Acupuncture treatment uses ultrafine needles which are inserted into specified points on the skin (acupoints). Acupuncture can help alleviate pain and inflammation, possibly through the increased release of pituitary beta-endorphins and ACTH. Hypnosis can also help alleviate pain syndromes, and may have centrally mediated immunomodulatory effects. The use of these 2 treatments simultaneously may potentially assist and augment the effects of each another. Two case reports where both treatments are used together are presented: One showing how hypnosis can help in the treatment of painful acupoints, the other how the response to acupuncture may be augmented by hypnosis in the treatment of headache. Controlled trials of this combined treatment are warranted.

Center for Integrative Complementary Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. refplus@netvision.net.il

This study assessed response times and accuracy of motor imagery in waking and hypnotic states and to related responses to hypnotic experiences. The Vividness of Motor Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ) was administered to 47 participants. A mental walking task was then performed in the waking state. In hypnosis, the same task was included within an imaginary journey after a hypnotic induction. An interaction effect showed for condition (waking vs. hypnotic) and distances. The further the participants had to walk in imagination, the longer they took. For all combinations, participants took significantly longer in hypnosis (p < .001) and were significantly less accurate in hypnosis in reproducing the difference between the different distances (p < .001). Results appear to show a relationship between motor imagery and hypnotic responding and support a state-trait conception of imagery.

Dept. of Clinical and Applied Psychology, Friedrich-Wilhelms University Bonn, Roemer Str. 164, 53117 Bonn, Germany. brigitte.konradt@uni-bonn.de

The aim of the experiment was to study possible differences between the kinematic strategies for the "involuntary" arm lowering of hypnotized highly susceptible subjects (H-Highs) and for the voluntary movement of non-hypnotizable simulators (Sims) during suggestions of arm heaviness (Part I). In addition, a comparison between awake susceptible subjects (W-Highs) and H-Highs was carried out to clarify the specific role of the hypnotic state and hypnotizability (Part II). Subjects' absorption and attentional/imagery capabilities were evaluated through neuropsychological tests. Their arm movements were monitored three-dimensionally at hand, wrist and elbow level through a Polhemus Fastrack system. A final interview collected self-reports concerning the perception of movement involuntariness. Neuropsychological tests showed better "absorption" and imagery capabilities in Highs. In the interview, H-Highs perceived a higher involvement in the task and greater involuntariness and difficulties in contrasting the arm lowering than the Sims. Kinematic analysis showed significant differences between H-Highs and Sims for arm displacements along the vertical axis and on the horizontal plane. In fact, the former lowered the left arm earlier and to a greater degree than the right arm; on the horizontal plane, a forearm flexion was observed for H-Highs on the right side. On comparing W-Highs and H-Highs, hypnosis appeared to magnify the waking motor strategies, but also to induce specific changes, mainly concerning the horizontal plane. These results cannot be interpreted on the basis of "role playing" and socio-cognitive factors. They are believed to be due to a balance between the effectiveness of the frontal executive control towards the selection of behaviors and movement automaticity, which is in line with the neo-dissociation theory of hypnosis.

Dipartimento di Fisiologia e Biochimica, Universita di Pisa, Via San Zeno 31, 56127 Pisa, Italy. enricals@dfb.unipi.it

Phenomenology and perceptual psychology opens up the essential meanings of hypnosis by presenting a qualitative method as an alternative to the current predominant quantitative method in the study of hypnosis. Scales that measure susceptibility from behavioral and cognitive aspects abound in the hypnosis literature, but understanding the structure of hypnotic experiencing is yet to come. A new qualitative approach to researching hypnotic experiencing by combining aspects of phenomenological research as in work of Giorgi, Moustakas, and Wertz, familiarity with Husserl's philosophy, and a perceptual psychological research method (cf. work by Combs, Richards, & Richards and by Wasicsko). The author utilized this combined methodology to formulate the theory of Perceptually Oriented Hypnosis. This methodology enables the therapist or professional and patient or client to share benefits from the effects of their hypnotic experiencing in its intersubjective sense. This method can be applied in numerous life situations such as teaching and therapy in addition to the experimental situation.

Woodward Hypnosis and Research, Inc. Milford, New Hampshire, USA. Fredwoodard@aol.com