{"title":"In medio stat virtus: The importance of studying mediums in hypnosis research.","authors":"Rinaldo Livio Perri","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2020.1859980","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2020.1859980","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Most of the experimental investigations on hypnosis used to compare small samples of individuals with low or high responsiveness to hypnosis by systematically excluding medium responders. The present article underlines the limitations of this methodological approach that may have partially weakened the scientific impact of hypnosis research. In fact, the mediums-neglecting bias might be one of the reasons why some investigations suffer from low replicability and generalizability. Themes such as hypnotizability scales, suggestibility, statistical power, and research design are critically reviewed with the aim of proposing a more rigorous approach that boost up impact and reliability of hypnosis research. In particular, the recruitment of medium hypnotizables and the adoption of a within-instead of a between-subjects design currently seem to be some of the best recommendations for strengthening hypnosis research, as well as to renew the dialogue between clinical and experimental hypnosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"64 1","pages":"4-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39600704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of hypnosis on psychophysiological measures: A scoping literature review.","authors":"Aurore Fernandez, Leah Urwicz, Patrik Vuilleumier, Chantal Berna","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2021.1873099","DOIUrl":"10.1080/00029157.2021.1873099","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exploring psychophysiological changes during hypnosis can help to better understand the nature and extent of the hypnotic phenomenon by characterizing its influence on the autonomic nervous system (ANS), in addition to its central brain effects. Hypnosis is thought to induce a relaxation response, yet studies using objective psychophysiological measures alongside hypnosis protocols show various results. We review this literature and clarify the effects of hypnosis on psychophysiological indices of ANS activity and more specifically of the stress/relaxation response, such as heart rate variability and electrodermal activity. Studies reporting psychophysical measures during hypnosis were identified by a series of Pubmed searches. Data was extracted with an interest for the influence of hypnotizability and effects of specific suggestions or tasks on the findings. We found 49 studies comprising 1315 participants, 45 concerning healthy volunteers and only 4 on patients. Sixteen compared high vs. low hypnotizable people; 30 measured heart rate, 18 measured heart rate variability, 25 electrodermal activity, and 23 respiratory signals as well as other physiological parameters. Globally, results converge to show reductions in sympathetic responses and/or increases in parasympathetic tone under hypnosis. Several methodological limitations are underscored, such as older studies (N = 16) using manual analyses, small sample sizes (<30, N = 31), as well as uncontrolled multiple comparisons. Nevertheless, we confirm that hypnosis leads to a physiological relaxation response and highlight promising avenues for this research. Suggestions are made for guiding future work in this field.</p>","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"64 1","pages":"36-52"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39600703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hypnosis and Hypnotic ability between old beliefs and new evidences: An epistemological reflection.","authors":"Enrico Facco","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2020.1863181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2020.1863181","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The history of hypnosis has been marked by its effectiveness paralleled by prejudicial refusal, due to its ostensible incompatibility with the ruling <i>Weltbild</i> (picture of the world). Its interpretation has been mainly based on concepts like suggestibility, dissociation, hallucination, impairment of sense of agency, and free will. Nevertheless, little evidence and agreement has been reached so far on the nature of hypnosis and hypnotic ability, an uncertainty enhanced by the wide range of meanings and ambiguities of the used terms. This article analyzes the main epistemological implications involved in the topic.</p>","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"64 1","pages":"20-35"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39600706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antonio Del Casale, Stefano Ferracuti, Barbara Adriani, Francesco Novelli, Teodolinda Zoppi, Paride Bargagna, Maurizio Pompili
{"title":"Neural functional correlates of hypnosis and hypnoanalgesia: Role of the cingulate cortex.","authors":"Antonio Del Casale, Stefano Ferracuti, Barbara Adriani, Francesco Novelli, Teodolinda Zoppi, Paride Bargagna, Maurizio Pompili","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2021.1895709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2021.1895709","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hypnosis is a hetero-induced or self-induced altered state of consciousness that involves focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness. It is determined by response to suggestions and can be used in the management of various clinical conditions. Nowadays there is growing attention to the neurobiological correlates of hypnosis because of its future clinical applications. The greater attention is due to the wide range of applications that might stem from its knowledge. Functional neuroimaging studies show that hypnosis affects attention by modulating the activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and other brain areas, modifying the conflict monitoring and cognitive control. During hypnoanalgesia, several changes in brain functions occur in all the areas of the pain network, and other brain areas. Among these, the anterior cingulate cortex is significantly involved in modulating the activity of pain circuits under hypnosis, both in the affective, sensory-cognitive, and behavioral aspects. The study of the functionality of the cingulate cortices, mainly the anterior and medial portions, appears to be crucial for better understanding the hypnotic phenomena, related to both the neurocognitive and somatosensory aspects.</p>","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"64 1","pages":"53-61"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39600702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neurophysiology and neuropsychology of hypnosis recent advances and future perspectives: Part 2.","authors":"Giuseppe De Benedittis","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2021.1953309","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2021.1953309","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, hypnosis has become increasingly popular in health care and education (De Benedittis, 2020; Hauser, Hagl, Schmierer, & Hansen, 2016). However, the role of hypnosis has not been fully explored, and the mechanisms of action are not well understood. This Special Issue represents Part 2 of an outstanding effort of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis to explore and elucidate the neurophysiological and neuropsychological underpinnings of hypnotic processes and responses, in order to improve understanding of hypnotic practices. For Part 2 we invited six additional leading researchers and clinicians from all over the world to contribute their perspectives, research, and recommendations for future work. The articles in this special issue address some crucial questions, such as: the role of hypnotizability and, particularly, of medium-responders, which represent the majority of the general population; clinical pain and neural correlates in patients suffering from TemporoMandibular Disorder (TMD); the real essence of hypnosis and its axiological uncertainty; the effects of hypnotic relaxation response on psychophysical indices of ANS activity; the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in mediating neurocognitive and somatosensory aspects of the hypnotic experience; and the effects of hypnotic suggestions in modulating the pain matrix activity in chronic pain patients. These peer-reviewed articles provide fascinating insights into hypnosis processes and responses. Critical analysis, cutting-edge research, emerging perspectives, and future directions for research and practice are presented, filling the gap between basic research and clinical practice. In taking stock of the papers in this issue, Perri critically addresses one of the major methodological issues of hypnosis research which is that clinical and experimental investigations on hypnosis utilize dichotomous comparison between highs and lows while neglecting the medium responders who represent the majority of the general population. The main risk of this medium-neglecting bias is to overshadow the most common hypnotic effects. In addition, methodological reasons suggest that the within-subjects design should be preferred over the between-subjects research design. Abrahmsen and Naish comparatively evaluate experimentally induced pain, clinical pain, and neural correlates (i.e., blink reflex) in patients suffering from TemporoMandibular Disorder (TMD). Patients were able to reduce their chronic self-reported pain, reduce self-reported experimental pain, produce changes in brain responses, and demonstrate hardly any involvement of brainstem reflex pathways, suggesting a top-down rather than a bottom-up mechanism. Hypnotic analgesia effects in both conditions showed little, or even no correlation, with the measured hypnotic susceptibility, possibly due to limitations of the standard susceptibility scales, that contain items with sensory-motor behavioral responses, but not experienti","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"64 1","pages":"1-3"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39600302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neurophysiology of hypnosis in chronic pain: A review of recent literature.","authors":"Aminata Bicego, Floriane Rousseaux, Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville, Anne-Sophie Nyssen, Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2020.1869517","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2020.1869517","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon which includes biological, psychological, and socio-professional factors that undermine patients' everyday life. Currently, only few patients significantly benefit from pharmacological treatments and many have to stop them because of negative side effects. Moreover, no medication or treatment addresses all aspects of chronic pain at once (i.e., sensations, emotions, behaviors, and cognitions), positioning chronic pain as an important public health issue and thus contributing to high health-care costs. Consequently, patients and health-care providers are increasingly turning to complementary non-pharmacological techniques such as hypnosis. Clinical research has demonstrated a decrease of pain perception, pain interference, depression and anxiety, and an increase in global quality of life when patients with chronic pain have benefited from hypnosis learning. Neuroimaging studies offer a possible explanation of these results by focusing on neural processes of pain modulation in chronic pain patients' brain. Studies conducted with chronic pain patients showed a modulation of pain matrix activity during hypnosis with a specific involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex (related to emotional and cognitive processing of pain). Therefore, hypnosis seems to act upon regions underlying emotion and cognition, with an influence on pain perception and emotional regulation. In this review, we propose to carry out a review of the recent literature on hypnosis in chronic pain management. A better understanding of the beneficial effects of hypnosis on chronic pain and its neurophysiology should enable more systematic use of this technique in the management of this complex health problem.</p>","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"64 1","pages":"62-80"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39600705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Studies in patients with temporomandibular disorders pain: Can scales of hypnotic susceptibility predict the outcome on pain relief?","authors":"Randi Abrahamsen, Peter Naish","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2020.1863183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2020.1863183","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many medical conditions are claimed to benefit when hypnosis is incorporated into their treatment. For some conditions, the claims are largely anecdotal, but the treatment of pain stands out in two ways. First, there is a strong body of evidence that hypnosis can produce clinically useful analgesic effects. Second, since innocuous pain can be induced in the laboratory, the process can be explored rigorously. This idea assumes that experimentally induced pain and clinical pain behave identically. We describe using experimentally induced pain in patients already suffering from temporomandibular disorders. Scanning results indicate that the pain and its amelioration are the same in the two circumstances. Moreover, the absence of any impact upon a nociceptive trigemino-facial reflex implies that the impact of hypnosis is purely cortical. Finally, we address the observation that clinical success correlates poorly with hypnotic susceptibility scores. It is proposed that a painful experimental situation induces anxiety. This, like hypnosis, has been associated with an emphasis on right hemisphere activity. Thus, clinical anxiety may render a person more responsive to hypnosis than would be indicated by a susceptibility test delivered in stress-free circumstances.</p>","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"64 1","pages":"12-19"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39600707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Memorial to Daniel P. Brown, Ph.D., ABPH","authors":"Daniel P. Brown","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2022.2068302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2022.2068302","url":null,"abstract":"Dr. Dan Brown, one of the leading authorities, mentors and authors in the field of clinical hypnosis and meditation, passed away on April 4, 2022. Dan had been suffering with Parkinson’s Disease, and then in his weakened state he succumbed to colon cancer. He is survived by his wife Gretchen and two sons. He was the author or coauthor of 24 books. Dan received his undergraduate degree at the University of Massachusetts in molecular biology and his Ph.D. in Religion & Psychological Studies at the University of Chicago. He was awarded a Danforth Fellowship given for promise in teaching excellence, and as part of that fellowship received specialized training in how to teach. In graduate school, the famed hypnoanalyst Erika Fromm, Ph.D., served as his primary clinical mentor, a relationship that lasted for 35 years. Dr. Brown has taught hypnotherapy for close to 40 years. His books on hypnosis included the Hypnotherapy and Hypnoanalysis and Hypnosis and Behavioral Medicine, both coauthored with Erika Fromm and Creative Mastery in Hypnosis and Hypnoanalysis. While in graduate school in Chicago, he commuted to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for parttime studies in the Buddhist studies program, where he learned Tibetan, Buddhist Sanskrit, and Pali. In his first clinical placement as a psychological clerk at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, he studied thought disorder in schizophrenics with Martin Harrow and selfpsychology with Heinz Kohut. He also commuted part time to The Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, where he did work with the staff of the children and adolescent units on the treatment of substance abuse. There, Karl Menninger, M. D. served as an important mentor. In the late 1970s, he moved back to his home state of Massachusetts where he did an internship at McLean Hospital and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Clinical Research at Harvard Medical School at The Cambridge Hospital. His research focused on the long-term effects of mindfulness meditation. In the 1980s Dr. Brown was the Director of Training and then Chief Psychologist at The Cambridge Hospital. There, he helped develop and gain accreditation for an APA-approved clinical psychology internship and post-doctoral training program. His vision was to provide the best young talent in psychology the opportunity to work with a disenfranchised inner city chronic mental health population, which included intensive developmentally informed psychotherapy for patients with major mental illness and complex trauma disorders. His program included intensive multicultural and bilingual mental health training. At the Cambridge Hospital, he developed and directed the Behavioral Medicine Program, a joint venture between psychiatry and primary care medicine. His book Hypnosis and Behavioral Medicine represents the clinical approaches developed in that program. He developed a special interest in psychoneuroimmunology and the psychosocial treatment of immune disorders. As a result he developed a j","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"65 1","pages":"79 - 82"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44199268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Age Progression in the Treatment of Suicidal Patients","authors":"M. Torem","doi":"10.1080/00029157.2022.2061900","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2022.2061900","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Suicide is a very distressing but preventable phenomenon; it is also the most profound and serious outcome for patients and healthcare professionals. Suicidal ideations and hopelessness are a high-risk predictor for suicide attempts and death by suicide. The proper therapeutic management of suicidal patients continues to be an important challenge to all practicing clinicians. This article provides a review of age progression and specific information on the value and use of hypnotically mediated age progression as a therapeutic tool in the effective clinical management of patients with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Case examples are provided to illustrate the use of age progression in clinical practice. The literature that explores a future-oriented strategy in the treatment of suicidal patients is reviewed. Moreover, information on a method of enhancing a future oriented strategy with hypnotically mediated age progression interventions is provided. The goal is to improve therapeutic results and reducing the risk of suicide attempts and death by suicide.","PeriodicalId":46304,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis","volume":"65 1","pages":"30 - 44"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49623688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}