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HYPNOTIC ANALGESIA IN PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
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notice the sensations of each breath, notice, too, that any remaining
uncomfortable feelings are less and less clear, less and less strong . . . as if
they are becoming farther and farther away . . . or smaller and smaller,
taking up less and less space in your awareness. . . . And I wonder if
you’ll be pleased or surprised . . . or perhaps both . . . as you become more
and more aware of feeling more and more comfortable.
Deep relaxation.
The purpose of the suggestions for deep relaxation
was to provide a pleasant relaxing experience. The clinician made sug-
gestions for relaxation in each area of the body, starting with the
hands, arms, and shoulders, and then moving to the feet, legs, pelvis,
stomach, chest, neck, and head. A shortened version of the relaxation
suggestion script follows.
And now. . . . Allow your whole body to relax. . . . Allow all your muscles
to go limp. . . . Starting with your right hand. . . . Imagine that all the mus-
cles and tendons in your right hand are relaxing . . . and as your hand
relaxes, being aware of any sensations that let you know that your hand
feels more relaxed . . . perhaps a sense of warmth or of heaviness, per-
haps an interesting tingling sensation, whatever sensation that lets you
know that your right hand is becoming more and more relaxed . . . limp,
heavy, warm, and comfortable. And now allow that relaxation to
spread . . . up, up into your wrist . . . your forearm, your elbow, and
upper arm. Your whole arm becoming more and more relaxed, relaxed
and heavy. That’s fine . . . just allow your awareness to move now to your
left hand. . . . Imagine how your left hand is becoming limp, heavy, and
relaxed . . . more and more relaxed, heavier and heavier. . . . And now
allow the relaxation to spread. Up your wrist . . . forearm . . . through
your elbow, and into your upper arm. So very relaxed, heavy, and
comfortable . . . your whole left arm relaxing, heavier and heavier . . . the
relaxation continues to spread . . . into your shoulders. . . . Feeling so
relaxed, heavy. . . . Your whole body becoming relaxed, very, very
relaxed, relaxed . . . heavy, calm, and peaceful. . . . And when it feels like
you are as relaxed as you can be, you can allow yourself to relax even
more, becoming even more relaxed . . . more comfortable, without a care
in the world. . . . Your whole body relaxed, and comfortable.
Hypnotic analgesia.
The hypnotic analgesia suggestion was designed
to maximize the perception of pain relief. A shortened version of the
contents of the script for this suggestion follows.
As you know, an anesthetic is a powerful medicine used to eliminate
awareness of uncomfortable feelings. We are now going to use your
imagination to anesthetize any areas that [NO CURRENT PAIN: used to
be; SOME CURRENT PAIN: are sometimes] uncomfortable. This will
have no negative side effects. The only side effects will be positive ones,
such as feelings of greater comfort and relaxation. . . . Now imagine the
[NO CURRENT PAIN: areas that used to be uncomfortable; SOME
CURRENT PAIN: areas of any discomfort] being engulfed, infused and
completely surrounded by a psychological anesthesia . . . picture the