Hypnosis is increasingly being employed in therapy of neurologically impaired patients. In fact, reports from neuropsychological practice point out that neurological patients with a loss of motor abilities achieve successful rehabilitation by means of motor imagery during hypnosis. This approach was shown to be effective even if the patients' ability to imagine movements was impaired or lost. The underlying mechanisms of "how" and "where" hypnosis affects the brain, however, are largely unknown. To identify the brain areas involved in motor imagery under hypnosis, we conducted an fMRI study in which we required healthy human subjects either to imagine or to execute repetitive finger movements during a hypnotic trance. We observed fMRI-signal increases exclusively related to hypnosis in the left superior frontal cortex, the left anterior cingulate gyrus and left thalamus. While the superior frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate were active related more to movement performance than to imagery, the thalamus was activated only during motor imagery. These areas represent central nodes of the salience network linking primary and higher motor areas. Therefore, our data substantiate the notion that hypnosis enhances motor imagery.

Behav Brain Res. 2012 May 16;231(1):164-9 Müller K, Bacht K, Schramm S, Seitz RJ. Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine-University, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany. katharina.mueller@uni-duesseldorf.de

Two experiments investigated 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. In Experiment 1, high and low hypnotizable participants were administered either a hypnotic induction or wake instructions, given a suggestion to hallucinate a shape, and then the projected image was subsequently introduced. Although highs in both conditions rated the projected image more vividly than lows, highs in the hypnosis (but not wake) condition made comparable reality ratings when the projected image was absent and present. In Experiment 2, high hypnotizable participants were administered a suggestion to see a shape on a wall. For half the participants the suggested image was projected on the wall and then removed, and for half the projection was initially absent and then introduced. Participants who had the projection absent and then present reported comparable reality and vividness ratings when the projection was absent and present. These findings indicate that elevated hypnotizability and hypnosis are associated with attributions of external reality to suggested experiences.

Conscious Cogn. 2003 Jun;12(2):219-30

In this meta-analysis, we give a comprehensive overview of the effects of meditation on psychological variables that can be extracted from empirical studies, concentrating on the effects of meditation on nonclinical groups of adult meditators. Mostly because of methodological problems, almost ¾ of an initially identified 595 studies had to be excluded. Most studies appear to have been conducted without sufficient theoretical background. To put the results into perspective, we briefly summarize the major theoretical approaches from both East and West. The 163 studies that allowed the calculation of effect sizes exhibited medium average effects (r = .28 for all studies and r = .27 for the n = 125 studies from reviewed journals), which cannot be explained by mere relaxation or cognitive restructuring effects. In general, results were strongest (medium to large) for changes in emotionality and relationship issues, less strong (about medium) for measures of attention, and weakest (small to medium) for more cognitive measures. However, specific findings varied across different approaches to meditation (transcendental meditation, mindfulness meditation, and other meditation techniques). Surprisingly, meditation experience only partially covaried with long-term impact on the variables examined. In general, the dependent variables used cover only some of the content areas about which predictions can be made from already existing theories about meditation; still, such predictions lack precision at present. We conclude that to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of why and how meditation works, emphasis should be placed on the development of more precise theories and measurement devices.

Psychol Bull. 2012 May 14. Sedlmeier P, Eberth J, Schwarz M, Zimmermann D, Haarig F, Jaeger S, Kunze S.

ABSTRACT:BACKGROUND: A significant number of smokers would like to stop smoking. Despite the demonstrated efficacy of pharmacological smoking cessation treatments, many smokers are unwilling to use them; however, they are inclined to try alternative methods. Hypnosis has a long-standing reputation in smoking cessation therapy, but its efficacy has not been scientifically proven. We designed this randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effects of group hypnosis as a method for smoking cessation, and we will compare the results of group hypnosis with group relaxation. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to compare the efficacy of a single session of hypnosis with that of relaxation performed in groups of 8-15 smokers. We intend to include at least 220 participants in our trial. The inclusion criteria include smoking at least 5 cigarettes per day, not using other cessation methods and being willing to quit smoking. The intervention is performed by a trained hypnotist/relaxation therapist. Both groups first receive 40 min of mental preparation that is based on motivational interviewing. Then, a state of deep relaxation is induced in the hypnosis condition, and superficial relaxation is induced in the control condition. Suggestions are made in the hypnosis condition that aim to switch the mental self-image of the participants from that of smokers to that of non-smokers. Each intervention lasts for 40 min. The participants also complete questionnaires that assess their smoking status and symptoms of depression and anxiety at baseline, 2 weeks and 6 months post-intervention. In addition, saliva samples are collected to assess cotinine levels at baseline and at 6 months post-intervention. We also assess nicotine withdrawal symptoms at 2 weeks post-intervention. DISCUSSION: To the best of our knowledge, this RCT is the first to test the efficacy of group hypnosis versus group relaxation. Issues requiring discussion in the outcome paper include the lack of standardisation of hypnotic interventions in smoking cessation, the debriefing of the participants, the effects of group dynamics and the reasons for dropouts. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN72839675.

BMC Public Health. 2012 Apr 4;12:271. Dickson-Spillmann M, Kraemer T, Rust K, Schaub M. Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction, Konradstrasse 32, 8031 Zurich, Switzerland. maria.dickson@isgf.uzh.ch.

George Bien is the world's first recipient of the National Guild of Hypnotists' President's Award, the world's first recipient of the Rexfold L. North Memorial Trophy (the "Oscar of Hypnosis"), the world's first recipient of the Charles Tebbetts Award, and the only person in the world twice honored with the International Association of Counselors and Therapists' Educator of the Year Award. He is the former Principal Trainer for the National Guild of Hypnotists and the American Board of Hypnotherapy.

George created and taught the first Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapy Certification Seminars (ACH) sponsored by the National Guild of Hypnotists, and created and taught the first Certified Stress Management Consultant Seminars (CSMC), sponsored by the International Association of Counselors and Therapists. He has served on the faculty at the Swedish Institute, Five Towns College, and the City University of New York. He conducts seminars and workshops internationally, and his training audios/videos are used by speakers, trainers, business executives, and politicians, throughout the world.

George served as Clinical Director of "Dynamic Changes", which during their operation, were America's largest and most successful hypnotherapy centers. He has been featured on the covers of professional journals, magazines, in scores of books (including Gary Null's Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, and the best-seller, Just A Breath Away, by Rev. Ed Tabbitas), and on numerous radio and television programs, including: Donahue, Good Day New York, First Edition, America's Talking, Alive and Wellness, Fox 5 News, NBC News, CNN and Inside Edition, and has been called the "Twenty-first Century Hypnotist." His list of former students reads like a "who's who" in the field of subconscious reprogramming, many of whom have gone on to become international celebrities.

George is a Certified Master Trainer for NFNLP, and is the Principal Trainer for the International Association of Counselors & Therapists, and the creator and Director of the IACT Master Trainer program. He is also a world-class guitarist, and holds a Black Belt in Tai Kwon Do Karate. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Theory, a Master's Degree in Composition, a Doctorate in Transpersonal Counseling, and a Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy. George is the CEO of Hard Knocks College, and the current president of the American Society of Professional Speakers and Trainers (ASPST).

George was inducted into the International Hypnosis Hall of Fame in 1989.

For more information visit: www.GeorgeBien.com.

Of central relevance to the recovered/false memory debate is understanding the factors that cause us to believe that a mental experience is a memory of an actual past experience. According to the source monitoring framework (SMF), memories are attributions that we make about our mental experiences based on their subjective qualities, our prior knowledge and beliefs, our motives and goals, and the social context. From this perspective, we discuss cognitive behavioral studies using both objective (e.g., recognition, source memory) and subjective (e.g., ratings of memory characteristics) measures that provide much information about the encoding, revival and monitoring processes that yield both true and false memories. The chapter also considers how neuroimaging findings, especially from functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, are contributing to our understanding of the relation between memory and reality.

Nebr Symp Motiv. 2012;58:15-52. Johnson MK, Raye CL, Mitchell KJ, Ankudowich E. Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. marcia.johnson@yale.edu

Full title: Event-related delta, theta, alpha, and gamma correlates to auditory oddball processing during Vipassana meditation.

Long-term Vipassana meditators sat in meditation vs. a control (instructed mind wandering) states for 25 min, EEG was recorded and condition order counterbalanced. For the last four min, a three-stimulus auditory oddball series was presented during both meditation and control periods through headphones and no task imposed. Time-frequency analysis demonstrated that meditation relative to the control condition evinced decreased evoked delta (2-4 Hz) power to distracter stimuli concomitantly with a greater event-related reduction of late (500-900 ms) alpha-1 (8-10 Hz) activity, which indexed altered dynamics of attentional engagement to distracters. Additionally, standard stimuli were associated with increased early event-related alpha phase synchrony (intertrial coherence) and evoked theta (4-8 Hz) phase synchrony, suggesting enhanced processing of the habituated standard background stimuli. Lastly, during meditation there was a greater differential early-evoked gamma power to the different stimulus classes. Correlation analysis indicated that this effect stemmed from a meditation state-related increase in early distracter-evoked gamma power and phase synchrony specific to longer-term expert practitioners. The findings suggest that Vipassana meditation evokes a brain state of enhanced perceptual clarity and decreased automated reactivity.

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2012 May 29. Cahn BR, Delorme A, Polich J. Address correspondence to: B. Rael Cahn, M.D., Ph.D. University of California, Irvine Department of Psychiatry 101 The City Drive South, Rt 88 Rm 207 Orange, CA 92868 (714) 456-5770 rael.cahn@gmail.com.

Forming implementation intentions has been consistently shown to be a powerful self-regulatory strategy. As the self-regulation of thoughts is important for the experience of involuntariness in the hypnotic context, investigating the effectiveness of implementation intentions on the suppression of thoughts was the focus of the present study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (hypnotic instruction plus implementation intention, hypnotic instruction, implementation intention, and control condition). Results showed that participants who received information included in the "Carleton Skill Training Program" and in addition formed implementation intentions improved their hypnotic responsiveness as compared to all of the other three groups on measures of objective responding and involuntary responding. Thus, in line with the nonstate or cognitive social-psychological view of hypnosis stating that an individual's hypnotic suggestibility is not dispositional but modifiable, our results suggest that hypnotic responsiveness can be heightened by furnishing hypnotic instructions with ad hoc implementation intentions.

Conscious Cogn. 2012 Jun;21(2):1023-30. Schweiger Gallo I, Pfau F, Gollwitzer PM. Departamento de Psicología Social, Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain.

Mark Kidd-May has been helping people to make transformational changes for nearly 20 years. Using tools including hypnosis, NLP and coaching, he works with individuals and organisations to clarify and meet their goals.

He gained a distinction from the London College of Clinical Hypnosis and subsequently became a senior lecturer for the college, also presenting master classes on peak performance.

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Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is thought to reduce emotional reactivity and enhance emotion regulation in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). The goal of this study was to examine the neural correlates of deploying attention to regulate responses to negative self-beliefs using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants were 56 patients with generalized SAD in a randomized controlled trial who were assigned to MBSR or a comparison aerobic exercise (AE) stress reduction program. Compared to AE, MBSR yielded greater (a) reductions in negative emotion when implementing regulation, and (b) increases in attention-related parietal cortical regions. Meditation practice was associated with decreases in negative emotion and social anxiety symptom severity, and increases in attention-related parietal cortex neural responses when implementing attention regulation of negative self-beliefs. Changes in attention regulation during MBSR may be an important psychological factor that helps to explain how mindfulness meditation training benefits patients with anxiety disorders.

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2012 May 13. Goldin P, Ziv M, Jazaieri H, Hahn K, Gross JJ. Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Jordan Hall, Bldg. 420, Stanford, CA 94305-2130, Telephone: 650-723-5977, Fax: 650-725-5699 pgoldin@stanford.edu.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is thought to reduce emotional reactivity and enhance emotion regulation in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). The goal of this study was to examine the neural correlates of deploying attention to regulate responses to negative self-beliefs using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants were 56 patients with generalized SAD in a randomized controlled trial who were assigned to MBSR or a comparison aerobic exercise (AE) stress reduction program. Compared to AE, MBSR yielded greater (a) reductions in negative emotion when implementing regulation, and (b) increases in attention-related parietal cortical regions. Meditation practice was associated with decreases in negative emotion and social anxiety symptom severity, and increases in attention-related parietal cortex neural responses when implementing attention regulation of negative self-beliefs. Changes in attention regulation during MBSR may be an important psychological factor that helps to explain how mindfulness meditation training benefits patients with anxiety disorders.

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2012 May 13. Goldin P, Ziv M, Jazaieri H, Hahn K, Gross JJ. Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Jordan Hall, Bldg. 420, Stanford, CA 94305-2130, Telephone: 650-723-5977, Fax: 650-725-5699 pgoldin@stanford.edu.

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness that comprises of heightened absorption in focal attention, dissociation of peripheral awareness, and enhanced responsiveness to social cues. Hypnosis has a long tradition of effectiveness in controlling somatic symptoms, such as pain. Pain, the most common symptom in clinical practice, is a multi-dimensional experience, which includes sensory-discriminative, affective-emotional, cognitive and behavioral components. There is a growing recognition for hypnosis and related techniques in pain management. Psychological approaches to pain control, such as hypnosis, can be highly effective analgesics, but are underused in Korea. In this article, we would like to review the basic concepts of hypnosis, the mechanism, and the outcome data of the analgesic effects of hypnosis, and also, its limitations.

Korean J Pain. 2012 Apr;25(2):75-80. Epub 2012 Apr 4. Lee JS, Pyun YD. Department of Psychiatry, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea.

John earned his Master's degree in Mental Health counseling in 1994 from Vermont College of Norwich-University. He was licensed by the state of Vermont as a Clinical Mental counselor in 1997; certified by the National Registry of Neurofeedback providers in 1999; certified by in by BCIA in EEG in 2002; published Getting Started with Neurofeedback in 2005; accredited as a BCIA didactic instructor in 2006. He has introduced 100s of professional students from 8 different countries to the science and art of neurofeedback. Many of those students have added neurofeedback to their practice and have sucessfully worked toward certification by the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance.

John's book Getting Started with Neurofeedback is required reading for all candidates who are aspiring to become certified by BCIA. His book emphasizes the importance of QEEG assessments. NxLink, NeuroGuide and NeuroRep maps are clearly displayed in his book along with a concise meaning and interpretation for each map. The EEG pattern for each of the following clinical disorders is illustrated by means of compressed spectral arrays, two dimensional graphs, topographical maps and brain wave morphology: ADHD, anxiety, depression and asperger's disorder. The book was critiqued by Leslie Sherlin, Bob Gurnee and Tom Collura and was favorably reviewed by Corydon Hammond and the lateThomas Budzynski.

For more information visit: www.eegvermont.com.

If recovered memory experiences appear counter-intuitive, this is in part due to misconceptions about trauma and memory, and to a failure to adopt a comprehensive model of memory that distinguishes personal semantic memory, autobiographical event memory, and memory appraisal. Memory performance is generally superior when events, including traumas, are central to identity. Prolonged trauma in childhood, however, can produce severe identity disturbances that may interfere with the encoding and later retrieval of personal semantic and autobiographical event information. High levels of emotion either at encoding or recall can also interfere with the creation of coherent narrative memories. For example, high levels of shock and fear when memories are recovered unexpectedly may lead to the experience of vivid flashbacks. Memory appraisals may also influence the sense that an event has been forgotten for a long time. Recovered memories, although unusual, do not contradict what we know about how memory works.

Nebr Symp Motiv. 2012;58:149-73. Brewin CR. University College London, England, UK. c.brewin@ucl.ac.uk

Full title: A Prospective, Multicenter Study of Complementary/Alternative Medicine (CAM) Utilization During Definitive Radiation for Breast Cancer.

PURPOSE: Although complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) utilization in breast cancer patients is reported to be high, there are few data on CAM practices in breast patients specifically during radiation. This prospective, multi-institutional study was conducted to define CAM utilization in breast cancer during definitive radiation. MATERIALS/METHODS: A validated CAM instrument with a self-skin assessment was administered to 360 Stage 0-III breast cancer patients from 5 centers during the last week of radiation. All data were analyzed to detect significant differences between users/nonusers. RESULTS: CAM usage was reported in 54% of the study cohort (n=194/360). Of CAM users, 71% reported activity-based CAM (eg, Reiki, meditation), 26% topical CAM, and 45% oral CAM. Only 16% received advice/counseling from naturopathic/homeopathic/medical professionals before initiating CAM. CAM use significantly correlated with higher education level (P<.001), inversely correlated with concomitant hormone/radiation therapy use (P=.010), with a trend toward greater use in younger patients (P=.066). On multivariate analysis, level of education (OR: 6.821, 95% CI: 2.307-20.168, P<.001) and hormones/radiation therapy (OR: 0.573, 95% CI: 0.347-0.949, P=.031) independently predicted for CAM use. Significantly lower skin toxicity scores were reported in CAM users vs nonusers, respectively (mild: 34% vs 25%, severe: 17% vs 29%, P=.017). CONCLUSION: This is the first prospective study to assess CAM practices in breast patients during radiation, with definition of these practices as the first step for future investigation of CAM/radiation interactions. These results should alert radiation oncologists that a large percentage of breast cancer patients use CAM during radiation without disclosure or consideration for potential interactions, and should encourage increased awareness, communication, and documentation of CAM practices in patients undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer.

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2012 Jun 1. Moran MS, Ma S, Jagsi R, Yang TI, Higgins SA, Weidhaas JB, Wilson LD, Lloyd S, Peschel R, Gaudreau B, Rockwell S. Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; Department of Radiation Therapy, William W. Backus Hospital, Norwich, Connecticut.

INTRODUCTION: The present study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of Ericksonian hypnosis in reducing the impact of tinnitus on patients' quality of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A controlled prospective longitudinal study was designed. The severity of tinnitus was assessed with Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) before hypnotherapy and then 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after therapy. Health Survey SF-36 was used to assess health-related quality of life before and after hypnotherapy. Thirty-nine patients with severe idiopathic subjective tinnitus were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: The mean SD age of the patients was 44.5 +/- 12.5 years, ranging from 21 to 65 years; 48% were female. Mean THI scores assessed at the beginning and 4 times after commencement of therapy were evaluated. The changes in THI scores were significant. Health Survey SF-36 was assessed separately. The greatest increases were seen in physical role followed by emotional role difficulty. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results of our study demonstrated the effectiveness of Ericksonian hypnosis in the study group.

B-ENT. 2012;8(1):7-12. Yazici ZM, Sayin I, Gökku? G, Alatas E, Kaya H, Kayhan FT. Bakirköy Education and Training Hospital, Clinic of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. minealmaz@yahoo.com

Denise Tiran is a senior midwife and university lecturer in complementary medicine. She uses a range of complementary therapies, including reflex zone therapy, acupressure, moxibustion, herbal, homeopathic and Bach flower remedies, aromatherapy, nutrition and sexual counselling. As part of her work as Principal Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, she developed one of the first degree programmes on complementary medicine in the UK, and runs an NHS complementary therapies antenatal clinic at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup in Kent, which was "'Highly Commended" in the first annual Prince of Wales' Awards for Healthcare in London in 2001.

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Full title: Is the spiritual life of cancer patients a resource to be taken into account by professional caregivers from the time of diagnosis?

Background and aim. Spiritual life can be defined as the search for personal contact with the transcendent. Careful assessment of spiritual life can help to value its importance to cancer patients from the moment of their diagnosis.Methods. This is a cross-sectional study. Two hundred fifty-seven patients undergoing cancer treatment filled in the validated Italian version of the Systems of Belief Inventory (SBI-15R). Patients were also asked to attribute themselves to one of the following, mutually exclusive categories: believer and churchgoer, believer but no churchgoer, and non-believer. Results. Five patients did not report their religious stance and were therefore excluded from the analysis. Of the remaining 252 patients, 49% declared to be believers and churchgoers, 43% believers but not churchgoers, and 8% non-believers. Of the 20 cancer patients who declared not to have a religious faith, 7 patients agreed with the statement that they felt certain that God exists in some form, and 4 had experienced peace of mind through prayer and meditation. Almost all of the patients who declared to have a religious faith and to be churchgoers explicitly affirmed to have been helped by prayer and meditation in coping with their illness. Among believer churchgoers, only 30% declared to seek out the religious or spiritual community when they needed help. Conclusions. A large proportion of cancer patients find themselves involved with the search for a personal contact with the transcendent, also beyond any specific religious affiliation. These spiritual issues may be important even when they are not expressed as participation in religious rituals or adherence to specific religious beliefs. On the other hand, participation in religious rituals often implies the need for a personal spiritual life, both through those rituals and beyond them, as through personal prayer and meditation. These results ask for more attention on the part of professionals towards spiritual resources among cancer patients. It might be appropriate to look systematically for these resources from the moment of the diagnosis, through the sensitive administration of an easy and valid assessment tool like the SBI-15R.

Tumori. 2012 Jan;98(1):158-61. doi: 10.1700/1053.11515. Miccinesi G, Proserpio T, Pessi MA, Maruelli A, Bonacchi A, Borreani C, Ripamonti C.

Full title: Reading speed, comprehension and eye movements while reading Japanese novels: evidence from untrained readers and cases of speed-reading trainees.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence suggests that meditative training enhances perception and cognition. In Japan, the Park-Sasaki method of speed-reading involves organized visual training while forming both a relaxed and concentrated state of mind, as in meditation. The present study examined relationships between reading speed, sentence comprehension, and eye movements while reading short Japanese novels. In addition to normal untrained readers, three middle-level trainees and one high-level expert on this method were included for the two case studies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In Study 1, three of 17 participants were middle-level trainees on the speed-reading method. Immediately after reading each story once on a computer monitor, participants answered true or false questions regarding the content of the novel. Eye movements while reading were recorded using an eye-tracking system. Results revealed higher reading speed and lower comprehension scores in the trainees than in the untrained participants. Furthermore, eye-tracking data by untrained participants revealed multiple correlations between reading speed, accuracy and eye-movement measures, with faster readers showing shorter fixation durations and larger saccades in X than slower readers. In Study 2, participants included a high-level expert and 14 untrained students. The expert showed higher reading speed and statistically comparable, although numerically lower, comprehension scores compared with the untrained participants. During test sessions this expert moved her eyes along a nearly straight horizontal line as a first pass, without moving her eyes over the whole sentence display as did the untrained students. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In addition to revealing correlations between speed, comprehension and eye movements in reading Japanese contemporary novels by untrained readers, we describe cases of speed-reading trainees regarding relationships between these variables. The trainees overall tended to show poor performance influenced by the speed-accuracy trade-off, although this trade-off may be reduced in the case of at least one high-level expert.

PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e36091. Epub 2012 May 9. Miyata H, Minagawa-Kawai Y, Watanabe S, Sasaki T, Ueda K. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Full title: A randomized trial of hypnosis for relief of pain and anxiety in adult cancer patients undergoing bone marrow procedures.

Pain and anxiety are closely associated with bone marrow aspirates and biopsies. To determine whether hypnosis administered concurrently with the procedure can ameliorate these morbidities, the authors randomly assigned 80 cancer patients undergoing bone marrow aspirates and biopsies to either hypnosis or standard of care. The hypnosis intervention reduced the anxiety associated with procedure, but the difference in pain scores between the two groups was not statistically significant. The authors conclude that brief hypnosis concurrently administered reduces patient anxiety during bone marrow aspirates and biopsies but may not adequately control pain. The authors explain this latter finding as indicating that the sensory component of a patient's pain experience may be of lesser importance than the affective component. The authors describe future studies to clarify their results and address the limitations of this study.

J Psychosoc Oncol. 2012 May;30(3):281-93. Snow A, Dorfman D, Warbet R, Cammarata M, Eisenman S, Zilberfein F, Isola L, Navada S. a Department of Social Work Services , Mount Sinai Medical Center , New York , NY , USA.

Recent research on recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse has shown that there are at least two types of recovered memory experiences: those that are gradually recovered within the context of suggestive therapy and those that are spontaneously recovered, without extensive prompting or explicit attempts to reconstruct the past. These recovered memory experiences have different origins, with people who recover memories through suggestive therapy being more prone to forming false memories, and with people who report spontaneously recovered memories being more prone to forgetting prior instances of remembering. Additionally, the two types of recovered memory experiences are linked to differences in corroborative evidence, implying that memories recovered spontaneously, outside of suggestive therapy, are more likely to correspond to genuine abuse events. This chapter highlights the background of the recovered memory debate, summarizes recent studies with individuals reporting recovered memory experiences and points towards applications in the justice system and in clinical practice.

Nebr Symp Motiv. 2012;58:175-91. Geraerts E. Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. geraerts@fsw.eur.nl

Full title: Meditation over Medication for Irritable Bowel Syndrome? On Exercise and Alternative Treatments for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Complimentary alternative treatment regimens are widely used in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the evidence supporting their use varies. For psychological treatment options, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, gut-directed hypnotherapy, and psychodynamic therapy, the evidence supporting their use in IBS patients is strong, but the availability limits their use in clinical practice. Dietary interventions are commonly included in the management of IBS patients, but these are primarily based on studies assessing physiological function in relation to dietary components, and to a lesser degree upon research examining the role of dietary components in the therapeutic management of IBS. Several probiotic products improve a range of symptoms in IBS patients. Physical activity is of benefit for health in general and recent data implicates its usefulness also for IBS patients. Acupuncture does not seem to have an effect beyond placebo in IBS. A beneficial effect of some herbal treatments has been reported.

Curr Gastroenterol Rep. 2012 Jun 4. Asare F, Störsrud S, Simrén M. Department of Internal Medicine and clinical nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 41345, Gothenburg, Sweden, fredrik.asare@gu.se.

INTRODUCTION: After a hypnotic induction, medium and highly hypnotizable individuals often report spontaneous alterations in various dimensions of consciousness. Few studies investigating these experiences have controlled for the inherent demands of specific hypnotic suggestions and fewer still have considered their dynamic properties and neural correlates. METHODS: We adopted a neurophenomenological approach to investigate neutral hypnosis, which involves no specific suggestion other than to go into hypnosis, with 37 individuals of high, medium, and low hypnotizability (Highs, Mediums, and Lows). Their reports of depth and spontaneous experience at baseline, following a hypnotic induction, and then after multiple rest periods were analyzed and related to EEG frequency band power and global functional connectivity. RESULTS: Hypnotizability was marginally associated with lower global functional connectivity during hypnosis. Perceived hypnotic depth increased substantially after the induction especially among Highs and then Mediums, but remained almost unchanged among Lows. In the sample as a whole, depth correlated moderately to strongly with power and/or power heterogeneity for the fast EEG frequencies of beta2, beta3, and gamma, but independently only among Highs. The spontaneous phenomenology of Lows referred primarily to the ongoing experiment and everyday concerns, those of Mediums to vestibular and other bodily experiences, and those of Highs to imagery and positive affect/exceptional experiences. The latter two phenomena were associated with lower global functional connectivity during hypnosis. Imagery correlated positively with gamma power heterogeneity and negatively with alpha1 power heterogeneity. Generally, the pattern of correlations for the Highs was the opposite of that for the Lows. CONCLUSIONS: Experienced hypnotic depth and spontaneous phenomena following a neutral hypnotic induction vary as a function of hypnotizability and are related to global functional connectivity and EEG band wave activity.

Cortex. 2012 Apr 11 Cardeña E, Jönsson P, Terhune DB, Marcusson-Clavertz D. Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP), Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden.

Rick trained extensively with the London College of Clinical Hypnosis and gained a wealth of experience in practice both in London and Kent before taking his skills to the Continent, providing an invaluable and much needed service to English speaking Ex-pats.

His addition to the team coincides with his return to general practice in this country. Whilst specialising in the fields of disruptive sleep patterns and personality restructuring, his earlier involvement in the language arts and broadcasting have provided him with a sound foundation and background knowledge in the treatment of performance related anxiety in all of its manifestations.

He is a full member of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

Full title: Dynamical properties of BOLD activity from the ventral posteromedial cortex associated with meditation and attentional skills.

Neuroimaging data suggest a link between the spontaneous production of thoughts during wakeful rest and slow fluctuations of activity in the default mode network (DMN), a set of brain regions with high basal metabolism and a major neural hub in the ventral posteromedial cortex (vPMC). Meta-awareness and regulation of mind-wandering are core cognitive components of most contemplative practices and to study their impact on DMN activity, we collected functional MRI (fMRI) data from a cohort of experienced Zen meditators and meditation-naive controls engaging in a basic attention-to-breathing protocol. We observed a significant group difference in the skewness of the fMRI BOLD signal from the vPMC, suggesting that the relative incidence of states of elevated vPMC activity was lower in meditators; furthermore, the same parameter was significantly correlated with performance on a rapid visual information processing (RVIP) test forsustained attention conducted outside the scanner. Finally, a functional connectivity analysis with the vPMC seed revealed a significant association of RVIP performance with the degree of temporal correlation between vPMC and the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ), a region strongly implicated in stimulus-triggered reorienting of attention. Together, these findings suggest that the vPMC BOLD signal skewness and the temporal relationship of vPMC and TPJ activities reflect the dynamic tension between mind-wandering, meta-awareness, and directed attention, and may represent a useful endophenotype for studying individual differences in attentional abilities and the impairment of the latter in specific clinical conditions.

J Neurosci. 2012 Apr 11;32(15):5242-9. Pagnoni G. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, I-41125 Modena, Italy. giuseppe.pagnoni@unimore.it

BACKGROUND: As terminal disease progresses, health deteriorates and the end of life approaches, people may ask "Why this illness? Why me? Why now?" Such questions may invoke, rekindle or intensify spiritual or religious concerns. Although the processes by which these associations occur are poorly understood, there is some research evidence for associations that are mainly positive between spiritual and religious awareness and wellness, such as emotional health. OBJECTIVES: This review aimed to describe spiritual and religious interventions for adults in the terminal phase of a disease and to evaluate their effectiveness on well-being. SEARCH METHODS: We searched 14 databases to November 2011, including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and MEDLINE. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTS) if they involved adults in the terminal phase of a disease and if they evaluated outcomes for an intervention that had a spiritual or religious component. Primary outcomes were well-being, coping with the disease and quality of life. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: In accordance with the inclusion criteria, two review authors independently screened citations. One review author extracted data which was then checked by another review author. We considered meta-analysis for studies with comparable characteristics. MAIN RESULTS: Five RCTs (1130 participants) were included. Two studies evaluated meditation, the others evaluated multi-disciplinary palliative care interventions that involved a chaplain or spiritual counsellor as a member of the intervention team. The studies evaluating meditation found no overall significant difference between those receiving meditation or usual care on quality of life or well-being. However, when meditation was combined with massage in the medium term it buffered against a reduction in quality of life. In the palliative care intervention studies there was no significant difference in quality of life or well-being between the trial arms. Coping with the disease was not evaluated in the studies. The quality of the studies was limited by under-reporting of design features. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We found inconclusive evidence that interventions with spiritual or religious components for adults in the terminal phase of a disease may or may not enhance well-being. Such interventions are under-evaluated. All five studies identified were undertaken in the same country, and in the multi-disciplinary palliative care interventions it is unclear if all participants received support from a chaplain or a spiritual counselor. Moreover, it is unclear in all the studies whether the participants in the comparative groups received spiritual or religious support, or both, as part of routine care or from elsewhere. The paucity of quality research indicates a need for more rigorous studies.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 May 16;5:CD007544. Candy B, Jones L, Varagunam M, Speck P, Tookman A, King M. Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit, UCL Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College Medical School, Charles Bell House, 67 - 73 Riding House Street, London, UK, W1W 7EJ.

Objective:? Pediatric hypnosis has a useful role in pre-, peri-, and post-anesthesia to minimize anticipatory anxiety, and as adjunctive treatment to reduce and control pain. This article reviews the literature in the use of hypnosis in pediatric anesthesia to highlight its role and relevancy. Background:? Current research indicates there is an immediate and enduring impact, and long-term benefits of this child-centered intervention. Hypnosis can be included in presurgical consultations to establish cooperation and signals for increasing comfort and to address fears and provide suggestions for rapid recovery with changed expectations for the child's own benefit. Thus prepared, the child is in a heightened state of receptivity and statements and suggestions carry through to peri- and post-anesthesia, when hypnosis can help with extubation, reduce nausea, and ease recovery. Method:? The Magic Glove is one hypno-anesthesia technique that simultaneously addresses pain and anxiety. The process of hypnosis requires training and supervised practice. Conclusion: Patients in hypnosis treatment conditions have less anxiety and shorter hospital stays and experience less long-term pain and discomfort than do patients in control conditions. There appears little reason not to provide hypnosis as an adjunctive treatment for pediatric patients undergoing anesthesia.

Paediatr Anaesth. 2012 Jun;22(6):573-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9592.2012.03860.x. Kuttner L. Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital & University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Dr. Larson is the directory of the Stone Mountain Center, where he employs a variety of healing tools, to help people find their point of balance: Biofeedback, neurofeedback, psychotherapy, HeartMath, Interactive Metronome (for ADD and learning disabilities). Our clients include young children, adults, couples, and the elderly. In general their approach is synergistic, educational and cooperative, with the client treated as a peer and colleague in the healing process. He has in Jungian and Transpersonal Psychotherapy (35 years), work with dreams and creative and imaginal therapies, including sandplay; am familiar with shamanic experience and spiritual emergencies.

Individuals are sometimes exposed to information that may endanger their well-being. In such cases, forgetting or misremembering may be adaptive. Childhood abuse perpetrated by a caregiver is an example. Betrayal trauma theory (BTT) proposes that the way in which events are processed and remembered will be related to the degree to which a negative event represents a betrayal by a trusted, needed other. Full awareness of such abuse may only increase the victim's risk by motivating withdrawal or confrontation with the perpetrator, thus risking a relationship vital to the victim's survival. In such situations, minimizing awareness of the betrayal trauma may be adaptive. BTT has implications for the larger memory and trauma field, particularly with regard to forgetting and misremembering events. This chapter reviews conceptual and empirical issues central to the literature on memory for trauma and BTT as well as identifies future research directions derived from BTT.

Nebr Symp Motiv. 2012;58:193-242. DePrince AP, Brown LS, Cheit RE, Freyd JJ, Gold SN, Pezdek K, Quina K. Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA. Anne.DePrince@du.edu

Full title: A systematic review of evidence for the effectiveness of practitioner-based complementary and alternative therapies in the management of rheumatic diseases: rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective. To critically review the evidence on the effectiveness of complementary therapies for patients with RA.Methods. Randomized controlled trials, published in English up to May 2011, were identified using systematic searches of bibliographic databases and searching of reference lists. Information was extracted on outcomes and statistical significance in comparison with alternative treatments and reported side effects. The methodological quality of the identified studies was determined using the Jadad scoring system. All outcomes were considered but with a focus on patient global assessment and pain reporting. Results. Eleven eligible trials were identified covering seven therapies. Three trials that compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture reported no significant difference in pain reduction between the groups but one out of two reported an improvement in patient global assessment. Except for reduction in physician's global assessment of treatment and disease activity reported in one trial, no other comparative benefit of acupuncture was seen. There were two studies on meditation and one each on autogenic training, healing therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, static magnets and tai chi. None of these trials reported positive comparative effects on pain but some positive effects on patient global assessment were noted at individual time points in the healing therapy and magnet therapy studies. A small number of other outcomes showed comparative improvement in individual trials. There were no reports of major adverse events.Conclusion. The very limited evidence available indicates that for none of the practitioner-based complementary therapies considered here is there good evidence of efficacy or effectiveness in the management of RA.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2012 Jun 1. Macfarlane GJ, Paudyal P, Doherty M, Ernst E, Lewith G, Macpherson H, Sim J, Jones GT; on behalf of the Arthritis Research UK Working Group on Complementary and Alternative Therapies for the Management of the Rheumatic Diseases. Musculoskeletal Research (Epidemiology Group), School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK, Clinical and Epidemiological Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, Complementary and Integrated Medicine Research Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York and Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, Keele University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.

This article describes cognitive hypnotherapy (CH), a visionary model of adjunctive hypnotherapy that advances the role of clinical hypnosis to a recognized integrative model of psychotherapy. As hypnosis lacks a coherent theory of psychotherapy and behavior change, hypnotherapy has embodied a mixed bag of techniques and thus hindered from transfiguring into a mainstream school of psychotherapy. One way of promoting the therapeutic standing of hypnotherapy as an adjunctive therapy is to systematically integrate it with a well-established psychotherapy. By blending hypnotherapy with cognitive behavior therapy, CH offers a unified version of clinical practice that fits the assimilative model of integrated psychotherapy, which represents the best integrative psychotherapy approach for merging both theory and empirical findings.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2012 Apr;54(4):249-62. Alladin A. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Assen.Alladin@albertahealthservices.ca

Dr. Leskowitz directs the Integrative Medicine Project at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. He is currently producing a documentary film about science, spirituality, and sports entitled "The Joy of Sox: Weir Science and the Power of Attention" which will be released in Spring 2007. He holds appointments with the Departments of Psychiatry at Harvard and Tufts Medical Schools. He has studied energy healing, meditation and hypnosis for over 20 years, and has written and presented widely on the integration of subtle energy techniques and theories with the allopathic medical model. A collection of his papers entitle Energy Medicine: The Dynamics of Subtle Energy in Health and Disease is available from the author. He has also edited two textbooks: Transpersonal Hypnosis: Gateway to Body, Mind and Spirit (CRC Press, 2000) and Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Rehabilitation (Churchill Livingstone, 2003).

For more information, visit: www.TheJoyOfSoxMovie.com or www.EnergyMedicine101.com

The effects of two kinds of meditation (open presence and focused) on the facial and physiological aspects of the defensive response to an aversive startle stimulus were studied in a Buddhist monk with approximately 40 years of meditation experience. The participant was exposed to a 115-db, 100-ms acoustic startle stimulus under the 2 meditation conditions, a distraction condition (to control for cognitive and attentional load) and an unanticipated condition (startle presented without warning or instruction). A completely counterbalanced 24-trial, single-subject design was used, with each condition repeated 6 times. Most aspects of the participant's responses in the unanticipated condition did not differ from those of a comparison group of 12 age-matched male controls. Both kinds of meditation produced physiological and facial responses to the startle that were smaller than in the distraction condition. Within meditation conditions, open presence meditation produced smaller physiological and facial responses than focused meditation. These results from a single highly expert meditator indicate that these 2 kinds of meditation can differentially alter the magnitude of a primitive defensive response.

Emotion. 2012 Jun;12(3):650-8. Epub 2012 Apr 16. Levenson RW, Ekman P, Ricard M. Department of Psychology, University of California.