Michelle Leclaire O'Neill, Ph.D., R.N., has worked for 30 years in New York and Los Angeles helping patients to heal. She was on the staff of the Simonton Cancer Center for 10 years where she taught the "Getting Well Again Process" in family, individual and retreat settings. Dr. O'Neill has also trained physicians, nurses, and many other health care professionals from all over the world in Mind-Body Medicine and How to Get Well from Cancer. As a balance to her long-term work with cancer, Dr. O' Neill developed the Leclaire Hypnobirthing Method for Natural Childbirth and the Mind-Body Fertility Program. A mother, as well as a professional, Dr. O'Neill is a certified practitioner of Deepak Chopra's Magical Beginnings Prenatal Program. She is the author of Creative Childbirth, The Complete Leclaire Method, The Pregnancy Diary, Meditations for Pregnancy and Nine Glorious Months, a unique breakthrough in prenatal bonding. She has also written Twelve Weeks to Fertility and the Hypnofertility Bundle, in addition to the Hypnosis for Childbirth Tapes: I. Pregnancy, II. Labor, III. Music for Labor, Breastfeeding, Healing, Fertility and Cancer.

For more information, go to: http://www.leclairemethod.com/

An important area of study has examined cognitive aspects of morningness-eveningness orientation. Optimal times of efficiency in participants classified as Morning and Evening types are of great importance for understanding their cognitive abilities. The present review covers the last two decades (1990-2009), during which the important review by Tankova, Adan, and Buela-Casal appeared, and focuses particularly on attention, memory, and executive functions.

Percept Mot Skills. 2011 Apr;112(2):649-65. Cavallera GM, Boari G, Giudici S, Ortolano A. Dipartimento di Scienze del Movimento Umano, Facoltà di Scienze dell'Educazione Motoria, Università G. D'Annunzio, Chieti-Pescara, Italy. g.cavallera@email.it

Full title: Use of antioxidant and other complementary medicine by patients treated by antitumor chemotherapy: a prospective study.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been reported to be more and more frequent among cancer patients in USA. The aim of this study was to analyze among French cancer patients the prevalence of CAM use, focusing on antioxidants (AO) that could interfere with antitumor agents. Seventy-nine patients, treated by antitumor chemotherapy in oncology day care unit, participated to an interview (medium age ?= ?60 years old). CAM use was reported by 42% of patients: mostly AO (24%) (selenium, green tea and vitamins ACE, more specifically), but also relaxation, acupuncture, hypnosis (19%) and homeopathy (15%). Among patients using CAM, 66% of them indicated that their physicians were not aware of this use and 47% of them thought that CAM use was safe. Nevertheless, for seven patients who have taken AO, previous in vitro and preclinical studies suggested interactions with antitumor chemotherapy. Therefore, CAM use and, more specifically, AO use is common among cancer patients treated by antitumor chemotherapy in France. Nevertheless, AO could generate interactions with conventional treatment. Clinical studies are warranted to evaluate these interactions, and adequate communication with patients is needed.

Bull Cancer. 2011 Jun;98(6):645-53. doi: 10.1684/bdc.2011.1375. Thomas-Schoemann A, Alexandre J, Mongaret C, Azibi S, Dauphin A, Goldwasser F, Lemare F. Hôpital Cochin, service de pharmacie, Paris, France. schoemann.audrey@gmail.com

Full Title: Efficacy of hypnosis/guided imagery in fibromyalgia syndrome - a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials.

ABSTRACT:BACKGROUND: Recent systematic reviews on psychological therapies of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) did not consider hypnosis/guided imagery (H/GI). Therefore we performed a systematic review with meta-analysis of the efficacy of H/GI in FMS. METHODS: We screened http://ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and SCOPUS (through December 2010). (Quasi-) randomized controlled trials (CTs) comparing H/GI with controls were analyzed. Outcomes were pain, sleep, fatigue, depressed mood and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Effects were summarized using standardized mean differences (SMD). RESULTS: Six CTs with 239 subjects with a median of 9 (range 7-12) H/GI-sessions were analysed. The median number of patients in the H/GI groups was 20 (range 8-26). Three studies performed follow-ups. H/GI reduced pain compared to controls at final treatment (SMD -1.17 [95% CI -2.21, -0.13]; p = 0.03). H/GI did not reduce limitations of HRQOL at final treatment (SMD -0.90 [95% CI -2.55, 0.76]; p = 0.29) compared to controls. Effect sizes on fatigue, sleep and depressed mood at final treatment and follow-up and on pain and HRQOL at follow-up were not calculated because of limited data available. The significant effect on pain at final treatment was associated with low methodological and low treatment quality. CONCLUSION: Further studies with better treatment quality and adequate methodological quality assessing all key domains of FMS are necessary to clarify the efficacy of H/GI in FMS.

BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2011 Jun 15;12:133. Bernardy K, Füber N, Klose P, Häuser W. Department of Internal Medicine I, Klinikum Saarbrücken, Winterberg 1, D-66119 Saarbrücken, Germany. whaeuser@klinikum-saarbruecken.de.

by Joyce-Anne Locking

This is the time of year to consider all the blessings and gifts we have. Blessings, also know as spiritual gifts, are like flowers. They need to be picked up, and placed on an open space to be admired and enjoyed. As they are, seeds are planted and more production takes place. If gifts such as these are left unused, we soon stop practising them and lose our ability to keep them in shape. Spiritual gifts, like blessings, need to be maintained daily. To do this, we must learn to hear our own creative voice. Listen to what your heart is telling you. What are the things you like most and enjoy spending time on.

[More]

by Tim Brunson, PhD

Just about all mental pathologies involve some level of dysfunctional space/time perceptual orientation. In fact, an honest investigator would probably have considerable difficulty finding any mental condition listed in the current diagnostic and statistical manual that did not involve the client's or patient's space and time orientation. This is especially true of traumas, which include an overly intense past orientation, and fears, phobias, and anxieties, which normally primarily involve an excessive future orientation. Space/time perceptions are implicated even with bad habits, personality disorders, and delusions, which often are associated with bipolar and schizophrenia. Furthermore, these concepts also come to play when coaching a person for performance improvement. Therefore, any protocol must take into consideration the adjustment of the subject's orientation or perceptions.

[More]

By Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D.

Roy Hunter is a well-known author and sought-after speaker who diligently continues the work of the late Charles Tebbetts, often regarded as a grand master of hypnotherapy. Hunter is also a practicing hypnotherapist who, from 1987 to 2010, taught Diversified Client-Centered Hypnosis at Tacoma Community College, in Washington. He is a Life Fellow in the International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Association (IMDHA).

[More]

by Coach Cary Bayer

A day barely goes by that I don't receive an invitation, often by one massage therapist or alternative healer or another from Maine to California, to become a fan of this professional group or that. To which I say to these healers: I'm glad that you're a fan of John Doe or the XYZ Healing Business. Now let me ask you a question: Are you also a fan of your healing arts business? If not, I suggest that you first become a fan of your business before giving up your time to follow the pursuits of Mr. Doe. You'd be far better off using that time to market and network your own business. It's far more profitable for you to take some time to empower yourself and your business than to give over your power to someone else.

[More]

As part of a wider argument that history is essential to psychological understanding because of the reflexive nature of psychological knowledge, this article examines the case of mesmerism in early Victorian Britain as an example of how psychological knowledge is both constructive and constructed. It is argued that the shift from "mesmerism" to "hypnotism" was a change in understanding that created a new kind of psychological experience. It is also argued that demonstrations of mesmerism, far from being self-evident facts, could be framed as evidence either for or against the central claims of mesmerism. It is concluded that the case of mesmerism in early Victorian Britain provides a further example of the need for historical understanding within Psychology.

Hist Psychol. 2010 Nov;13(4):393-408. Lamont P. Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. peter.lamont@Ed.ac.uk

My name is Diana Moore and I am a certified hypnotist, reiki master and certified life coach. I have completed my Self Empowerment System which consists of a 30-day workbook and 2 CD's. This is unusual in that the first week is devoted to self-hypnosis utilizing declarations and mirror work. The 2nd week one works on learning how to shield one's energy. Bringing up issues and going back into one's past to get at the original insult and then to release and focus on the future is emphasized. The third week's focus is on utilizing a 30-second grounding elemental meditation. The fourth week puts all of these together. Each week the focus is on empowering the person to create their lives and provides coaching techniques and journaling. Was on Home Shopping Network. Retails for $125.00 and they can call me for a 30-min. assistance. Lighteacher@aol.com

Diana Moore (631) 472-6531

http://www.LightTeacher.com http://www.facebook.com/lighteacher http://www.YouTube.com/lighteacher http://www.Twitter.com/lighteacher

Dr. Michael R. Hathaway was an educator for 30 years and has been practicing hypnosis since the early 1980s. He has a Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy granted by the State of California, is Board Certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists and is an instructor of their certification course. He is a Board Certified Past Life Regression Therapist through the International Board of Regression Therapists, and has a Music Education degree from the Boston Conservatory of Music.

He has a private practice in Madison, New Hampshire at the White Mountain Hypnosis Center, located on 160 acres, which is also the home of the White Mountain Center for Creative development, a non-profit corporation found in 1997. In addition, he is a lecturer, storyteller, author, does hypnosis stage shows and teaches creative writing.

For more information, visit his website at: http://www.whitemountainhypnosiscenter.com/

Fear of death, pain, or the recurrence of the illness of tumor patients can narrow their attention to a point where a spontaneous altered state of consciousness occurs. In these cases hypnosis either in formal psychotherapy or embedded into the everyday communication with the physician can effectively complement other already known medical and psychological techniques. Although numerous studies have reported the beneficial physical and mental changes induced by hypnosis, for a long time there were not enough research to affect evidence-based medicine. New studies meeting the most rigorous methodological standards, new reviews and the characteristics of hypnosis shown by neuroimaging techniques support the acceptance of this method. Hypnosis is used and studied with adult and child tumor patients alike mostly in the areas of anxiety, pain, nausea, vomiting, quality of life, mood amelioration, immune system and hot flushes. Most of the assays describe hypnosis as an empirically validated treatment technique that in most cases surpass attention diversion, coping trainings, cognitive behavior and relaxation techniques and other regular treatments. In this paper we review these observations.

Magy Onkol. 2011 Mar;55(1):22-31. Jakubovits E. Alapozó Egészségtudományi Intézet, Semmelweis Egyetem Egészségtudományi Kar, Morfológiai és Fiziológiai Tanszék, Budapest. jakedit@se-etk.hu