{"id":492,"date":"2015-08-18T17:56:28","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T17:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/?p=492"},"modified":"2024-06-28T17:56:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T17:56:57","slug":"not-just-for-tv-hypnosis-legit-part-of-comprehensive-treatment-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/not-just-for-tv-hypnosis-legit-part-of-comprehensive-treatment-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Not just for TV: Hypnosis legit part of comprehensive treatment plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

CNN
\n18-08-2015
\nSource hyperlink<\/a><\/p>\n

Not just for TV: Hypnosis legit part of comprehensive treatment plan<\/strong><\/p>\n

When \u201cComedy Hypnotist\u201d Chris Jones invited celebrity judge Howie Mandel on stage and hypnotized him on the competition show \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent,\u201d the performance brought the audience to its feet and even inspired a social media hashtag, #HowieShakesHands.<\/p>\n

Mandel, who struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, followed Jones\u2019 cues and for the first time in more than eight years, the germaphobe shook hands with his fellow judges. The seemingly instant transformation was so surprising, some viewers thought it was an act (Mandel said it was not).<\/p>\n

But according to David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, not only is hypnotherapy legitimate, it\u2019s \u201cliterally the oldest Western conception of a psychotherapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, Wesley Anderson, a practicing hypnotherapist for more than 20 years, said, \u201cMost people experience some form of a hypnotic state every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve ever been lost in a daydream or zoned out and missed your turn while driving your usual route, you\u2019ve experienced a form of hypnosis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Does it really work?<\/p>\n

Spiegel has been conducting studies about the benefits of hypnosis for more than 40 years and he said there is no doubt that hypnosis works as an effective therapeutic technique to manage pain and kick bad habits.<\/p>\n

In 2000, Spiegel and his colleagues determined that patients using hypnosis as a part of a comprehensive treatment plan could significantly reduce drug use and procedure time.<\/p>\n

\u201cLowering those two meant an average cost savings of approximately $338,\u201d Spiegel said. A 2007 article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute doubled that figure, finding that a hospital saved $772 per patient in the hypnosis group, mainly due to reduced surgical time. \u201cPatients who received hypnosis reported less post-surgical pain, nausea, fatigue and discomfort,\u201d according to a release from the American Psychological Association.<\/p>\n

Hypnosis has its skeptics, partly because while studies seem to show it has tangible benefits, it\u2019s most often used in tandem with other treatments; scientifically quantifying its success alone is difficult.<\/p>\n

From comedy performers such as Jones to Harvard educated psychiatrists such as Spiegel, anyone can learn to hypnotize and call themselves a \u201chypnotist,\u201d which also gives doubters pause. Three states \u2013 Colorado, Connecticut and Washington \u2013 require mandatory licensing requirements from individuals wanting to practice hypnotherapy.<\/p>\n

According to the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, or ASCH, most insurance companies will cover 50% to 80% of the cost of individual therapy, but only if treated by licensed professionals. ASCH requires its members to be licensed health care workers and, at minimum, have a master\u2019s degree. The National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists, on the other hand, requires applicants have a graduate-level degree as well as 50 hours of classroom instruction and 30 hours of clinical training.<\/p>\n

How does it work?
\nThe first thing Anderson does when meeting a new client is what anyone would do upon meeting a stranger: He gets to know them. \u201cI try to establish a rapport and establish the client\u2019s intentions for hypnosis,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

Using verbal and nonverbal cues, a hypnotherapist will help the client quiet their peripheral, conscious mind, the part that\u2019s constantly stimulated by outside sources.<\/p>\n

Clients will relax, their posture will adjust and they will usually become very still, Anderson said. \u201cThey\u2019re halfway between being completely asleep and completely awake,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

In this trance-like state, the part of the brain responsible for the subconscious, nonlogical thoughts can become wide open to suggestions. \u201cThe normal adult filters and belief systems of what is and what isn\u2019t will start to fade,\u201d he said. \u201cClients become almost childlike. \u201cHypnotherapists can then begin to use imagery and suggestion to help them start thinking about their bad habits or their pain differently.<\/p>\n

For radio host Jenn Hobby, who underwent hypnosis to help her kick her smoking habit, that meant tapping into her relationship with her goddaughter, who at the time of her session, was just a toddler. Her hypnotherapist told her to imagine her goddaughter playing outside and running around the playground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he said, \u2018now imagine giving her a lit cigarette,\u2019\u201d Hobby remembers. \u201cThat really hit home, more than anything else.\u201d When she left the office that day, she felt differently about cigarettes and smoking.<\/p>\n

Helping clients manage pain, Anderson said, he often counsels them to turn down receptors that might cause them discomfort the same way a plumber might turn off water before working to repair a leak.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pain signals might be there, but they wouldn\u2019t make it into awareness,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

Feeling \u2018somewhat betrayed\u2019
\nWhat\u2019s vital to the process, Anderson and Spiegel said, is that both parties \u2013 hypnotherapist and client \u2013 agree to the intentions of the session beforehand. Mandel said he agreed to participate in the segment and said he knew what he was doing the entire time, but he never established a rapport with his hypnotist.<\/p>\n

So while his \u201chandshaking breakthrough\u201d seemed like a positive thing, for Mandel, the former \u201cDeal or No Deal\u201d host said he felt \u201csomewhat betrayed\u201d after he watched the episode.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was upset about it and it\u2019s hard for me to watch,\u201d Mandel told NBC\u2019s Savannah Guthrie.<\/p>\n

Spiegel said Mandel\u2019s reaction to his experience is understandable. \u201cWhen entertainers with no knowledge or concern for clinical care take advantage of a real phenomenon, real people can feel exposed, tricked or humiliated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Only one part of the puzzle
\nDespite the success of Hobby\u2019s hypnosis experience \u2013 she\u2019s only had a few cigarettes since \u2013 she said being hypnotized wasn\u2019t the only thing that led to her quitting. \u201cThere\u2019s no magic pill. You have to be really committed to change your behavior,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Spiegel agreed. Hypnosis, while valuable, is only one part of the comprehensive treatment puzzle. \u201cAnything that can help a patient that much is worth looking into,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CNN 18-08-2015 Source hyperlink Not just for TV: Hypnosis legit part of comprehensive treatment plan When \u201cComedy Hypnotist\u201d Chris Jones invited celebrity judge Howie Mandel on stage and hypnotized him on the competition show \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent,\u201d the performance brought … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hypno"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/integrativemedicine.org\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}