HYPNOSIS AND HYPNOTHERAPY Clinical Hypnosis in Paediatric Oncology: A Critical Review of the Literature

Hypnosis has been shown to be an effective treatment modality for a number of childhood disorders and several studies have demonstrated that children are more hypnotically responsive than adults. Hypnosis has a wide range of applications with children, including the treatment of learning problems, medical conditions, and mental health disorders. Despite the fact that research on clinical hypnosis with children is in an early stage of development and the child hypnosis literature is predominantly composed of anecdotal case histories and uncontrolled research studies (1) one of the best-documented uses of hypnosis is in the treatment of children with cancer. Hypnosis has been used successfully for the management of chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting and for the control of procedure-related cancer pain. In this paper the current research literature about the uses of hypnosis in the paediatric oncology setting will be described and critically evaluated. The first section reviews the literature regarding the management of chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting. This is followed by an examination of the research evidence about the efficacy of hypnosis in the control of procedurerelated cancer pain. In the final section an attempt is made to evaluate the existing literature and to offer some suggestions for future research in the area.