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Medical Hypnosis in the Hospital
by Gérard V. Sunnen, M.D.
Hypnosis has many applications for relieving distress in hospitalized
patients. Gérard V. Sunnen, M.D., a psychiatrist and hypnotherapist,
describes the ways in which hypnotic techniques can help patients undergo
medical procedures, surgery, and rehabilitation therapy and cope with life-
threatening illness. Sunnen cites evidence from the research literature of the
benefits of hypnosis for hospitalized patients with medical conditions and
presents several case illustrations.--Editor, Journal of the Institute for the
Advancement of Health
Hospitalization, even with all available medical technology, remains a trying
experience. The same concerns, apprehensions, and fears exist today as
they did centuries ago in the face of dangers to well-being and sometimes to
life itself. The psychological well-being of hospitalized patients is, therefore,
not only for humane considerations but also for reasons connected to health
and recovery: patients may do better when undergoing procedures,
recovering from operations, or surmounting the side effects of treatments if
they are relaxed, rested, and feeling hopeful.
Hypnosis is a process by which an individual is guided from his or her usual
state of consciousness to a condition that is marked by psychological and
physical relaxation; altered perceptions such as the slowing down of time or
a change in one's body image; and a shift from analytic to synesthetic
thinking, that is, the mind shows less dependence on logic and a greater
receptivity to sensations and feelings. The resulting change in perception
and thinking is known as a trance. The nature of the trance state varies from
one individual to another.
The ability of hypnosis to induce deep multilevel relaxation, to quell
anticipatory anxiety, to increase tolerance to adverse stimuli, and to intensify
affirmative imagery can be adapted to the hospital setting for maximizing
the mind's contribution to healing.
Hypnosis has recently seen a resurgence in its medical applications, with
increasing sophistication in the ways it has been used for many clinical
problems, in and out of the hospital.(1) Equally important, modern
hypnotists, in contrast to earlier ones who tended to be authoritarian in their
approach, encourage patients to determine the nature of their own
experiences, that is, to develop their unique potential in their trance. They
are also mindful of psychodynamic considerations. Thus, they use permissive
and often frankly meditative methods and function as a guide to point the