This is an excellent Discovery Channel video. The hypnotist is Seth-Deborah Roth, CRNA, who is an Institute member and an expert in medical hypnotherapy.

It brings up several interesting concepts. First, does the effectiveness of hypnotherapy require a trance state. In the video three people are tested for suggestibility using a type of EEG machine. The belief that trance is equal to reduced brain wave frequency is proposed by biofeedback. technician. Second, they presuppose that there is a relationship between suggestibility and trance state. While there may be a correlation at times, this is not a requirement. Hypnosis is a process of bypassing resistance. This may or may not happen in a trance state.

Of course, the TV program unfortunately full of the typical media lingo. The announcer frequently uses the term "going under" to signify a trance state. Most reputable hypnotists avoid that phrase, which is one that too often misleads and scares members of the public.

Nevertheless, I did appreciate that they "busted" the concept that a person can be forced to do something that is suggested while in a hypnotically-induced trance.

posted by Tim Brunson, PhD

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of music on peer awareness in preschool age children with developmental disabilities. Specifically, this study sought to find which combinations of musical and play elements produced the longest durations of sustained attention towards peers and the highest frequency of alternating attention from peer to peer. Nine children between the ages of 2 and 6 who had been diagnosed with a developmental disability participated in the study. Each participant completed 4 small group sessions with the researcher and 2 other research participants. During each session, the children participated in activities targeting peer awareness that incorporated musical and play elements. Behavioral data were recorded representing the children's sustained and alternating attention towards peers. Results indicated that children sustained attention towards peers for the longest durations and alternated attention from peer to peer at the highest frequencies during activities that utilized a musical object within a nonmusical or play-based context.

J Music Ther. 2009 Spring;46(1):53-68. Sussman JE. University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA.