One issue that continues to face medicine is the lack of trust in innovative procedures, even those which have proven effective in practice. Without application of these procedures, though, there is little opportunity for the advancement and evolution of medicine. According to clinical and experimental research, hypnosis is very effective at pain management. Yet, despite the visible evidence, t...

In this study we examined the effect of hypnosis on preoperative anxiety. Subjects were randomized into 3 groups, a hypnosis group (n = 26) who received suggestions of well-being; an attention-control group (n = 26) who received attentive listening and support without any specific hypnotic suggestions and a "standard of care" control group (n = 24). Anxiety was measured pre- and postinterventio...

The fact that terminal cancer patients experience considerable psychological distress is now undisputed, but the effectiveness of psychological treatments in relieving this suffering is less clear. The aim of the present research was to evaluate the efficacy of clinical hypnosis in the enhancement of quality of life of patients with far-advanced cancer. Fifty terminally ill cancer patients were...

Motor function recovery after stroke typically plateaus after six months. Case reports suggest that hypnosis has the potential to stimulate further recovery of function beyond this period. A pilot clinical investigation of hypnosis-aided recovery of motor function after stroke is presented. Baseline hand motor performance was quantified for six stroke subjects with a force-following task. Brain...

Mind-body medicine is a system of health practices that includes meditation/relaxation training, guided imagery, hypnosis, biofeedback, yoga, art/music therapy, prayer, t'ai chi, and psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy. Clinical hypnosis is an important mind-body tool that serves as an adjunct to conventional medical care for the adolescent patient. Clinical hypnosis sp...

AIM The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a particular behavioral medicine treatment modality, medical hypnosis, on reducing the pain symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD). METHODS Twenty-eight patients who were recalcitrant to conservative treatment for TMD participated in a medical hypnosis treatment program and completed measures of their pain symptoms on 4 sepa...

BACKGROUND This review is one in a series of Cochrane reviews investigating pain management for childbirth. These reviews all contribute to an overview of systematic reviews of pain management for women in labour, and share a generic protocol. This review updates an earlier version of the review of the same title. OBJECTIVES To examine the effectiveness and safety of hypnosis for pain managem...