A recent meta-analysis by the Department of Women's Anaesthesia of Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia looked at the effects of hypnosis for pain relief during childbirth. Embase, Pubmed, and the Cochrane library 2004.1 were searched for clinical trials where hypnosis during pregnancy and childbirth was compared with a non-hypnosis intervention, no treatment or placebo. There were no language restrictions.

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The same principal investigator, E. Solberg, studied the effects of meditation on competitive shooting performance. Twenty-five elite shooters performed standardized test shooting, indoors and outdoors. Their performance was assessed before and after regular meditation training.

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When Dr. Rogerio Lobo, Chair of Columbia Presbyterian's Department of OBGYN, and Dr. Kwang Y. Cha, a researcher at Cha Hospital in Seoul, studied the effect of intercessory prayer on the pregnancy rates of 219 women, aged 26-46 years old, being treated with in vitro fertilization, they found that the prayed-for group had double the pregnancy rate (50% vs. 26%, P = .0013) and double the implantation rate (16.3% vs. 8%, P = .0005).

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In 1998, a research team led by Linda Halpin at the Inova Heart Center of Inova Fairfax Hospital compared cardiac surgical outcomes between two groups of heart patients - with and without guided imagery. A questionnaire was developed to assess the benefits of the guided imagery program to those who elected to participate in it, and, in addition, data from the hospital financial cost-accounting database were collected and matched to the two groups of patients.

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Meta-analysis by investigators at the Department of Women's Anaesthesia of Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, looked at evidence regarding the effects of hypnosis for pain relief during childbirth.

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Researchers at Peninsula Medical School, at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the UK conducted a review of the literature to determine the effectiveness of complementary therapies on reducing body weight.

Researchers at Peninsula Medical School, at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the UK conducted a review of the literature to determine the effectiveness of complementary therapies on reducing body weight.

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This study examines the effect of adding hypnosis to a behavioral weight-management program on short- and long-term weight change. One hundred nine subjects, ranging in age from 17 to 67, completed a behavioral treatment either with or without the addition of hypnosis.

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Researchers from Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK, looked to see whether hypnotherapy was effective for weight loss. A randomized, controlled, parallel study looked at two forms of hypnotherapy - one directed at stress reduction and the other at intake reduction, as compared to dietary advice alone, in 60 obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

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Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Connecticut published a 3rd meta-analysis of the effect of adding hypnosis to cognitive-behavioral treatments for weight reduction, using additional data from 2 new studies, and computational inaccuracies in both previous meta-analyses were corrected.

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Jeff Rossman, PhD, Director of Behavioral Medicine at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, conducted a study with 16 staff members as part of a general behavioral/educational program for weight loss. As with the Joslin study, half the group used the Weight Loss tape; the other half just listened to Music II. The group that listened daily to the weight loss guided imagery tape while attending an 8-week weight reduction program, lost an average of 8.5 pounds. The group that listened daily to just the music from the weight loss tape, while participating in the same program, lost an average of 4.25 pounds, exactly half. The study ran for eight weeks, and results are being tabulated now, even as you read this. Rossman says that at superficial glance, the guided imagery group seems to have done extremely well.

Researchers from the University of Connecticut at Storrs ran a third meta-analysis of the effect of adding hypnosis to a behavioral program for weight reduction. They collected data from 2 more studies, and corrected for computational inaccuracies in the 2 previous meta-analyses. Just as with the Canyon Ranch pilot study with our Weight Loss imagery, it continues to look like adding a right brain intervention like hypnosis and/or imagery to a behavioral program will double weight loss.

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Researchers from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Kowloon, in a randomized, controlled clinical trial, studied the efficacy of mental imagery at promoting relearning for people after a stroke. Subjects were forty-six inpatients, 60 years of age or older, after a cerebral infarction, who were patients in an inpatient rehabilitation stroke unit in Hong Kong. They were randomized to receive 15 sessions (1 hour a day for 3 weeks) of either the mental imagery program or the conventional functional training intervention on the relearning of daily living tasks.

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Researchers from the Department of Rehabilitation, Laval University and Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec City, ran a controlled, clinical trial examining the potential of using "mental practice" (MP) to promote the learning of 2 mobility tasks in people who suffered a stroke.

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Tiller, McCraty and Atkinson of the Institute of HeartMath found that subjects who were trained to use a heart-focused stress-reduction technique that shifted their attention away from stress and toward their hearts, while focusing on feelings of love, caring and appreciation, showed evidence of increased cardiac coherence and stability. This supports the imagery methodology we've been using on many of our tapes.

A placebo controlled, randomized study by J.A. Blumenthal et al, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 1997; 157: 2213-2223, (called Stress Management and Exercise Training in Cardiac Patients with Myocardial Ischemia: Effects on Prognosis and Evaluation of Mechanisms) showed that teaching stress reduction techniques to cardiac patients reduced their risk of having further heart problems by a whopping 75%.

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Researchers at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention evaluated the effects of stress management on the quality of life, functional capacity, and heart rate variability in a pilot study of 33 elderly patients with New York Heart Association class I-III congestive heart failure. Subjects were randomized to one of two treatment groups or a wait-listed control group.

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Researchers at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention evaluated the effects of stress management on the quality of life, functional capacity, and heart rate variability in a pilot study of 33 elderly patients with New York Heart Association class I-III congestive heart failure. Subjects were randomized to one of two treatment groups or a wait-listed control group. The 14 participants who completed the treatment attended eight training sessions during a 10-week period.

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Researchers from Texas A&M University's Health Science Center conducted a preliminary study of the efficacy of a 3-session hypnosis protocol for smoking cessation.

Thirty smokers enrolled in an HMO were referred by their primary physician for treatment. Twenty-one patients returned after an initial consultation and received hypnosis for smoking cessation.

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That dynamic Danish research machine from Aarhus University, R. Zachariae, the same fellow who brought you scores of studies about the effects of hypnosis and imagery on reactions to poison ivy, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and other histamine and autoimmune afflictions, also did a nice study with psoriasis. We get a lot of questions about psoriasis and imagery, so we're pleased to show you this: Fifty-one patients with psoriasis vulgaris were randomly assigned to a treatment group (where they got 7 individual sessions over 12 weeks, learning stress management, guided imagery and relaxation skills) or a control group. All subjects were measured on the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Total Sign Score (TSS) and Laser Doppler Skin Blood Flow (LDBF) at weeks #4, #8 and after treatment was completed.

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Researchers at the University of Iowa studied how 3 conditions: stress, relaxation and a control condition, can affect an inflammatory response artificially induced by injecting capsaicin, the pungent compound in chili peppers, under the skin. 50 subjects 28 men and 22 women were pre-trained in relaxation, using an imagery-based relaxation tape, and then randomized to one of the experimental groups a 20-minute stress test, a relaxation tape or a video control, followed by a capsaicin injection in the forearm. Digitized measurements of flare were taken for 1 hour after the injection, as well as measurements at regular intervals of cardiovascular variables, cortisol, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, and norepinephrine.

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Researchers from the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan evaluate a post-treatment self-regulation program of self-management for 25 breast cancer patients and find it highly effective

Researchers from the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan evaluated a program of self-management for breast cancer patients after treatment. The program, called Taking CHARGE, involved a two-pronged approach building on self-regulation principles to (1) equip women with self-management skills to address concerns following breast cancer treatment, and (2) provide information about common survivorship topics.

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Investigators at Jaume I University reported their findings on the effectiveness of the "Talk to Me" interactive program on treating fear of public speaking. This internet-based, self-applied intervention has several components, including a diagnostic assessment, a structured treatment, and an outcome protocol that evaluates treatment efficacy in a continuous manner. One case study revealed a significant decrease in levels of fear and avoidance related to speaking in public. However, a pilot study is needed to confirm this promising but inconclusive case study.

Citation: Botella C, Hofmann SG, Moscovitch DA.A self-applied, Internet-based intervention for fear of public speaking. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2004 Aug; 60 (8): pages 821-30.

Gordon, Merenstein, D'Amico and Hudgens studied the effects of therapeutic touch on 25 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee in this single-blinded randomized control trial. Patients got either therapeutic touch, mock therapeutic touch or standard care. The TT treatment group had significantly decreased pain and improved function when compared with the placebo and control groups. (Journal of Family Practice, 1998; 47:pp.271-277.)

Researchers at the University of Iowa studied how 3 conditions: stress, relaxation and a control condition, can affect an inflammatory response artificially induced by injecting capsaicin, the pungent compound in chili peppers, under the skin. 50 subjects – 28 men and 22 women – were pre-trained in relaxation, using an imagery-based relaxation tape, and then randomized to one of the experimental groups – a 20-minute stress test, a relaxation tape or a video control, followed by a capsaicin injection in the forearm.

[More]

Meta-analysis by investigators at the Department of Women's Anaesthesia of Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, looked at evidence regarding the effects of hypnosis for pain relief during childbirth.

Medline, Embase, Pubmed, and the Cochrane library 2004.1 were searched for clinical trials where hypnosis during pregnancy and childbirth was compared with a non-hypnosis intervention, no treatment or a placebo.

[More]

A recent meta-analysis by the Department of Women's Anaesthesia of Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia looked at the effects of hypnosis for pain relief during childbirth. Embase, Pubmed, and the Cochrane library 2004.1 were searched for clinical trials where hypnosis during pregnancy and childbirth was compared with a non-hypnosis intervention, no treatment or placebo. There were no language restrictions.

[More]

Jim Gordon's team from The Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington DC offers a preliminary evaluation of their extraordinary program in Kosovo, helping traumatized, teenaged survivors of war recover from PTSD with the same sorts of mind-body training that this center uses with great success with cancer patients.

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Researchers at the Department of Pediatrics at the Steele Memorial Children's Research Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson, looked at the effectiveness of relaxation and guided imagery for alleviating recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) in children with functional gastrointestinal disorders.

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A group of researchers from UCLA conducted a study to assess the usefulness of combining acupuncture and hypnosis for chronic pediatric pain. Thirty-three sequentially referred children (21 girls, 12 boys) aged 6-18 years were offered 6 weekly sessions consisting of individually tailored acupuncture treatment together with a 20-minute hypnosis session, conducted while the needles were in place. Parent and child ratings of pain and pain-related interferences in functioning, as well as child ratings of anxiety and depression, were obtained at pre-and post-treatment.

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A newly published study from Perioperative Services at Concord Hospital in New Hampshire of 84 patients undergoing gynecologic laparoscopy that looked at the effects of two interventions - guided imagery and music - on post-operative pain, nausea and vomiting (PONV) and length of stay (LOS), showed that patients in both the guided imagery and music groups had significantly less pain on PACU discharge to home than controls. The audio recordings used in the study were from Health Journeys.

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Norwegian researchers from Sogn og Fjordane University looked at eleven studies on the impact of music therapy on children and adolescents with various forms of psychopathology and mental health problems. There was special interest in how the type of pathology, the child's age and the kind of music therapy approach influenced the outcome.

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In a small Swedish pilot study at University Hospital of Linkoping, Sweden, six menopausal women were given relaxation training to see if it had any effect on hot flashes. The women were given "applied relaxation" training in 12 weekly group sessions. The women recorded the number of hot flashes they experienced for a full month before the intervention, through 6 months after. They were rated on menopausal symptoms (Kupperman Index), psychological well-being (Symptom Checklist), and MOOD scale were measured throughout the duration of the study. The six patients showed a mean reduction in hot flashes by a dramatic 73% (59%, 61%, 62%, 67%, 89% and 100% respectively). Scores on the Kupperman and Symptom checklist followed the improvement pattern of the hot flashes, but the MOOD scale was not affected.

A pilot study in 1996 by B.L. Maguire with 33 multiple sclerosis patients showed that when half the subjects participated in a 6-session group process that taught relaxation skills and physiological imagery, they demonstrated significant reductions in state anxiety (as measured on the POMS test and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), as compared to the controls.

In a 1996 randomized, controlled pilot study by Irvin, Domar, Clark, Zuttermeister and Friedman at New England Deaconess in Boston, 33 menopausal women between 44-66 years old were assigned to either Relaxation Response training, a support group or a control group.

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Researchers from the Department of Psychology, University of Bath, UK, conducted a study with 209 pupils to see if a stress management training program could improve their academic performance, yielding very strong results

Researchers from the Department of Psychology, University of Bath, UK, conducted a study with 209 pupils to see if a stress management training program could improve their academic performance. The students were randomly assigned to either a cognitive behaviorally based stress management intervention (SMI) group, or a non-intervention control group.

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Researchers at University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland, studied the effects of a single session of relaxation training on incidental visual long-term memory. Thirty-two subjects, new to relaxation training, viewed 280 slides without being told that there would be subsequent memory testing. Afterwards, they listened to a 12 minute relaxation tape - sixteen subjects relaxed by following the instructions (relaxation group), and the other 16 subjects pressed a button whenever a body part was mentioned (control group). While listening to the relaxation tape, high frequency heart rate variability (HRV) was greater and low frequency HRV was lower in the relaxation group, implying effective relaxation and increasing parasympathetic activation.

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A new study at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle shows Vipassana meditation to be a promising intervention for incarcerated substance abusers after release from jail..

A new study at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle, explored whether Vipassana meditation (VM), a Buddhist mindfulness-based practice, can provide an alternative for individuals who find traditional addiction treatments incompatible or unattractive. The investigators evaluated the effectiveness of a VM course on substance use and psychosocial outcomes in an incarcerated population.

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Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston conduct guided interviews with bone marrow transplant patients, as a first step to improve the actual design of a mindfulness meditation study.

Researchers at the Phyllis F. Cantor Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and U. Mass/Boston, interested in exploring the potential effectiveness of mindfulness meditation (MM) for patients undergoing bone marrow transplant, took an unusual first step. They conducted a series of guided interviews with nineteen patients undergoing stem cell/autologous bone marrow transplant (SC/ABMT).

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Nurses from San Diego State University research the efficacy and feasibility of teaching mantra repetition to veterans in order to impact stress, anxiety, anger, quality of life, and spiritual well-being.

Researchers from San Diego State University looked at the efficacy of repeating a mantra for reducing stress and stress-related symptoms. The authors tested the feasibility and efficacy of a 5-week (90-min per week) intervention on mantram repetition in a sample of ambulatory veterans.

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Researchers from the State Research Institute of Physiology at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Novosibirsk, Russia, mounted a controlled, randomized clinical trial to examine how long-term meditation practice can effect EEG activity during non-emotional arousal (eyes-closed and eyes-open periods, viewing emotionally neutral movie clip) and while experiencing experimentally induced negative emotions (viewing an aversive movie clip).

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