid Profile

Posted At : December 17, 2006 2:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Respritory Ailments


Researchers from B. J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, India, studied numeric measures of respiratory function, cardiovascular parameters and lipid profiles of those practicing Raja Yoga meditation. The profiles of short and longterm meditators were compared with those of non-meditators.

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Imagery and Tonsillectomy in Children

Posted At : December 17, 2006 2:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Surgery


Investigators at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center conducted a randomized, controlled, clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of imagery, in addition to routine analgesics, in reducing tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy pain and anxiety after ambulatory surgery (AS) and at home.

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Tape recorded hypnosis in oral and maxillofacial surgery--basics and first clinical experience

Posted At : December 16, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Surgery


Surgical treatment of diseases of the oral and maxillofacial region under local anaesthesia is quite commonly restricted by limited patient compliance. 'Medical Hypnosis' could be an alternative to treatment under pharmacological sedation. With this method, both autosuggestive and other suggestive procedures are used for anxiolysis, relaxation, sedation and analgesia of the patient.

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The phenomenology of deep hypnosis: quiescent and physically active

Posted At : December 16, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: General


To study the phenomenology of hypnotic virtuosos, the author employed a 2 (hypnosis vs. control) x 3 (quiescent, pedaling a stationary bike, having a motor pedal the bike) within-subjects design with quantitative and qualitative measures.

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Reality monitoring in hypnosis: a real-simulating analysis

Posted At : December 16, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: General


The extent to which hypnotic suggestions are perceived as real is central to understanding hypnotic response. This study indexed the reality attributed to hypnotic suggestion through subtle projection of a visual image during simultaneous suggestion for a visual hallucination that resembled the projected image.

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Postamputation phantom limb pain -- comes the solution into view?

Posted At : December 16, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Pain Management


About 70 % of amputees will suffer from phantom limb pain sooner or later. Nearly all of the amputees will feel some phantom sensations. Phantom limb pain not only impairs quality of life, but also impedes considerably social rehabilitation.

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Cerebral mechanisms of hypnosis

Posted At : December 15, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Allergies


The neural mechanisms underlying hypnosis and especially the modulation of pain perception by hypnosis remain obscure. Using PET we first described the distribution of regional cerebral blood flow during the hypnotic state. Hypnosis relied on revivification of pleasant autobiographical memories and was compared to imaging autobiographical material in <>.

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Recent development in research and management of cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome

Posted At : December 15, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Cancer


Cachexia is among the most debilitating and life-threatening aspects of cancer, and is more common in children and elderly patients.

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Association of Involvement in Psychological Self-Regulation with Longer Survival

Posted At : December 15, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: General


The team of Cunningham, Phillips, Lockwood, Hedley and Edmonds, from the Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, report in a recent issue of Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, that when patients dedicatedly employ a variety of psychological self-regulating strategies, (relaxation, guided imagery, cognitive restructuring and meditation), there is a life-prolonging effect.

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Guided Imagery Significantly Increased Oxygen

Posted At : December 14, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Respritory Ailments


Researchers from Tai Po Hospital in Hong Kong explored the effects of guided imagery and relaxation in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), using a randomized controlled design. Half of 26 participants were allocated to the treatment group, consisting of six practice sessions of guided imagery, while the control group was instructed to rest quietly during the six sessions. At the seventh session, physiological measures were taken and compared to previously, to see if there were any changes in partial percentage of oxygen saturation, heart rate, upper thoracic surface electromyography, skin conductance and peripheral skin temperature.

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Imagry Produced Better Outcomes for Asthma Patients than Critical Thinking

Posted At : December 14, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Respritory Ailments


In a randomized, controlled, clinical trial, researchers from Saybrook Graduate School in San Francisco compared outcomes between biologically targeted imagery (BTI) and critical thinking asthma management (CTAM). Among 70 adults (53 women, 17 men) with asthma at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage.

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Psychobiological basis of hypnosis. Neurophysiologic and psychosomatic considerations

Posted At : December 14, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: General


On the basis of the psychosomatic model, an interpretation of hypnositherapy is proposed in the psychobiological context as an applicative example of oneness. With this technique a particular state of awareness, which hypnosis is, correlated biologically with considerable subcortical neurophysiological modifications in the individual, is added, as a facilitating context, into the activation of patients psychotherapy.

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Music Therapy and Children and Teens

Posted At : December 13, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Mental Disorders


Norwegian researchers from Sogn og Fjordane University looked at eleven studies on the impact of music therapy on children and adolescents with various forms of psychopathology and mental health problems. There was special interest in how the type of pathology, the child's age and the kind of music therapy approach influenced the outcome.

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Preparing Patients for Cancer Chemotherapy

Posted At : December 13, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Cancer


Burish, Snyder and Jenkins, the highly regarded Vanderbilt University team known for its many studies of imagery and chemotherapy, assessed the effectiveness of biofeedback and relaxation training in reducing the aversive side effects of cancer chemotherapy on 81 patients.

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State of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Cardiovascular, Lung, and Blood Research

Posted At : December 13, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Cardiology


A special report published in Circulation by the American Heart Association, The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine examines the impact of mind-body techniques, and, because it is seen as the most widely researched method, Transcendental Medititation on Heart Disease.

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Hypnosis and The Mind

Posted At : December 12, 2006 9:37 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: General


by Michelle Beaudry, CHt

Fundamentals of the Mind

The human mind may be subdivided into three parts: the Unconscious, Subconscious and Conscious. These compare to a computer:

  • Unconscious - operating system
  • Subconscious = hard drive
  • Conscious = RAM

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Hypnosis decouples cognitive control from conflict monitoring processes of the frontal lobe

Posted At : December 12, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Mental Disorders


Hypnosis can profoundly alter sensory awareness and cognitive processing. While the cognitive and behavioral phenomena associated with hypnosis have long been thought to relate to attentional processes, the neural mechanisms underlying susceptibility to hypnotic induction and the hypnotic condition are poorly understood.

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Relaxation and Imagery and Cognitive-Behavioral Training Reduce Pain

Posted At : December 12, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Even though this research is a little dated (1995), it's a very strong study with provocative findings that we somehow missed, so we're adding it here. Researchers at the renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle compared the effects of 3 different psycho-social interventions for pain (in the mucous linings of the mouth) in 94 bone marrow transplant patients.

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Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine

Posted At : December 12, 2006 5:57 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: General


Dean Schrock, Raymond Palmer and Bonnie Taylor looked at the effects of a 6 week psychosocial intervention group on the survival of 21 breast cancer and 29 prostate cancer patients in rural Pennsylvania. The 6 2-hour class topics emphasized imagery and stress reduction techniques, along with covering attitudes, feelings, self-esteem, spirituality, nutrition and exercise.

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Music Plus CAM for Open-Heart Patients

Posted At : December 11, 2006 10:43 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


A study at South Dakota State University finds that relaxing music reduces anxiety and pain in post-operative open-heart surgery patients during chair rest and concludes it should be used as a complementary therapy

Researchers from the College of Nursing at South Dakota State University studied the effects of relaxing music on anxiety and pain in post-operative open- heart surgery patients during chair rest.

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Foot massage & guided relaxation improve calmness and well-being in post-op patients

Posted At : December 11, 2006 10:43 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Researchers at the University of Brighton in East Sussex, UK, sought to identify a safe and effective therapeutic intervention that would promote well being in post-op patients recovering from coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery - something that could easily and practically be provided by nurses on the floor. Foot massage and guided relaxation were the interventions chosen to be studied.

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Deliberate Imagery Practice: The Development of Imagery Skills in Competitive Athletes

Posted At : December 11, 2006 10:43 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Researchers at the School of Kinesiology of The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, surveyed the attitudes of competing athletes on the importance of using imagery as part of their sports practice. Altogether, 159 athletes from one of three different competitive standards - recreational, provincial and national - completed the Deliberate Imagery Practice Questionnaire, designed to assess their perceptions of the importance of imagery.

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Guided Imagery: A Strategy for Regaining Motor Control After Stroke

Posted At : December 10, 2006 1:41 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Two reviews of the literature, one from Cambridge in England and one from Zuyd University in The Netherlands, suggest that guided imagery holds promise as a rehabilitation strategy for regaining motor control after a stroke.

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The berserks--what was wrong with them?]

Posted At : December 10, 2006 1:41 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: History


The terms berserk and going berserk reflect the violent and ferocious warriors and ruthless murderers of Scandinavia and Northern Europe, active from before the Viking age until the advent of Christianity. The main source on the phenomenon is the Old Norse literature, mainly the Icelandic sagas with their sober descriptive accounts of the berserks and their behaviour.

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Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Methods and Results in Amsterdam

Posted At : December 10, 2006 1:41 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


In an exploratory study by Vidakovic-Vukic in Amsterdam, 27 patients with irritable bowel syndrome were treated with hypnotherapy, along with standard care. Of those 27, two stopped the therapy prematurely, and one remained symptomatic.

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Effects of Hypnosis on Substance Abuse Patients

Posted At : December 9, 2006 5:44 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Ronald Pekala and fellow researchers from the Biofeedback Clinic of the Coatesville VA Medical Center in Coatesville, PA, studied the effectiveness of a self-hypnosis protocol with chronic drug and alcohol patients in increasing self-esteem, improving affect, and preventing relapse against a control, a cognitive-behavioral (TCB), and a stress management (attention-placebo) group.

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Diaphramatic Breathing Helps Migrane Sufferers

Posted At : December 9, 2006 5:44 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Archives - Hot Research - Headache printer friendly

Researchers at the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences in Uttaranchal, India find in a randomized, controlled trial that biofeedback-assisted diaphramgmatic breathing plus systematic relaxation yields greater longterm benefits for migraine sufferers than propanalol.

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Smoking Cessation & Hypnosis

Posted At : December 9, 2006 5:44 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Researchers at Ohio State University's College of Nursing conducted a study of 2,810 randomly selected smokers who participated in single-session, group hypnotherapy smoking cessation programs sponsored by the American Lung Association of Ohio.

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Psychological Treatment for Recurrent Symptoms of Colds and Flu in Children

Posted At : December 8, 2006 2:55 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


When 45 Australian children with histories of ten or more upper respiratory tract infections were taught stress management and guided imagery, their episodes of illness were shorter and symptoms milder at the one-year follow-up than for the kids who were wait-listed.

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Relaxing Music Reduces Anxiety and Pain

Posted At : December 8, 2006 2:55 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


A study at South Dakota State University finds that relaxing music reduces anxiety and pain in post-operative open-heart surgery patients during chair rest and concludes it should be used as a complementary therapy.

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Individual and Group Hypnotherapy in Treatment of Refractory Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Posted At : December 8, 2006 2:55 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


In a study by Harvey, Hinton, Gunary and Barry from the Gastroenterology Unit at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, England, 33 patients with irritable bowel syndrome were treated with four 40-minute sessions of hypnotherapy over 7 weeks.

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Modulation of pain-induced endothelial dysfunction by hypnotisability.

Posted At : December 7, 2006 2:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Pain Management


Mental stress induces endothelial dysfunction, that is a reduction of the post-occlusion brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD). This does not occur in subjects highly susceptible to hypnosis (Highs) in either the waking or hypnotic state.

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Does 'hypnosis' by any other name smell as sweet?

Posted At : December 7, 2006 2:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: General


Hypnosis is associated with profound changes in conscious experience and is increasingly used as a cognitive tool to explore neuropsychological processes. Studies of this sort typically employ suggestions following a hypnotic induction to produce changes in perceptual experience and motor control.

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Problems in the evaluation of hypnosis in the treatment of alcoholism

Posted At : December 7, 2006 2:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Substance Abuse


Although hypnotherapy has been applied to alcoholism for over a century and is accepted by the AMA as a medically valid technique, the effectiveness of hypnosis in treating alcoholics remains controversial.

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Hypnotherapy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Posted At : December 6, 2006 12:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


Two hundred fifty British patients with Irritable Bowel syndrome were treated with 12 sessions of hypnotherapy over a three month period (with homework in between sessions). They completed questionnaires before and after the treatment, scoring themselves on symptoms, quality of life, anxiety and depression. The large number of subjects allowed for some strong data.

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Self-Hypnosis Reduces Anxiety Following Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Posted At : December 6, 2006 12:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Research


At Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Ashton, Whitworth, et al found that patients who were taught self-hypnosis/relaxation techniques before undergoing first-time elective coronary artery bypass surgery were significantly more relaxed following the operation, as compared to a control group. They also used significantly less pain medication. Surgical outcomes were the same for both groups.

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Spontaneous hypnosis in the forensic context

Posted At : December 6, 2006 12:33 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Forensics


"Hypnosis" denotes either specific phenomena (altered volition, perception, cognition, and recall) or interpersonal transactions that often elicit them. Basic research leads to paradox: hypnosis is validated, and shown to be dissociative in essence, at the same time that neither its phenomena nor transactions can be separated from those of everyday living without logical absurdity. This paradox can be resolved by assuming that consciousness and volition are complex, occurring simultaneously at many levels in the same waking individual.

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