International Hypnosis Research Institute - General

Development and Validation of a Turkish Hypnotic Suggestibility Scale.

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 16:40:00 -0500

OBJECTIVE: To construct a scale for testing hypnotic suggestibility for Turkish-speaking adults that may be quick and convenient, and to test its reliability and validity. METHODS: The study was conducted at the hypnotherapy outpatient clinics of Atatürk University Acupuncture and Complementary Medicine Application and Research Centre. Erzurum, Turkey, from June to August 2017, and comprised aged 18-60 years. As the first step in the preparation of the scale, a panel of 15 experts was founded. The draft was pilot-tested. Incomprehensible suggestion templates in the pilot study were abolished, and the templates were reduced to four which were put to test as the Tastan Suggestibility Scale. Stanford Hypnotic Clinic Scale was also used on the same subjects, and the results were analysed using SPSS. . RESULTS: Of the 61 subjects, 38(62.3%) were females and 23(37.7%) were males. The overall mean age was 34.21±9.9 years. Cronbach alpha internal reliability coefficient of the scale was calculated to be 0.53. Correlation between the Tastan Suggestibility Scale and Stanford Hypnotic Clinic Scale total scores was high (p<0.001). Mean duration of the application of the scale was 5.0±1.2 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: Tastan Suggestibility Scale was found to be a new, reliable, and rapidly applicable scale. J Pak Med Assoc. 2019 Sep;69(9):1236-1330.

Healing and Hypnosis

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:05:00 -0500

by Tim Brunson, PhD The power of the mind over the body is a feel-good cliché referred to by self-help gurus and alternative health care authorities. However, does this have merit – and especially scientific credibility? Or, is this merely idealist hogwash? Hard-nosed scientific medical authorities and other skeptics have a hard time believing that suggestion and imagination can have any effect over the healing process. Even though there seems to be a general acceptance that chronic stress does have long-term medical implications, beyond that many cannot fathom the possibility that how you think will have anything to do the ability for cells and organs to return to a healthy state. [More]

Hypnosis, hypnotic suggestibility, memory, and involvement in films.

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 11:49:00 -0500

Our research extends studies that have examined the relation between hypnotic suggestibility and experiential involvement and the role of an hypnotic induction in enhancing experiential involvement (e.g., absorption) in engaging tasks. Researchers have reported increased involvement in reading (Baum & Lynn, 1981) and music-listening (Snodgrass & Lynn, 1989) tasks during hypnosis. We predicted a similar effect for film viewing: greater experiential involvement in an emotional (The Champ) versus a non-emotional (Scenes of Toronto) film. We tested 121 participants who completed measures of absorption and trait dissociation and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and then viewed the two films after either an hypnotic induction or a non-hypnotic task (i.e., anagrams). Experiential involvement varied as a function of hypnotic suggestibility and film clip. Highly suggestible participants reported more state depersonalization than less suggestible participants, and depersonalization was associated with negative affect; however, we observed no significant correlation between hypnotic suggestibility and trait dissociation. Although hypnosis had no effect on memory commission or omission errors, contrary to the hypothesis that hypnosis facilitates absorption in emotionally engaging tasks, the emotional film was associated with more commission and omission errors compared with the non-emotional film. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Conscious Cogn. 2015 May;33:170-84. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.11.013. Epub 2015 Jan 14. Maxwell R(1), Lynn SJ(2), Condon L(1). Author information: (1)Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, United States. (2)Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, United States. Electronic address: stevenlynn100@gmail.com.

Hypnotizing Libet: Readiness potentials with non-conscious volition.

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 11:49:00 -0500

The readiness potential (RP) is one of the most controversial topics in neuroscience and philosophy due to its perceived relevance to the role of conscious willing in action. Libet and colleagues reported that RP onset precedes both volitional movement and conscious awareness of willing that movement, suggesting that the experience of conscious will may not cause volitional movement (Libet, Gleason, Wright, & Pearl, 1983). Rather, they suggested that the RP indexes unconscious processes that may actually cause both volitional movement and the accompanying conscious feeling of will (Libet et al., 1983; pg. 640). Here, we demonstrate that volitional movement can occur without an accompanying feeling of will. We additionally show that the neural processes indexed by RPs are insufficient to cause the experience of conscious willing. Specifically, RPs still occur when subjects make self-timed, endogenously-initiated movements due to a post-hypnotic suggestion, without a conscious feeling of having willed those movements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Conscious Cogn. 2015 May;33:196-203. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.01.002. Epub 2015 Jan 20. Schlegel A(1), Alexander P(2), Sinnott-Armstrong W(3), Roskies A(4), Tse PU(2), Wheatley T(2). Author information: (1)Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, HB 6207 Moore Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: schlegel@gmail.com. (2)Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, HB 6207 Moore Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. (3)Philosophy Department and Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University, Box 90432, Durham, NC 27708, USA. (4)Department of Philosophy, Dartmouth College, HB 6035 Thornton Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.

Discrete response patterns in the upper range of hypnotic suggestibility: A latent profile analysis.

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 11:47:00 -0500

High hypnotic suggestibility is a heterogeneous condition and there is accumulating evidence that highly suggestible individuals may be comprised of discrete subtypes with dissimilar cognitive and phenomenological profiles. This study applied latent profile analysis to response patterns on a diverse battery of difficult hypnotic suggestions in a sample of individuals in the upper range of hypnotic suggestibility. Comparisons among models indicated that a four-class model was optimal. One class was comprised of very highly suggestible (virtuoso) participants, two classes included highly suggestible participants who were alternately more responsive to inhibitory cognitive suggestions or posthypnotic amnesia suggestions, and the fourth class consisted primarily of medium suggestible participants. These results indicate that there are discrete response profiles in high hypnotic suggestibility. They further provide a number of insights regarding the optimization of hypnotic suggestibility measurement and have implications for the instrumental use of hypnosis for the modeling of different psychological conditions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Conscious Cogn. 2015 May;33:334-41. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.01.018. Epub 2015 Feb 23. Terhune DB(1). Author information: (1)Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. Electronic address: devin.terhune@psy.ox.ac.uk.

Chaos-chaos transition of left hemisphere EEGs during standard tasks of Waterloo-Stanford Group...

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 11:45:00 -0500

Full title: Chaos-chaos transition of left hemisphere EEGs during standard tasks of Waterloo-Stanford Group Scale of hypnotic susceptibility. A recent study, recurrence quantification analysis of EEG signals during standard tasks of Waterloo-Stanford Group Scale of hypnotic susceptibility investigated recurrence quantifiers (RQs) of hypnotic electroencephalograph (EEG) signals recorded after hypnotic induction while subjects were doing standard tasks of Waterloo-Stanford Group Scale (WSGS) of hypnotic susceptibility to distinguish subjects of different hypnotizability levels. Following the same analysis, the current study determines the capability of different RQs to distinguish subjects of low, medium and high hypnotizability level and studies the influence of hypnotizability level on underlying dynamic of tasks. Besides, EEG channels were sorted according to the number of their RQs, which differed significantly among subjects of different hypnotizability levels. Another valuable result was determination of major brain regions in observing significant differences in various task types (ideomotors, hallucination, challenge and memory). J Med Eng Technol. 2015 May 22:1-5. Yargholi E(1), Nasrabadi AM. Author information: (1)School of Biomedical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch , Tehran , Iran and.

What makes your brain suggestible? Hypnotizability is associated with differential brain activity...

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 11:42:00 -0500

Full title: What makes your brain suggestible? Hypnotizability is associated with differential brain activity during attention outside hypnosis. Theoretical models of hypnosis have emphasized the importance of attentional processes in accounting for hypnotic phenomena but their exact nature and brain substrates remain unresolved. Individuals vary in their susceptibility to hypnosis, a variability often attributed to differences in attentional functioning such as greater ability to filter irrelevant information and inhibit prepotent responses. However, behavioral studies of attentional performance outside the hypnotic state have provided conflicting results. We used fMRI to investigate the recruitment of attentional networks during a modified flanker task in High and Low hypnotizable participants. The task was performed in a normal (no hypnotized) state. While behavioral performance did not reliably differ between groups, components of the fronto-parietal executive network implicated in monitoring (anterior cingulate cortex; ACC), adjustment (lateral prefrontal cortex; latPFC), and implementation of attentional control (intraparietal sulcus; IPS) were differently activated depending on the hypnotizability of the subjects: the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) was more recruited, whereas IPS and ACC were less recruited by High susceptible individuals compared to Low. Our results demonstrate that susceptibility to hypnosis is associated with particular executive control capabilities allowing efficient attentional focusing, and point to specific neural substrates in right prefrontal cortex.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: We demonstrated that outside hypnosis, low hypnotizable subjects recruited more parietal cortex and anterior cingulate regions during selective attention conditions suggesting a better detection and implementation of conflict. However, outside hypnosis the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) was more recruited by highly hypnotizable subjects during selective attention conditions suggesting a better control of conflict. Furthermore, in highly hypnotizable subjects this region was more connected to the default mode network suggesting a tight dialogue between internally and externally driven processes that may permit higher flexibility in attention and underlie a greater ability to dissociate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Neuroimage. 2015 Jun 3;117:367-374. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.05.076. Cojan Y(1), Piguet C(2), Vuilleumier P(3). Author information: (1)Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: ycojan@gmail.com. (2)Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: camille.piguet@unige.ch. (3)Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: patrik.vuilleumier@unige.ch.

Hypnosis and belief: A review of hypnotic delusions.

Thu, 02 Jul 2015 11:41:00 -0500

Hypnosis can create temporary, but highly compelling alterations in belief. As such, it can be used to model many aspects of clinical delusions in the laboratory. This approach allows researchers to recreate features of delusions on demand and examine underlying processes with a high level of experimental control. This paper reviews studies that have used hypnosis to model delusions in this way. First, the paper reviews studies that have focused on reproducing the surface features of delusions, such as their high levels of subjective conviction and strong resistance to counter-evidence. Second, the paper reviews studies that have focused on modelling underlying processes of delusions, including anomalous experiences or cognitive deficits that underpin specific delusional beliefs. Finally, the paper evaluates this body of research as a whole. The paper discusses advantages and limitations of using hypnotic models to study delusions and suggests some directions for future research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Conscious Cogn. 2015 Jun 6;36:27-43. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.05.015. Connors MH(1). Author information: (1)ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australia; Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: michael.connors@mq.edu.au.

Epistemological implications of near-death experiences and other non-ordinary mental expressions...

Tue, 30 Jun 2015 11:40:00 -0500

Full Title: Epistemological implications of near-death experiences and other non-ordinary mental expressions: Moving beyond the concept of altered state of consciousness. During the last decades an increasing interest has developed in the so-called altered state of consciousness (ASCs); among these, near-death experiences (NDEs) are one of the most intriguing and debated examples. NDEs are deep and universal experiences with a clear phenomenology and incidence, while some of their features challenge the current views of human consciousness (focused on neural circuits and based on the concept of mind as a byproduct of brain circuitry) with relevant epistemological and historical implications. The origin of the ruling mechanist-reductionist paradigm can be traced back to Descartes' radical separation of res cogitans and res extensa and the conflict between the nascent science and the Inquisition; this led to removing the subjective properties of mind from the field of scientific interest, relegating them to philosophy and theology in order to enable the development of modern science. However, the physics of the 20th century has eventually moved beyond the classical paradigm, permitting a profound renewal of scientific interest in the mind. Modern research on NDEs has contributed to reopening the debate surrounding the Cartesian separation, the mind-brain relationship and the nature of consciousness. It is now time to reappraise the relevance, strengths, and weaknesses of the available scientific interpretations of NDEs, their relationship with other ASCs, as well as the very concept of ASC; the latter looks to be ill-founded, suggesting the need for: (a) a revision of the conventional approach to subjective phenomena, including both the third- and first-person perspective; and (b) a deep reflection on the possible links between different non-ordinary mental expression, as regards both their phenomenology and mechanisms from a non-pathological perspective. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Med Hypotheses. 2015 Jul;85(1):85-93. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2015.04.004. Epub 2015 Apr 11. Facco E(1), Agrillo C(2), Greyson B(3). Author information: (1)Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Italy; Inst. F. Granone - Italian Center of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (CIICS), Turin, Italy. Electronic address: enrico.facco@unipd.it. (2)Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Italy. (3)Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, United States.

The Ethical Implications of Hypnotherapy

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 15:16:00 -0500

by Tim Brunson, PhD During my initial hypnotherapy training, my instructor strongly emphasized that we should always inform our subjects that they could not be hypnotized against their will. Yet over the next couple of decades this claim was constantly contradicted by a string of knowledgeable authorities. These hypnotists imparted technique after technique that proved capable of changing a person's internal representations, emotional states, and behavior completely without the knowledge or pre-approval of a hypnosis subject. After years of active clinical practice, teaching, and writing I have witnessed the power that the hypnotic operator has over others. Even though such an admission may run counter to the dogma that is regularly espoused by the major international organizations, all one has to do is to witness an unintended arm catalepsy during a clinical session or observe a negative hallucination occurring during a stage hypnotist's performance to fully accept my conclusions. [More]

Preferences for descriptors of hypnosis: the international point of view.

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 11:39:00 -0500

Despite the apparently definitive findings of the Christensen (2005) survey of published members of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH), disagreement about which term best describes the capacity to experience hypnosis and theoretical preference has continued. SCEH, although international, represents primarily North Americans. Preferences of international clinicians and researchers were inadequately represented, so the authors surveyed preferences from attendees of the International Congress of the International Society of Hypnosis in 2012 in Bremen, Germany. The term trance, translated as trance capacity or trance ability for this study, was overwhelmingly preferred over the other options. Hypnosis was recognized as an identifiable state by 88.46% of respondents, whereas only 11.54% viewed it as a sociocognitive phenomenon (role-play, expectancy, etc.). Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2015 Jul-Sep;63(3):284-93. doi: 10.1080/00207144.2015.1031536. Munson SO(1), Trenkle B, Gallawa R. Author information: (1)a Washington State University , Pullman , USA.

Moving Toward Hypnotherapy Competency

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 04:38:00 -0500

by Tim Brunson, PhD The credibility of any profession or trade relies on a set of generally accepted standards, which lead to a common understanding as to what the public should expect. Educational institutions that train such people, licensure authorities, academic accreditation bodies, and associations and organization of peers generally function to create an aura of officialdom leading to the unquestioned acceptance of those who endeavor to practice any field. Even though there tends to be a multitude of self-styled authorities proclaiming their right to pontificate the "litmus test" for a given field, their acceptability tends to reside less with their vociferousness and more with their compliance with the methodology normally expected by credibility-giving entities. Unfortunately, the field of hypnotherapy is currently falling short. Competing schools and organizations are proffering their own view of standards while failing to realize that their efforts have little similarity to those employed by other trades and professions. Based upon extensive review and deliberation, The International Hypnosis Research Institute would like to attempt to rectify this. [More]

Methylphenidate Facilitates Hypnotizability in Adults With ADHD: A Naturalistic Cohort Study.

Thu, 18 Jun 2015 11:38:00 -0500

Impaired attention may impede learning of adaptive skills in ADHD. While manipulations that reduce competition between attentional processes, including hypnosis, could boost learning, their feasibility in ADHD is unknown. Because hypnotic phenomena rely on attentional mechanisms, the authors aimed to assess whether stimulants could enhance hypnotizability in ADHD. In the current study, stimulant-naïve patients seeking treatment for ADHD-related symptoms were assessed with the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS) at baseline and during methylphenidate treatment. Methylphenidate dose and SHSS increase were negatively correlated with baseline SHSS scores. Upon reaching effective doses, mean SHSS scores increased significantly. All patients who had been poorly hypnotizable at baseline demonstrated moderate-to-high hypnotizability at follow-up. The data support methylphenidate enhancement of hypnotizability in ADHD, thus highlighting novel treatment approaches for this disabling disorder. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2015 Jul-Sep;63(3):294-308. doi: 10.1080/00207144.2015.1031547. Lotan A(1), Bonne O, Abramowitz EG. Author information: (1)a Hadassah - Hebrew University Medical Center , Jerusalem , Israel.

Factor analysis of the elkins hypnotizability scale.

Tue, 16 Jun 2015 11:38:00 -0500

Assessment of hypnotizability can provide important information for hypnosis research and practice. The Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS) consists of 12 items and was developed to provide a time-efficient measure for use in both clinical and laboratory settings. The EHS has been shown to be a reliable measure with support for convergent validity with the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (r = .821, p < .001). The current study examined the factor structure of the EHS, which was administered to 252 adults (51.3% male; 48.7% female). Average time of administration was 25.8 minutes. Four factors selected on the basis of the best theoretical fit accounted for 63.37% of the variance. The results of this study provide an initial factor structure for the EHS. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2015 Jul-Sep;63(3):335-45. doi: 10.1080/00207144.2015.1031550. Elkins GR(1), Johnson AK, Johnson AJ, Sliwinski J. Author information: (1)a Baylor University , Waco , Texas , USA.

The Dark Side of Brilliance

Fri, 12 Jun 2015 14:59:00 -0500

by Tim Brunson, PhD Within the arenas of genius, mastery, and brilliance lay the seeds of evil and destruction. Understanding this is vital to the practice of any healing or helping profession. Consider two medical doctors who could easily be considered extremely capable and effective in their chosen endeavors. One was Albert Schweitzer, who won the 1953 Nobel Prize for his "Reverence of Life" philosophy; the other, Josef Mengele, the Nazi SS physician, who was called the "Angel of Death." Despite the good achieved by the former and the despair caused by the latter, it is very easy to recognize that both had a high level of competency. What I wish to explore is whether the achievement of mastery facilitates the simultaneous probability of significant good and bad outcomes and what we can do to influence the results. Hopefully, the recognition of dichotomy will increase the likelihood that transformation will benefit an individual and mankind as a whole. As a somewhat arm-chair-neurologist, I equate mastery as a physical state in which the requisite areas of the brain are enhanced with thicker neural networks. This increased capability allows violinists to play at the expert level, golfers to improve their handicaps, languages to be mastered quickly, and culinary delights to be produced on a regular basis. On the other hand, when these substrates are enhanced, all of the capabilities related to that substrate become available at an increased level. These capabilities are functional tools. There is no assurance that the end result will always be desirable. The problem is that the increased level of functioning provides the potential for both positive and negative results. [More]