Full Title: Impact of self-hypnosis in women on select physiologic and psychological parameters

OBJECTIVE: To examine physiologic and psychologic effects of hypnosis in healthy women. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental, within-subject, repeated measures. SETTING: Private laboratory setting in an urban Midwestern College of Nursing. PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of 30 healthy, female volunteers who were nonpregnant, predominantly White, college students. METHOD: Participants listened to a 30-minute recording of relaxing, affirming hypnotic suggestions while sitting comfortably in a recliner. Hypnotizability and trait anxiety were measured at baseline. Tension-anxiety was measured at baseline and following the hypnotic induction. Heart rate, respiratory rate, and heart rate variability were collected before, during, and following the hypnotic experience. RESULTS: Paired t tests revealed significantly reduced heart rate (p<.001), respiratory rate (p<.001), low-to-high frequency heart rate variability ratio (p<.001), and tension-anxiety (p<.001), whereas high frequency heart rate variability was increased (p<.001) after the 30-minute hypnotic session. CONCLUSIONS: Hypnosis is an innovative, low-technology, self-modulated approach that may contribute to stress reduction and health promotion. Parameters demonstrated increased parasympathetic nervous system activity associated with relaxation during and immediately after the hypnosis experience. Findings from this study suggest that nurses can include hypnosis information when advising healthy women about available stress reduction approaches, as well as tailor their nursing care for women who present using this alternative approach.

VandeVusse L, Hanson L, Berner MA, White Winters JM. Marquette University Nurse-Midwifery Program, P. O. Box 1881, Clark Hall, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881, USA. leona.vandevusse@mu.edu

by Tim Brunson, PhD

Frequently when I am asked to explain the influences on the development of Advanced Neuro-Noetic Hypnosis^TM I mention the role of quantum physics. Yet, rarely do I clarify my comment. So, this article is intended to correct that as I give a very brief introduction to the major tenets that affect ANNH. What I am going to answer here is what is quantum physics and what are its implications for psychotherapy.

I wish to start out by saying that this is not the same banal "name dropping" that you have become accustomed to hearing from many self-help figures, who speak frequently at conferences. Indeed, if you are like me, you've probably been bombarded by the word "quantum" prefixing the words birthing, touch, breathing, and focus – concepts that rarely have anything to do with either science or subatomic particles. (Of course, I apologize to my esteemed colleagues who espouse such doctrines should my education have missed this connection. However, I have yet to find it.) Conversely, I assure you that the influence of quantum physics on ANNH is both genuine and scientific.

[More]

by Alfred A Barrios, PhD

Introduction

Throughout the years there have been periodic surges of great interest in hypnosis. Many extraordinary phenomena have been attributed to its effects and great claims made as to its effectiveness in therapy. Yet, in spite of such claims, there still appear to be relatively few therapists using hypnosis as a major tool. Why? Is it because the criticisms usually leveled at hypnosis are true? That it is overrated, actually limited to a small range of problems, unable to produce lasting changes? Will removal of symptoms by hypnosis lead to new symptoms? Is it dangerous? No, there is far too much clinical evidence contradicting these statements. Such evidence can no longer be ignored. It is felt that the major reason behind the rejection of hypnosis has been that for most people it is still virtually an unknown. It seems to be human nature to stay clear of or reject anything that doesn't seem to fit in or be explained rationally, especially when it seems to be something potentially powerful. It is mainly its unknown nature that has led to the many misconceptions surrounding hypnosis and has kept us from making the best use of it.

[More]

by Joyce-Anne Locking

In a little coffee shop, where I worked during my last year of university, I met a quiet newspaperman. An elderly gentleman with gray, thinning hair spent time in the coffee shop every evening. He ordered coffee as he sat and read the newspaper. Gradually, I came to realize he was a newspaperman who worked for the city paper. It wasn't until much later I realized the valuable impact his words would make on my belief in my own writing abilities. One day, before my graduation, he asked what I wanted to do with my life.

[More]

by Mark Gorkin, LICSW

Part I of this two-part essay focused on my format for illustrating the concept of "Letting Go" during a 20-minute after dinner keynote for the career transition/support group, Forty Plus. I reviewed both the dynamics and dangers of not being able to "let go": "if you have invested so much time, money and ego in one right person or position, and you can't step back and gain a new perspective...then you are setting in motion the 'erosive spiral,' that is, the groundwork is being laid for apathy, callousness and despair, my phrase for the burnout process."

[More]

by Tim Brunson, PhD

In this article I will explain a system for transformation can be used for just about any endeavor. Of course, my focus at this point is on how it can be used in a hypnotherapy session. Nevertheless, the core ideas that I am about to share with you can be easily applied to many different areas of a person's business or personal life.

Transformation requires a person to pursue any possible and probable option. I often call the decision making that this entails "selective thinking." Going back to pattern theory for a moment, remember that resistance to change is a natural enemy of selective thought. Any intention or goal is going to initially be faced with inertia. The ability to overcome this and to start pursuing desired options is critical for transformation to occur. Reducing the power of pattern resistance and allowing more efficient selective thinking is the essence of hypnosis. Doing this for clinical reasons is called hypnotherapy.

[More]

by Jef Gazley, MS, LMFT, DCC

Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive and fatal disease that has many interrelated causes, but no cure at the present time. Among the causes is a liver disorder that breaks down alcohol at one-half the rate compared to non-alcoholics. Alcohol abuse is different than alcoholism in that it has no physical symptoms of tolerance or withdrawal, but is serious and characterized by excessive drinking with pervasive negative consequences.

[More]

by Debra Burdick, LCSW

If you are like most people these days, your life is full of things that need to be done. No matter how much you do, there is always more to be done. There are chores around the house and yard, cooking and cleaning, chauffeuring the kids to their activities, helping them get their homework done, going to work, and on and on. Even friends who are retired tell me they are so busy they wonder how they ever had time to work. So how do you take care of yourself and rest?

[More]

by Bernie Siegel, MD

The present health care crisis is not just related to health care it is a crisis related to what is happening in our society. We have become depersonalized as a society, invested in technology and not the experience people are having. Studies verify what happens to children who grow up unloved and experiencing indifference, rejection and abuse. By midlife if they haven't killed themselves and others while seeking revenge and experiencing guilt related to their actions, almost one hundred percent of them have experienced a major illness, while loved children have one-fourth the serious illness rate.

[More]

by Mark Gorkin, LICSW

"When It Really Is "Your Money or Your Life"

This week I was the keynote speaker at the Forty Plus annual dinner (www.40plus-dc.org/), a volunteer-based, Washington, DC, career transition/support group. In general, members are white collar types, e.g., federal employees, managers, IT professionals, academics, even some entrepreneurs, who are "in between jobs." With only 20 minutes of speaking time, my subject was definitely apt, both for the attendees and for me -- "Letting Go." From a "psycho-semantic" perspective, "letting go" involves more than just physically "dropping the rope."

[More]

by Sam Slay

Our lives are made up of a series of habits that we create over time. Do you believe you intentionally adopt behavior that places you in harms way? Some harm may come in the form of decreasing health. Other harm comes in self-defeating personality traits. I am referring to the persistent habits that develop harmful behavior. For example, we fail to get healthy, get into shape, and be good to others and ourselves.

[More]

by Joyce-Anne Locking

You can change your mind at any time you wish. Learn to walk your thought pattern through a positive process each day. It's a push and pull reaction. Push ahead as your inner vision pulls. When you examine your thoughts you may discover you are experiencing some painful emotion. The funny thing is that thought is in charge of producing emotion which in turn determines behavior. The power of pretense is recognized as reality by the mind. If you pretend to be in a state of ease and enjoyment, the body responds to the pleasing environment you suggest. Try playing a game with your mind. Tell yourself you are exactly as you wish you could be.

[More]

by Katherine Zimmerman, PhD, CHT

We all have parts. I'm not referring to body parts here but parts of our personality. Have you ever said to someone, "a part of me really wants to take that new job but another part is afraid to make the change?" Or, "a part of me really wants to lose weight but another part says that it's just too much work." This is a normal occurrence because we all have parts of our personality that have split off and keep us struggling to make decisions. Just as with any team effort, life flows more smoothly when our parts are working together. In the following case history, Renee brings several parts into agreement creating a life that feels lighter and easier.

[More]

by Tim Brunson, PhD

The purpose of any therapeutic session is to relieve the discomfort and suffering of another person and return them to a state of happiness and contentment. This typically involves a presenting problem – although the clinician may uncover other issues that must be addressed initially. The structure of the session is critical to its success. In this article I will share with you a process which I currently employ with many of my hypnotherapy clients.

For the purpose of this article it may be helpful to regard the person seeking help as a patient. Regardless of the traditional and preferred terminology of a particular helping profession, the word patient denotes a person who is experiencing an "enduring situation that is causing discomfort." Realizing this and having a compassionate attitude is helpful.

I must warn you that there are three major mistakes that clinicians often make during a session. The first is to allow an uncontrolled and unstructured session to exacerbate – rather than alleviate – the presenting problem. Secondly, the clinician may tend to use the session to address their own unresolved issues. A session with a paying client is not the appropriate time to conduct self-therapy. And third – and related – a session may be seen as an opportunity to address the clinician's ego issues through inappropriately impressing the patient as to their importance and value. The session must be all about the patient and be considered successful only if it reaches the therapeutic intent.

[More]

by Derrick Lonsdale, MD

The present concept involving disease is to "make a diagnosis". The specific disease is then named in much the same way as we might use in collecting alpine flowers or stamps. It is recognized by a constellation of symptoms and signs and the "proof" is believed to come from the laboratory. If there is overlap between several diseases we go about making a "differential diagnosis", perhaps the best example being collagen diseases. The only trouble with this is that Mother Nature does not understand our classification and did not construct the model by which we diagnose. This is not the only error in our thinking. With the exception of antibiotics designed to "kill the enemy", we try to find a "cure" for each and every disease as it is described. We now have a fantastic array of potentially poisonous substances that are so numerous that they have to be catalogued in the Physicians Desk Reference, a tome that almost exceeds the dimensions of a volume of Encyclopedia Brittanica. Even with the acknowledged concept of antibiotics we have come to recognize their limitations and dangers. Louis Pasteur, on his death bed, said "I was wrong: it is the terrain that matters". He had recognized that the body could only exist in a hostile environment by initiating a defensive strategy that is an innate part of our evolution. So is an entirely new model required? Should we be content with merely treating symptoms?

[More]

by Marta Luzim, MS

Everyone wants to be happy. As children, and still as adults, we want to believe Jiminy Cricket's lullaby, "When you wish upon a star makes no difference who you are, when you wish upon a star your dreams really do come true."

"The Secret," a movie produced by Rhonda Byrne of Prime Time Productions which was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, introduced a panel of philosophers, scientists, visionaries and entrepreneurs that teach "The Secret's" basic tenet of creating one's personal reality.

[More]

We examined the effects of suggestion on Stroop interference in highly suggestible individuals. Participants completed the Stroop task with and without a suggestion to perceive Stroop words as meaningless symbols. Half the participants were given this suggestion in hypnosis, and half were given the suggestion without the induction of hypnosis. Suggestion produced a significant reduction in Stroop inhibition, accounting for about 45% of the variance in Stroop responding, regardless of whether hypnosis had been induced. These findings indicate that suggestion can at least partially overcome the automaticity associated with the Stroop effect.

Psychol Sci. 2006 Feb;17(2):91-5. Raz A, Kirsch I, Pollard J, Nitkin-Kaner Y. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, MRI Unit in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York, NY 10032, USA. ar2241@columbia.edu

By Sharon Esonis, PhD

"Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there's a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours."

[More]

This article both summarizes the previous reviews of randomized, controlled trials of hypnotic analgesia for the treatment of chronic and acute pain in adults, and reviews similar trials which have recently been published in the scientific literature. The results indicate that for both chronic and acute pain conditions: (1) hypnotic analgesia consistently results in greater decreases in a variety of pain outcomes compared to no treatment/standard care; (2) hypnosis frequently out-performs non-hypnotic interventions (e.g. education, supportive therapy) in terms of reductions in pain-related outcomes; and (3) hypnosis performs similarly to treatments that contain hypnotic elements (such as progressive muscle relaxation), but is not surpassed in efficacy by these alternative treatments. Factors that may influence the efficacy of hypnotic analgesia interventions are discussed, including, but not limited to, the patient's level of suggestibility, treatment outcome expectancy, and provider expertise. Based upon this body of literature, suggestions are offered for practitioners who are using, or would like to use, hypnosis for the amelioration of pain problems in their patients or clients.

Contemp Hypn. 2009 Mar 1;26(1):24-39. Stoelb BL, Molton IR, Jensen MP, Patterson DR. University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation. Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

by Joyce-Anne Locking

Life is short and dreams are too easily given up and forgotten. Pressed to choose a course of action, we often waste the time and gifts of dreams. What we do with our lives is important. Springtime is a time for dreaming new dreams.

Wonderful gardens are a source of pride and peaceful respite in the middle of a downtown busy with daily traffic and bustling activity. A reprieve from stress and worries, flowers in summer gardens provide colour to nourish our too frequently frazzled existence. A stroll through such gardens last summer found me wondering why such few green spaces are left in the area to enjoy. Green space ought to be taken much more seriously, especially in residential areas. Little room is left for thought or creativity, recreation or just plain relaxation. A place to ponder is something everyone can make use of. Even a drive by such a place is beneficial in that it suggests creative thought.

[More]

Effect of photo-acoustic stimulation on the flow rate and protein concentration of whole saliva was investigated. 10 medical students' and 11 edentulous patients' salivary volume and protein concentrations were measured before, during, and after stimulation. The flow rate of the students' group was significantly higher (p < or = 0.01) before and after the treatment, whereas the protein concentration was significantly lower (p < or = 0.05) before, during and after treatment comparing to the patients' group. The flow rate of the students' groups significantly decreased during stimulation (p < or = 0.05). Salivary protein concentration of the students' group significantly increased (p < or = 0.05) after stimulation. There were no significant changes in the group of patients. Repeated stimulation combined with hypnotic relaxation was used in the case of 4 psychosomatic patients. Resting salivary flow and protein concentration significantly increased in 2 cases (p < or = 0.05) as a result of the therapy.

Fogorv Sz. 2003 Oct;96(5):217-21. Kaán B, Krause WR, Krause M, Fejérdy L, Gáspár J, Bálint M, Fábián TK. Semmelweis Egyetem, Fogpótlástani Klinika, Budapest.

by Ernesto Ortiz LMT, CST

I have talk lately with many of my clients and friends and a repeated theme it's been going around. Many of them have expressed feelings that they don't quite understand, I started following this tread of information and realized that this are times of heighten awareness, tremendous input of information from the media and a deep inner desire to understand what is going on. Many of us hear the news and grind our teeth at what we hear, we feel it in our hearts and we help carry the burden at unconscious levels. But then there is something deeper than that going on. We want to wake up, we want to connect and feel that we are contributing something to the planet, to its people, our family and friends. Yes, that is all good but then something is happening to our bodies. We are in the process of conscious awakening.

[More]

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of hypnotherapy on resumption of menstruation in patients with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA). DESIGN: Uncontrolled clinical study. SETTING: Academic clinical care center. PATIENT(S): Twelve consecutive women with FHA were selected. INTERVENTION(S): A single 45- to 70-minute session of hypnotherapy was administered, and patients were observed for 12 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Patients were asked whether or not menstruation resumed and whether or not well-being and self-confidence changed. RESULT(S): Within 12 weeks, 9 out of 12 patients (75%) resumed menstruation. All of the patients, including those who did not menstruate, reported several beneficial side effects such as increased general well-being and increased self-confidence. CONCLUSION(S): Hypnotherapy could be an efficacious and time-saving treatment option that also avoids the pitfalls of pharmacological modalities for women with FHA.

Fertil Steril. 2003 Oct;80(4):982-5. Tschugguel W, Berga SL. Division of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Vienna Medical School, Vienna, Austria. walter.tschugguel@akh-wien.ac.at

by Tim Brunson, PhD

There is often a conflict in therapy between conformity and effectiveness. The desire to "do no harm", to remain within the scope of practice, and to comply with ethical and boundary requirements result in a hesitancy to explore alternatives that may be in the patient or client's best interest. While I would never question the compassionate intention of such limitations, they may very well present a stultifying effect on the potential benefits of therapeutic interventions. My intent here is to explore the appropriate balance between risk-taking and caution both in the intellectual development of our professions as well as regarding practical applications with subjects.

Most certainly I would be the first to admit that risk-taking is allowed within the established and accepted rules. Clinicians have license to try a variety of approved techniques. Clinton Clay, LCSW, who was one of my first NLP instructors, impressed upon me the necessity of having a collection of optional techniques – meaning that there is no one solution to everyone's concerns. Indeed, even Milton H. Erickson, MD, preached that psychiatrists should approach their practices as somewhat of an art rather than being confined by a particular school of thought. Nevertheless, when looked at with historical perspective, risky protocols are frequently viewed later as barbaric – such as frontal lobotomies and many of the methods that were once common in self-styled modern asylums. This leaves me to conclude that several of the current methods may also eventually be considered cruel and ineffective by the practitioners only a few decades from now.

[More]

by Bernie Siegel, MD

The key to life in all its forms is its ability to communicate. This includes the ability of complex organisms like ourselves to communicate with each other but more importantly within ourselves, our individual organs and cells. How do animals communicate without words? Studies show they can count and make intelligent choices when given options yet we do not know how they are able to reason and communicate without using words.

[More]

by Sam Slay

Are you too busy living to create a life? Are you too busy working to create a career? Are you too busy managing rather than becoming a business leader? Are you just too busy because being busy is the only thing you know how to do?

Did you know that Warren Buffet only works three hours a day? Obviously someone with his wealth doesn't have to work at all. How do you think people like him got that way? I assure you they didn't get that way by being too busy to create the life they wanted. They set a side time to plan and balance their life beyond showing up day after day performing the same tasks and maintaining the status quo. They made plans, and weren't afraid to change to achieve their goals.

[More]

by Debra Burdick, LCSW

It is always exciting to see how current brain research and brain imaging techniques prove why psychological and spiritual techniques work in our lives. It turns out that our brains don't really know the difference between whether something is actually happening in our lives or whether we are only imagining it in our minds. When athletes are hooked up to brain monitoring equipment and asked to imagine they are performing their sport, their brainwaves fire the same as if they were actually doing their sport. Pianists who imagine playing the piano and rehearsing a piece in their minds play it better when they perform it.

[More]

Full Title: The predictive utility of hypnotizability: The change in suggestibility produced by hypnosis

Objective: The predictive utility of hypnotizability, conceptualized as the change in suggestibility produced by a hypnotic induction, was investigated in the suggested reduction of experimental pain. Method: One hundred and seventy-three participants were assessed for nonhypnotic imaginative suggestibility. Thereafter, participants experienced hypnotic and nonhypnotic imaginative analgesia suggestions, counterbalanced for order. Hypnotic suggestibility was then assessed. Results: Hypnotizability, operationalized as hypnotic suggestibility with imaginative suggestibility statistically controlled (Braffman & Kirsch, 1999), predicted intraindividual differences in responding to the hypnotic and imaginative analgesia suggestions. Higher hypnotizability was associated with relatively greater response to the hypnotic analgesia suggestion than to the imaginative analgesia suggestion. Conclusions: Operationalized in this way, hypnotizability may be a useful predictor of the effect of adding a hypnotic induction to a specific imaginative suggestion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

J Consult Clin Psychol. 2010 Feb;78(1):126-30. Milling LS, Coursen EL, Shores JS, Waszkiewicz JA. Department of Psychology.

by Ron Eslinger, RN, CRNA, MA, APN, BCH

In her book, Notes on Nursing, published in 1859, Florence Nightingale said, "Volumes are now written and spoken upon the effect of the mind upon the body." She discussed in detail how nurses should help patients vary their thoughts. Florence Nightingale was more in tune with complementary therapy in 1859 than most nurses and physicians are today. She spoke at length in her book on the benefits of music, color, aroma, physical activity, fresh air, and exercise. She understood the power of words and how using hypnosis to help patients change their thoughts helped them heal.

[More]

by Joyce-Anne Locking

How easy it is for us to get too wrapped up in the bustle of everyday life, so much so we sometimes lose track of thought. If possible, it would be nice to take time to sit and gaze out the window and let the day unfold in natural delight. Without the stress and scurry, life is truly a blessing. Repeat after me: there is no present like the present moment! If we could make up our minds like we make up a room or make up a lunch, we could set ourselves straight on a daily basis.

[More]

Clark Hull's (1933) research on dissociation was based on a 'straw man' formulation of dissociation; he claimed that dissociation requires noninterference. Hull completely ignored the then-current paradigm of dissociation--dissociation as automatism--and claimed that he had refuted the validity of the phenomenon of dissociation. Hull's view of dissociation held sway in the hypnosis field for 60 years. This essay seeks to retrieve the Janetian paradigm of dissociation as automatism. Automatisms are unexpected, uninitiated, involuntary behaviors that just 'happen.' The author argues that human sensitivity to the experience of involuntariness (a) is quite important, (b) was selected by evolution, and (c) is central to both hypnotic responses and dissociative symptoms. This editorial urges the hypnosis field and the dissociation field to jointly undertake a renewed investigation of the experience of involuntariness and to follow recent neuroimaging studies which indicate that the parietal cortex underlies the experience of involuntariness.

J Trauma Dissociation. 2010;11(1):1-18. Dell PF.

Hypnotizability is a cognitive multidimensional trait that involves peculiar imagery characteristics. Subjects with high- (Highs) and low (Lows)-susceptibilities to hypnosis have shown different levels of skill at visual and somesthetic-guided imageries performed during upright stance. The aim of this experiment is to study the modulation of the EEG alpha and theta band amplitude during guided visual and somesthetic imageries in Highs and Lows, as these rhythms are responsive to the cognitive activities involved in mental imagery. Our results show that, at variance with standing subjects, subjects in both groups in a semi-reclined position report higher vividness and lower effort for visual than for somesthetic imagery. EEG patterns however are different between the two groups. Highs exhibit a more widespread alpha desynchronization and slightly different EEG patterns during visual and somesthetic imageries, while Lows show segregated alpha- and theta-desynchronization, without any difference between the tasks. Our results indicate that different, hypnotizability-related cognitive strategies, that are revealed by differences in EEG modulation, are responsible for the similar subjective experience associated with visual and somesthetic imageries in Highs and Lows. In addition, in both groups higher order mental representation of different sensory modalities might be subserved by a unique integrated neural network. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurosci Lett. 2009 Dec 23. Cavallaro FI, Cacace I, Del Testa M, Andre P, Carli G, De Pascalis V, Rocchi R, Santarcangelo EL. Department of Physiology, University of Siena, Italy.

by Jevon Dängeli

Wake up; Hypnosis is not about being unconscious!

As a Hypnotherapy trainer I keep being asked questions about Hypnosis which indicate to me that masses of people are still hypnotised by the misconceptions and negative propaganda which they've allowed themselves to be influenced by. Their false ideas about Hypnosis and their impression that only certain people can be hypnotised are evidence of the power of hypnosis and its lasting effects.

Many stage Hypnosis performers along with some misleading cultural and religious doctrines do the Hypnotherapy profession little good. Meanwhile certain doctors, therapists and specialised coaches quietly go about empowering their patients and clients to overcome or manage "incurable" ailments.

[More]

Can suggestion, particularly hypnotic suggestion, influence cognition? Addressing this intriguing question experimentally is on the rise in cognitive research, nowhere more prevalently than in the domain of cognitive control and attention. This may well rest on the intuitive connection between hypnotic suggestion and attention, where the hypnotist controls the subject's attention. Particularly impressive has been the work of Raz and his colleagues demonstrating the modulation and even the complete elimination of classic Stroop color-word interference when subjects are given a posthypnotic suggestion that words are meaningless. Overriding a highly practiced, possibly even automatic response like reading is testament to the attentional control that can be exerted under (post)hypnotic suggestion. What else do we need to know-in the Stroop context and more broadly-to obtain a clear picture of how suggestion can orchestrate attention?

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Dec 5. Macleod CM. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1.

We examined two potential correlates of hypnotic suggestibility: dissociation and cognitive inhibition. Dissociation is the foundation of two of the major theories of hypnosis and other theories commonly postulate that hypnotic responding is a result of attentional abilities (including inhibition). Participants were administered the Waterloo-Stanford Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form C. Under the guise of an unrelated study, 180 of these participants also completed: a version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale that is normally distributed in non-clinical populations; a latent inhibition task, a spatial negative priming task, and a memory task designed to measure negative priming. The data ruled out even moderate correlations between hypnotic suggestibility and all the measures of dissociation and cognitive inhibition overall, though they also indicated gender differences. The results are a challenge for existing theories of hypnosis.

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Dec;18(4):837-47. Epub 2009 Aug 25. Dienes Z, Brown E, Hutton S, Kirsch I, Mazzoni G, Wright DB. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK. dienes@sussex.ac.uk

By Dr. Alexander R. Lees, DCH, RCC

We just completed a workshop and a good time was had by all. One of the issues that people wanted to discuss, and get a better understanding of, was how they as the practitioner, can help the client to relax and be able to better articulate why they've come to see him/her.

From my experience of teaching for many years, this is a common issue for many... practitioners sometimes have trouble helping the client be resourceful. The client has difficulty describing the issue or problem, and also accessing any feelings or emotions regarding the issue.

[More]

by Tim Brunson, PhD

Change is natural. It naturally occurs all around us. Gas prices go up. We weather the mortgage and housing crises. And, violent crimes are increasing in most major cities. Regardless whether of the political party changes, there will have a different president in the White House a minimum of every eight years. Change is not a campaign slogan, it is part of life. It seems nothing in life is permanent other than change.

I vividly remember watching the last Olympics. There were young men and women from around the globe. These were people, like Michael Phelps, who dared to dream and commit to winning multiple gold medals. These are people who have changed themselves and motivated millions. Many are heroes to their countrymen, their families and even to themselves. They've mastered change.

[More]

Participants of low and high hypnotic susceptibility were tested on a temporal order judgement task, both with and without hypnosis. Judgements were made of the order of presentation of light flashes appearing in first one hemi-field then the other. There were differences in the inter-stimulus intervals required accurately to report the order, depending upon which hemi-field led. This asymmetry was most marked in hypnotically susceptible participants and reversed when they were hypnotised. This implies not only that brain activity changes in hypnosis, but also that there is a difference in brain function between people of low and high hypnotic susceptibility. The latter exhibited a faster-acting left hemisphere in the waking state, but faster right when hypnotised.

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Nov 7. Naish PL. Dept. of Psychology, The Open University, Briggs Building, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom.

by Mark Gorkin, LICSW

Transforming the Conventional into the Creative: Discovering and Designing the "Bright Crystals" of Contradiction

These days everyone wants to be creative, to "think out of the box." But how do you walk the talk? As a workshop leader who often tries to give organizations a "Jolt of CPR: Being Creative, Passionate and Risk-Taking," let me share one concept that just might be an integral component of creative thinking and problem-solving. On stage, I like to introduce this concept through a thought-provoking and, possibly, unsettling exercise that was inspired by the research of Dr. Albert Rothenberg, as reported in his book The Emerging Goddess: Creativity in the Sciences and the Arts. (The title evokes the mythic imagery of Athena, Greek goddess of both war and creativity, being born full-sized from the head of her almighty father, Zeus.) This Yale Psychiatrist and Cognitive Psychologist found that subjects who responded with more opposites or antonyms in a word association test – e.g., "wet" to the word "dry" or "fast" to the word "slow" – had higher scores on certain creative personality measures than subjects generating mostly synonyms or "original" responses. (Rothenberg's sample was fairly small and at most his results can be suggestive. My casual workshop trials indicate that usually less than ten percent of the audience free associate predominantly with antonyms. Of course, I remind participants that this is only one informal measure of creativity.) Considering the small or informal sample size, nonetheless, why might there be a correlation between contradictory association and personality differentiation? To expand your worldview and problem-solving vision, consider these Seven Cognitive Complexity Keys for Transforming the Conventional into the Creative:

[More]

by David Kohlhagen LPC, NBCCH

Part 2: The Session

The Status Quo

That brings us full circle to Saturday, August 22, 2009. At that time I was reading everything I could about having my book, Force of Habit, published, and I was giving it a final edit in preparation for submitting it to publishers. I was beginning to write professional articles for publication and I was completely overhauling my website around the book and around my new professional identity as an institute. I was repositioning myself for a life of doing mind/body healing work, public speaking, education and training, and professional writing. It was at once a very exciting and exhilarating and a very intimidating and anxiety provoking prospect. I sometimes didn't feel ready for the pressure and the exposure that I was moving toward; it felt overwhelming to be utterly on my own, teaching and writing from my own school of thought and treatment, and flying in the face of non-holistic medical and healing practices. I also felt suffocated by the pressures and stresses of family life, stifled by the power of prevailing medical thinking and daunted by the competition in the holistic healing field. There are so many notables! If all my projects were to reach fruition I needed to be free of this bothersome and nagging health issue. Metaphorically, the asthma seemed to symbolize my reluctance and fear about the next step in my career. It was holding me back and draining my energy.

[More]