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

Expanding hypnotic pain management to the affective dimension of pain.

Posted At : May 6, 2009 4:36 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Pain Management


Experimental (Price & Barber, 1987) and neuroimaging studies (Rainville, Carrier, Hofbauer, Bushnell, & Duncan, 1999), suggest that it is the affective dimension of pain as processed in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) that is most associated with suffering and autonomic arousal. Conversely, pain related emotions (Rainville, Bao, & Chretien, 2005) and expectations (Koyama, McHaffie, Laurenti, & Coghill, 2005) modulate pain perception and associated pain affect. This paper presents both the scientific background and the general clinical steps involved in a practical hypnotic approach that uses emotion specific wording and the elicitation of prior positive experience to intervene at both the affective and sensory dimensions of pain. Such an approach enables patients to therapeutically use hypnosis to reduce their subjective distress even if they are not able to greatly reduce the sensation of pain. The utilization of positive state dependent learning (Rossi, 1986), following the advice of Milton Erickson to "discover their patterns of happiness" (Parsons-Fein, 2005) is emphasized.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2009 Jan;51(3):235-54. Feldman JB. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, USA. jfeldman@wfubmc.edu

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Expanding hypnotic pain management to the affective dimension of pain.

Posted At : May 6, 2009 4:36 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Pain Management


Experimental (Price & Barber, 1987) and neuroimaging studies (Rainville, Carrier, Hofbauer, Bushnell, & Duncan, 1999), suggest that it is the affective dimension of pain as processed in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) that is most associated with suffering and autonomic arousal. Conversely, pain related emotions (Rainville, Bao, & Chretien, 2005) and expectations (Koyama, McHaffie, Laurenti, & Coghill, 2005) modulate pain perception and associated pain affect. This paper presents both the scientific background and the general clinical steps involved in a practical hypnotic approach that uses emotion specific wording and the elicitation of prior positive experience to intervene at both the affective and sensory dimensions of pain. Such an approach enables patients to therapeutically use hypnosis to reduce their subjective distress even if they are not able to greatly reduce the sensation of pain. The utilization of positive state dependent learning (Rossi, 1986), following the advice of Milton Erickson to "discover their patterns of happiness" (Parsons-Fein, 2005) is emphasized.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2009 Jan;51(3):235-54. Feldman JB. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, USA. jfeldman@wfubmc.edu

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Diets based on Ayurvedic constitution--potential for weight management.

Posted At : May 6, 2009 3:46 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Ayurvedic Medicine


Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medical system, is receivingincreasing attention worldwide. OBJECTIVE: A retrospective study was conducted to determine the effectiveness ofAyurvedic constitution-based diets on weight loss patterns of obese adults. DESIGN, SETTING, SUBJECTS, AND INTERVENTION: Records of 200 obese adults, both male and female, who had completed 3 months of the diet therapy at Ayurvedic clinics, were examined and data collated. Techniques used included a checklist of personality traits, physical signs, and food likes and dislikes to determine the dosha. Based on the predominant doshas, diets were prescribed and closely monitored for a period of 3 months. OUTCOME MEASURES: Records of height and weight and chest, abdominal, waist, arm, and thigh circumferences noted initially and after each month for the period of 3 months were obtained. RESULTS: Among the 200 subjects, 55 (27.5%) were vatta-, 83 (41.5%) were pitta-, and 62 (31.0%) were kapha-predominant. At the beginning, kapha and pitta people were heavier than vatta people. After the 3 months of therapy, the pitta group lost the most weight (9.84%). The decrease in all the anthropometric measurements was higher in pitta and kapha people than in vatta individuals. Hence, diets based on Ayurvedic constitution may prove useful in promoting weight loss. Though these promising findings support traditional Indian Ayurvedic scriptures, more closely controlled trials are needed to substantiate these findings.

Altern Ther Health Med. 2009 Jan-Feb;15(1):44-7. Sharma S, Puri S, Agarwal T, Sharma V. NutriHealth Systems, New Delhi, India.

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Cognitive behavioral group therapy for social phobia with or without attention training.

Posted At : May 6, 2009 3:26 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD
Related Categories: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy


The Self-Regulatory Executive Function model [S-REF; Wells, A., & Matthews, G. (1996). Modelling cognition in emotional disorder: the S-REF model. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 881-888] proposes that metacognitive beliefs, inflexible self-focused attention, and perseverative thinking (rumination and worry) play an important role in maintaining emotional dysfunction. Attention training [ATT; Wells, A. (1990). Panic disorder in association with relaxation induced anxiety: an attentional training approach to treatment. Behavior Therapy, 21, 273-280] is a technique designed to increase attentional control and flexibility, and thereby lessen the impact of these maintaining factors. The main aim of this study was to determine whether or not supplementing cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) with ATT could potentiate greater changes in social anxiety, depression, attentional control, metacognitive beliefs, and anticipatory and post-event processing in a clinical sample with social phobia. Patients (N=81) were allocated to CBGT with ATT or relaxation training (RT). ATT did not potentiate greater change on any outcome variable, with both groups achieving significant improvements on all measures. Exploratory correlational analyses (pre-treatment and changes scores) showed that some metacognitive beliefs were associated with attentional control, anticipatory processing, and symptoms of social anxiety and depression. However, attentional control was more consistently associated with anticipatory processing, post-event processing, and symptoms of social anxiety and depression, than with metacognitive beliefs. Results are discussed with reference to cognitive behavioral models of social phobia. It is tentatively concluded that while supplementing CBGT with ATT does not improve outcomes, increasing attentional control during CBGT is associated with symptom relief.

J Anxiety Disord. 2009 May;23(4):519-28. McEvoy PM, Perini SJ. Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression, University of New South Wales at St Vincent's Hospital, 299 Forbes Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney, 2010, Australia. peter.mcevoy@health.wa.gov.au

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