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HYPNOTIC ANALGESIA IN PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
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were trained in the use of hypnotic interventions just prior to the initi-
ation of this study. Greater treatment effects might have been found
had the study clinicians been more experienced with the provision of
hypnotic-analgesia treatment. As mentioned above, it would be infor-
mative, in future research, to compare the efficacy of standard clinical
procedures by a highly experienced clinician with a scripted treatment
protocol (e.g., like that used in this study), to determine the extent that
research interventions might underestimate the efficacy of standard
hypnotic-analgesia treatment.
Finally, the low number of participants in this study limits the
statistical power that was available to test for the association between
the treatment outcome predictors and treatment outcome; this is par-
ticularly true for the tests involving the diagnostic group. Neverthe-
less, the current findings concerning the prediction of outcome,
although they should be considered preliminary, do suggest that: (a)
hypnotizability does not necessarily play a significant role in the
effects of the intervention tested in this study; (b) patients with
acquired amputation might be more responsive to hypnotic analgesia
than patients in other diagnostic groups; and (c) patient outcome
expectancy might play a role in predicting hypnotic treatment out-
come. Each of these preliminary conclusions should be tested in future
studies with larger numbers of patients.
S
UMMARY AND
C
ONCLUSIONS
Despite the study’s limitations, the findings provide clear support for
the efficacy of hypnotic analgesia for at least some patients in the treat-
ment of chronic pain in persons with disabilities. About one third of the
study sample reported a clinically meaningful decrease in pain, over
and above the effects of time and no treatment, and this improvement in
pain was maintained at 3 months posttreatment. Although the treatment
did not appear to have a significant or meaningful impact on pain inter-
ference or depressive symptoms, it was associated with decreases in
pain unpleasantness and, for those study participants who completed all
treatment sessions and did not otherwise develop a medical problem
unrelated to treatment, a significant increase in perceived control over
pain. Future research is needed to help identify the specific suggestions
that are most effective for the most numbers of patients. Such research
should lead to the development of more effective hypnotic treatment of
chronic pain associated with disabilities and other conditions.
R
EFERENCES
Barabasz, A., & Christensen, C. (in press). Age regression: Tailored versus scripted
inductions.
American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis
.