A study out of The University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, looked at whether a combination of biofeedback and relaxation could decrease oxygen consumption in long distance runners and thus improve their running economy and performance. Seven long distance runners were tested for running economy, peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), peak running velocity, and stretch-shortening cycle efficiency.

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by Michael Ellner

I want to introduce you to a self-help technology called QUANTUM FOCUSING®. QUANTUM FOCUSING is a special blend of meditation, self-hypnosis and focused attention training, that I developed working with Richard Jamison, PhD, a psycho-biologist and Alan Barsky, CHt., a medical hypnotist.

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A new randomized, controlled clinical trial from France investigated the effectiveness of 8-session Eriksonian hypnosis and 8-session Jacobsonian progressive relaxation for the reduction of osteoarthritis pain, using subjects with knee or hip pain. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the intervention groups or a control group. Overall, results demonstrated that the two experimental groups had a lower level of subjective pain than the control group, and that the level of subjective pain decreased with time. In addition, pain reduction occurred more rapidly for the hypnosis group. Results also showed that both hypnosis and relaxation are effective in reducing the amount of analgesic medication taken by participants.

by Bryan Knight MSW, PhD

"Should the practice of hypnotherapy be restricted to doctors?"

Definitely not.

Physicians cannot even agree among themselves about hypnotherapy.

There has been an ongoing feud within medical circles since the beginnings with [Dr] Mesmer.

In the early years of the 19th century surgeons were jeered at, even struck off their registers, for daring to reveal they had operated hundreds of times on patients with only hypnosis as an anesthetic.

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Researchers at the School of Kinesiology at The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, investigated the effects of imagery on the soccer playing of both skilled and novice players. An initial assessment of performance on a specific soccer task was undertaken, and then 22 skilled and 22 novice players were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Bach's Magnificat on emotions, immune, and endocrine parameters in patients of specific infectious lung conditions. Participants (N = 40; 9 men & 31 women) ranging in age from 40 to 75 participated in the study. Patients were randomly allocated to an experimental and control group. During a 3-day period the experimental group received physiotherapy with the selected music, while the control group only received physiotherapy. ANOVA statistics indicate significant changes in the following parameters: POMS-scale, CD4+:CD8+ ratio, cortisol, and cortisol:DHEA ratio. The intervention of music demonstrates communication between the mind and body.

J Music Ther. 2007 Summer;44(2):156-68. le Roux FH, Bouic PJ, Bester MM. Physiotherapy Private Practice, Fish Hoek, South Africa.

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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Kristine Kwekkeboom and her team from The University of Iowa College of Nursing have been studying predictors of the successful use of guided imagery for some time now. This pilot study, with a one-group pretest-posttest design, examines whether peoples' ability to effectively use imagery as a pain management strategy can be predicted for individual cancer patients.

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by Richard Kuhns B.S.Ch.E.

Treatment of Panic/Anxiety Attacks with Wakened Hypnosis.

Part I

This is the first of an ongoing series of articles for the effective treatment of anxiety and panic attacks for the professional. This technique is based on a stress management model. Let me clarify. It is often assumed that a stress management model is synonymous with body awareness techniques utilizing inward focus. Even though for a majority of treatment modalities this is true, it is only one of two basic techniques. The other technique is outward focus--far less often used--but initially recognized by a psychologist by the name of Lacy, is the one most effective for all anxiety/panic attacks. It likewise is effective for all other maladies, but because it is less defined, it is generally only used in more advanced training and left out of the protocols for initial training sessions.

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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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The Mind Body Connection - Why Hypnosis is the Ideal Intervention

by Anne Spencer Ph.D.

Lilly Tomlin once said, "When I speak to God, they call it prayer. When God speaks to me, they call it schizophrenia!"

Three decades ago when I told clients that we could talk to their immune cells and make a change for the better, their doctors thought I was schizophrenic. Times have changed. Now mainstream America is fully aware that traditional medicine is not the only answer. Allopathic medicine is one of perhaps several solutions to a current medical challenge.

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In a small but intriguing pilot study, Page, Levine, Sisto and Johnston of the Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation, randomly assigned 13 stroke patients with stable motor deficits in their affected upper limbs to either standard care (one hour of therapy three times a week for six weeks, administered by the same physical and occupational therapists) or standard care plus a 10-minute guided imagery session after each regular therapy session.

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Henry Dreher's superb summary of research with mind-body interventions for surgery appears in the Fetzer Institute's Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, Vol 14, no.3, Summer 1998, pp. 207-222. His discussion of Henry Bennett's placebo controlled, double blinded research with 4 audio interventions on 335 surgery patients establishes that the Health Journeys tape for Surgery was the only tape that offered statistically significant results.

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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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Hypnosis is associated with the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for two reasons: (1) the similarity between hypnotic phenomena and the symptoms of PTSD, and (2) the utility of hypnosis as a tool in treatment. Physical trauma produces a sudden discontinuity in cognitive and emotional experience that often persists after the trauma is over.

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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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Six alumni pursue different diets before High School reunion

By John Larson NBC News - Updated: 4:42 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2004

** This submission is edited to focus on Marc's journey during this time and how hypnotism was effective. If you made a New Year's resolution to lose weight and already you've blown it, here is some inspiration to help get you back on track. A year ago, we met six members of the class of 1978, all wanting to shed pounds before their 25th high school reunion this past fall. We offered to help them. Each was given a radically different weight loss plan.

Our volunteers could pick one of six weight loss methods -- from Atkins, Weight Watchers or SlimFast to intense exercise, having your own famous weight loss guru -- even hypnotism.

For the Dateline Diet Challenge, the ladies man back in high school, Marc Merlis chose hypnotism. When Marc's wife saw Dateline's letter she quickly picked up the phone and turned in her husband. And for good reason. His wife is worried. Marc is a baker by trade with a weakness for food. His weight is serious problem. His father died of heart disease at 50 and now Marc's cholesterol and blood pressure are dangerously high. So Marc has agreed to let a hypnotherapist help him focus on his weight and more importantly, his health.

Marc: "I remember how I felt when my father died. I was 20, you know? I would hate to have my kids go through that." Marc tips the scales at 245. His task is even greater, to lose 50 pounds. During his first hour-long session with Boston hypnotherapist Tom Nicoli, he received suggestions on healthy eating and lifestyle. The session left Marc reeling.

Marc: "And the strangest thing, I see this big belly (laughs) the belly button was a big red hole with fire coming out of it."

Don't laugh. Suddenly Marc started exercising and eating well. Three weeks later the hypnotist told Marc everything he'd learned will be reinforced by the color red. Tom Nicoli: "Brake lights, tail lights, lipstick, fingernail polish, clothing. Anytime you see the color red consciously or unconsciously."

Two months in, the man who originally couldn't get into his varsity jacket, now can't be held back. Marc was steadily working with a fitness trainer and he was religiously listening to his tapes of his hypnotist. After three months under hypnosis, his wife had a nickname for him. Incredibly, "droopy drawers" had lost the most so far, a staggering 40 pounds.

Smoking Success: That's when droopy's wife got in on the action. She went to Nicoli to quit smoking. And guess what? Smoke free, fat free. Five months in, for the Merlis's things couldn't be better. And at their son's bar mitzvah this May, lifting Marc was a piece of cake.

In late June, there was trouble in hypnosis paradise. It had been six months since Marc had seen the hypnotist. He'd blown off exercise, stopped listening to his tapes and now he was sneaking food and lying about it. By August he'd gained back 15 of the 40 pounds he'd lost. There was only one thing left to do: go back to the hypnotist, who had a lot to say. After a 30-minute tune-up, presto, Marc was back at the gym, listening to tapes and eating healthy again.

When we caught up with everyone in September, Marc was once again doing great.

Reunion time October 2003, 10 months into the diet challenge and 25 years since they graduated high school, the night finally arrived. Our ladies man, Marc Merlis, using hypnotism had a total loss of 35 pounds.

Tom Nololi, BCH, CI is a regular contributor. You can visit him at www.TomNicoli.com

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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by Tom Nicoli, BCH, CI

Westwood, Massachusetts High School running back, Amadeus Guerrero, had all the skills and natural assets a football star is made of. But after injuring an ankle, he learned what every athlete knows. The game begins in the mind.

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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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CEO's use it, pro athletes use it and so do the most successful people in all areas of life. It is without doubt the most beneficial, powerful and result oriented tool available to all of us, yet most people never even know it. Better yet, it costs nothing, is easy to do and can be utilized immediately.

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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.

Our observations confirm that musical sensations with no external stimuli, either spontaneous or evoked, occur in normal individuals and that a biological substrate can be demonstrated by brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). OBJECTIVES: There are individuals, usually musicians, who are seemingly able to evoke and/or have spontaneous musical sensations without external auditory stimuli. However, to date there is no available evidence to determine if it is feasible to have musical sensations without using external sensory receptors, or if there is a biological substrate for these sensations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A group of 100 musicians and another of 150 otolaryngologists were asked if they had spontaneous musical auditory sensations and/or were capable of evoking them. SPECT evaluations with Tc(99m)-HMPAO were conducted in six female musicians while they were evoking these sensations or, in one case, while she was having them spontaneously. In three of them an additional SPECT was conducted in basal conditions (having been asked to avoid evoking music). RESULTS: In all, 97 of 100 musicians had spontaneous musical sensations; all 100 could evoke and modify them. Of the 150 otolaryngologists, 18 (12%) were musicians. Of the 132 nonmusicians, spontaneous musical sensations occurred in 52 (39.4%), 72 (54.5%) could evoke and 23 (17.4%) were able to modify them, 58 (43.9%) did not have spontaneous musical sensations nor could they evoke them. The musical sensations of the 72 otolaryngologists that could evoke were less elaborated than those of musicians. NeuroSPECT during voluntary musical autoevocation demonstrated significant (>2 SD) increased activation of executive frontal cortex in Brodmann areas 9 and 10, secondary visual cortex (area 17), and paracingulate (areas 31 and 32). There was also activation in the para-executive frontal cortex (areas 45 and 46). In the basal ganglia there was activation in thalamus and lentiform nucleus. Deactivation below 2 SD was demonstrated by mean values in the cingulate gyrus, Brodmann areas 23 and 24, and subgenual area 25. Deactivation was also demonstrated when minimal values were analyzed in the same areas plus area 4 and areas 36 and 38, the latter in the pole of the temporal lobes. In three patients comparison of basal state with autoevocation demonstrated activation in executive frontal cortex (areas 8 and 9), para-executive cortex (area 45), primary auditory cortex (area 40), the right thalamus, and lentiform nucleus.

Acta Otolaryngol. 2007 Jul;127(7):711-21. Goycoolea MV, Mena I, Neubauer SG, Levy RG, Grez MF, Berger CG. Clínica Las Condes and Chilean National Conservatory of Music, Santiago, Chile. mgoycool@mi.cl

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.

Gordon, Merenstein, D'Amico and Hudgens studied the effects of therapeutic touch on 25 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee in this single-blinded randomized control trial. Patients got either therapeutic touch, mock therapeutic touch or standard care. The TT treatment group had significantly decreased pain and improved function when compared with the placebo and control groups. (Journal of Family Practice, 1998; 47:pp.271-277.)

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.

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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.

Medline, 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 a placebo.

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