Sheila Menon1, Vidya Bhagat2
1London College of Clinical Hypnosis Asia, LCCH Asia, 807 Block B Phileo Damansara1,
Jalan Damansara, Section 16/11 Petaling Jaya Selangor 46350 Malaysia.
2A.J. Institute of Hospital Management, Mangalore Rajeev Gandhi University, Mangalore 2, India.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: menonsheila@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT:
Introduction: Integrative clinical hypnotherapy is an intervention that utilises naturally occurring trance states as the basis for a therapeutic approach that helps patients or clients to overcome their problems in a caring and compassionate way. Purpose: The aim of the current study is to explore the scientific evidence supporting the increased use of compassion and hypnotherapy as an intervention for psychophysiology-related problems. Methodology: This study is a qualitative study, collecting secondary data from the literature in order to provide a descriptive analysis of the evidence supporting the current trend toward the integration of compassion and hypnotherapy as an effective clinical intervention. The study engine proceeded with scoping 50 articles from the previous literature studies using electronic databases such as PubMed, psych-INFO, NCBI, and CINAH from 2010 to 2022 and collected various literature related to the study theme for its investigation. Results and implications: The study provides insights into the benefits of compassionate and integrative hypnotherapy in clinical intervention and intellectualises its current position in terms of scientific parameters and clinical intervention strength. Conclusion: The study brings new insights supporting the scientific evidence of a compassionate and integrative approach to clinical hypnotherapy which offers a newer science-based understanding of the way hypnosis affects the brain and thought processes. The study puts forward models for improved treatment outcomes that address the emotional or cognitive distress which is implacable in clinical intervention.
KEYWORDS: Compassionate hypnotherapy, hypnosis therapy in clinical intervention, hypnosis therapy in medical sciences.
INTRODUCTION:
The origin of hypnosis dates back thousands of years to the ancient temples of Aesculapius.1. Modern hypnosis was popularised in the 1700s by Franz Mesmer.1. In 1844 the Scottish surgeon James Braid began to document the biological and physical benefits of hypnotic interventions which led to its inclusion as a recognised medical discipline in 1892.1. The nature of hypnotherapeutic practice evolved during the 20th century and the last few decades have shown that both mindfulness-based interventions and hypnosis are effective treatments for addressing a large number of psychological and physical symptoms and conditions, including acute and chronic pain.2-6
Current hypnotherapy approaches are informed by the work of Milton H Erickson a 20th-century psychiatrist. Erickson popularised the use of an integrated model of hypnotherapy that was patient centred and compassionate in its application. This has given rise to a methodology of hypnotherapy called Ericksonian approaches or Ericksonian hypnotherapy.
This method puts emphasis on observation, clear simple communication, rapport and compassion. It often includes indirect language skills, subtle influencing strategies and other psychological techniques. The result is an integrative and compassionate approach to hypnotherapy, which consistently produces life-changing results that are effective over a global range of psychological and physical conditions and which meet the humanistic trends of modern therapeutic practice.
This model provides helpful insights because up to this time the theories put forward to explain hypnosis have been met with arguments about the relative exclusivity of the theorised mechanism used to explain the treatment, namely the measure of hypnotisability. ICH renders this mechanism redundant.
Hypnosis is a state of altered consciousness characterised by absorption, focused attention, heightened suggestibility and dissociation. It occurs in the natural state and can also be induced in the consulting room. Hypnotherapy refers to the therapeutic intervention leading up to or after hypnosis has been induced and clinical hypnotherapy describes the use of hypnosis within a clinical or medical context. Integrative Clinical Hypnotherapy interventions refer to the use of hypnotherapy that is patients centred and which includes compassionate engagement of which rapport is a key component. It also integrates other techniques which may be useful to establish the therapeutic outcome.
Integrative clinical hypnotherapy or ICH focuses on the patients’ issues, needs and belief systems, creating a safe and compassionate therapeutic context. This compassionate and integrative approach utilises information which is gathered during the case discussion and history taking. This is used to establish rapport, select the hypnotic induction and inform the subsequent therapeutic intervention. Each step in this process is connected to the other and each component supports the overall therapeutic benefit. Recent findings in neuroscience have led to a better understanding of how hypnosis works and identified the changes that occur within the brain when people undergo hypnotherapy. This is an important advancement toward making hypnotherapy more available as a treatment choice. Previously, hospitals and universities have tended to look for a scientific rationale to explain the effectiveness of the hypnotherapy mechanism. A primary reason for this is that many early studies were based on assumptions and observed experiences and had little evidence-based support. This historical legacy has hampered the progress of hypnotherapy, slowed its inclusion as an integrative discipline and limited its scope. This is set to change. The role put forward for modern clinical hypnotherapy is based on the way care and compassion affect the brain and thought processes an approach already booming in the scientific world.7.
Current scientific research supports a role for compassionate and integrative clinical hypnotherapy. The evidence is drawn from the analysis of studies (on chronic pain) and based on the fact that sensory experiences and synaptic connectivity continually affect the brain and provide the mechanism for updated changes in the brain. This facilitates brain plasticity and an ongoing
mechanism for recording and updating what people think and believe. The growing awareness of this mechanism has helped people understand how hypnosis works and how the brain works in processing information about the world. Our awareness of what is happening in the world occurs within the senses and is informed by the sensory experience. Present experience is therefore a combination of these inputs plus the influences of past memories, future expectations, and the way these are affected by the belief systems.
The above insights are based on the last four decades of neuroscience research. These provide the evidence for finally settling the controversy surrounding the nature of hypnosis, which has continued for over 100 years on whether hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness or a pattern of behaviour adopted by both subject and hypnotist. Hilgards’ neo-dissociation theory of hypnosis provides an important starting point for moving beyond the state vs. role-play debate and introduces the concept of dissociation to explain the reality of the state of hypnosis. Hilgard’s work shows that an individual’s intrapsychic awareness registers experiences which occur outside their consciousness and this is put forward to explain the dissociative phenomenon that occurs in a hypnotized individual. In these experiments, subjects with hypnotically blocked awareness of stimuli such as the pain prick sensation were able to register the blocked sensations through other sensory signals whilst verbally denying the experience. This phenomenon is described as if a dissociated observer is registering the stimuli which the hypnotized person has successfully blocked. Post-hypnosis, these individuals may recall auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli to which they appeared oblivious at the time.8.
Hilgard’s work was informed by his experiments on the hidden observer phenomena, in which an unseen part of the mind experiencing hypnotic pain relief is encouraged to provide an account of the person’s true pain experience. This concept of a hidden observer is offered as confirmation of conscious and unconscious executive systems in hypnosis although it remained a controversial understanding. Theorist Theodore Sarbin, who pioneered the role-playing theory of hypnosis, stated that hypnotic responses result from the influences of socially developed roles that impact the hypnotised person. The role-play theory of hypnosis holds that the hypnotised person doesn’t enter into an altered state of mind and that the hypnotised person is role-playing the socially construed concept of what a hypnotised person would do.9
Hilgard’s Neodissociation Classic State Theory explains how hypnotic phenomena are produced through a dissociation within the high-level control systems of a hypnotised person. This theory proposes that hypnotic induction is a split in the functioning of the executive control system into diverse areas of the psyche. During hypnosis, a part of the executive control system continues to function normally but is unable to represent itself in conscious awareness due to the presence of amnesia. Hilgard’s theory explains that the hypnotic suggestions work on the dissociated part of the executive control system and that they are aware of the consequences of the suggestions but not aware of the process. Both of these concepts provide understanding which is highly useful in technically assessing susceptibility in clinical situations.10.
OBJECTIVES:
The primary objective of this article is to provide an evidential basis for the theoretical implications of hypnotherapy, first by analysing the neurophysiological explanation behind the scientific growth of compassionate hypnotherapy, and to second analyse the role of integrative clinical hypnotherapy interventions in medical and psychological intervention.
The Theoretical Implications of Hypnotherapy
Compassionate suggestions offered during hypnotherapy do not alter the reality of the present but they can help an individual change their perception and current beliefs. The person can then act in response to the suggestion given during the therapy session and this can consequently result in different behaviours and perceptions. In a clinical context, suggestions delivered whilst the patient is in a hypnotic state can help them to believe that the new behaviour is happening in the present time. This is observed as a new behaviour a fraction of a second after it has happened. The analysed literature studies investigating sensory experiences show that the perception of these inputs is changing all the time and that the continual synaptic connectivity affects the brain so that there is continual updating of the changes to what the individual thinks and believes. This forms the basis of brain plasticity and these changes are continually recorded in the brain.10, 11.
Literature studies have shown that clinical hypnotherapy involves an interaction between two people and that the use of hypnotic suggestions, creates a temporary shift or change in perception and the processing of information.12, 13. Studies have theorised that consistent hypnosis and hypnotic procedures tend to result in systematic and replicated changes in the recipient’s phenomenological experience.14, 13. Literature studies also provide evidence that hypnotic inductions tend to result in the subjects’ feeling relaxed and well-focused.15-16. Other literature studies reveal that hypnotisability provides a tendency to respond to hypnotic suggestions, and this consistently enhances the subjective responses to hypnotic procedures.12, 13.
The analysed literature studies on the sensory experiences show that they change all the time and that this synaptic connectivity affects the brain continually with the updated changes being recorded in the brain, defining the new way that the person thinks. Theoretical knowledge considers memories and future expectations to be thoughts that are not based on actual present experiences. This concept provides the possibility of using clinical hypnotherapy as an intervention to change thoughts and expectations. Extrapolating from this we can conceptualise the experience of believing that a memory remains accurate even when it has become distorted over time and no longer accurately represents the past event. Clinical hypnotherapy provides a mechanism to introduce positive distortions for therapeutic benefit. Similarly, the ability to conceptualise that the future can have many different viewpoints creates an opportunity for beneficial suggestions to influence imagined future outcomes. Thus, hypnotic suggestions given in a caring and compassionate way can change memories and expectations for the future.16. Previous literature studies describe hypnotherapy as involving an interaction between two people and that the use of hypnotic suggestions creates a temporary shift in perception processing.12, 13. Consistent with this concept, hypnosis and hypnotic procedures tend to result in systematic and easily replicated changes, resulting from the influence of the hypnotic suggestion on the receiver’s phenomenological experience.14, 13
The present experiences can be explained in two ways. One theory uses basic physics stating that the present experiences actually represent something that occurred a fraction of a second before the suggested one. The theoretical explanation is based on physics which states that sound and light waves travel at different speeds. The light waves which represent the memory image reach
the subject’s eyes faster than the sound waves that convey the auditory suggestions from the hypnotherapist. Another explanation for the delay is that once information reaches our eyes and ears, it quickly travels to our brain before being experienced with the senses. This gives the individual the impression that what they are experiencing is taking place in the present, but in reality, the experience is constantly occurring in the very recent past and therefore lagging by virtually a fraction of a second. As time passes, these differences become part of the experience and no attention is paid to the discrepancy.
Understanding how reality is experienced provides the necessary information to formulate compassionate suggestions which can be utilised to change the perception of the present experience. This can then facilitate the rapid and effective resolution of problems using principles which have been confirmed by neuroscience and which can effect change when delivered through compassionate engagement that is central to integrative clinical hypnotherapeutic approaches.
METHODOLOGY:
This study uses a qualitative approach. The secondary data is collected from the literature to provide a descriptive analysis of current trends in the scientific evaluation of integrative and compassionate approaches found within clinical hypnotherapy. The total of articles is 60, collected by using the keywords from the previous literature studies using electronic databases such as PubMed, psych-INFO, NCBI, and CINAH from 2000 to 2022 related to the study theme for its investigation. After screening, 50 articles with a good match to the study theme were selected. Results and implications: The study provides insights into the benefits of using a compassionate approach in hypnotherapy and points to the growth in clinical intervention which intellectualises its current position in terms of scientific value and strength. Conclusion: The study provides new insights that are supported by scientific evidence for a new scientific approach to hypnosis. Integrative clinical hypnotherapy (ICH) interventions draw support from the neurophysiological processes which continually affect the brain and therefore both the thought processes and behaviour. It is through this mechanism that ICH offers better treatment outcomes for symptoms that are implacable to other clinical interventions.
Neurophysiology offers a scientific approach to understanding clinical hypnosis
Integrative clinical hypnotherapy interventions include the conversational and indirect methods which originated from Ericksonian hypnotherapy. This approach is easily integrated into other forms of intervention and therapy. One study from the field of neuroscience currently suggests that all of our daily decisions are made unconsciously. It is already established that compassionate hypnotherapy allows us to communicate directly with the part of the brain that controls all of our behaviour.17. One of the studies reveals that attention is the important ability to flexibly control and limit computational resources. This has been studied in both the disciplines of neuroscience and psychology and includes aspects such as awareness, vigilance, saliency, executive control, and learning.18.
consciousness. Each of these has its own subjective meaning which individual subjects bring to them. These have been observed along with changes in the brain that can be demonstrated in neuroimaging studies.19.
Hypnosis is characteristically associated with good focal attention, concentration, imagination, psychological relaxation, altered perception, critical analytical reasoning, and dissociation.20. The narrowed focused attention observed in the EEG studies of various previous literature showed changes in neuro-electrical activity and also evidenced a higher proportion of occipital alpha waves in highly suggestible people as compared to low. 21, 22, 23.
These findings were not replicated in other studies, indicating the need for further research in the same area to provide a better understanding of the mechanism.24, 25. Furthermore, higher activity in high alpha (11.5-13.45 Hz), beta (16.5-25 Hz), and high theta (5.5-7.5 Hz) bands were observed in high ranges in the right parietal cortex.26. One of the literature studies stated that high-hypnotisability produced a higher theta amplitude (4–6 Hz) in bilateral frontal and right posterior areas of the brain in the bilateral frontal cortex. The same subjects showed a smaller alpha 1 (8.25–10 Hz) amplitude.27.
Changes in incongruity across pre- and post-hypnosis conditions in one of the previous literature studies demonstrate that high and low hypnotizable people can be distinguished differently by these changes in incongruity.28. The literature evidence found in one of the studies signifies that before the hypnosis induction, high and low-susceptible subjects demonstrated different brain electric states. The posterior brain activation patterns were more noticeable in highly hypnotizable people, whereas the anterior brain activation patterns were more pronounced in low-hypnotizable people.29.
Another literature study revealed a case study of a highly susceptible subject who showed an alteration in all studied frequency bands such as delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma during the hypnotherapy. These findings remained stable even after a year. Researchers in one of the previous studies reported that local and remote cortex functional connectivity changes and disruptions in the functional synchrony among neural assemblies within the left frontal cortex have hypofrontality and left-hemisphere inhibition.30.
A further study investigated how differential brain activity during hypnotic suggestions results in deluded passive movement conditions, with subjects attributing these movements to an external source. Researchers have stated that hypnotic suggestion alters the functioning of a cerebellar-parietal network, leading to self-produced actions that are then experienced as externally induced.31[30] These assumptions are in agreement with the outcomes of one of the literature studies on differences in brain activity in deep and light hypnosis.32. Another study has articulated a pronounced increase in activity within the sensory-motor areas in alpha-, gamma-, and theta frequency bands perceived in the context of motor imagery. These findings confirm an association between motor imagery and hypnotic response.33.
Neuroscientific investigation identifies that hypnosis has a significant impact on precise attention. One of the literature studies supports this fact by stating that attention is important because our brain creates neural networks from the experiences upon which we focus.19. Another neuroscience study has stated this concept as experience-dependent neuroplasticity. Hypnotic responding is considered to be a neurobiologically rooted ability that allows people to alter their experience in the world.34, 20, and 35 Although a clear neurological signature has yet to be identified for hypnotic states, there are definite neurophysiological responses to hypnosis that are associated with the
target of the intervention. One of the literature studies has stated that almost all brain areas related to pain have been associated with an experience of hypnotic analgesia.36
Attention is a cognitive activity that is an essential part of understanding hypnosis and is useful in hypnosis treatment. Thus, understanding attention, as well as seeding and nurturing attention, is important for clinical work and this informs the understanding of clinical hypnosis. According to one study, in clinical hypnosis, the hypnotherapist should consider what dimensions of their patients’ experiences they need to amplify or de-amplify in order to help them.16. One literature review provided a scientifically informed perspective on the previous limitations of this study by indicating that high-pressure situations could result in remarkable changes in consciousness even in the absence of specific suggestions. Another study has produced a scientific viewpoint on this topic, implying that these experiences reproduce common forms of consciousness alterations, which would undoubtedly have common neurological underpinnings.37. Accommodating and integrating these commonalities of human experience would be helpful in developing new areas of its implications.38. Clinical hypnosis has a direct influence on empirically supported treatments. 39.
It is important to understand the value of utilising intelligent compassion approaches when addressing the experiences of personal and social fragmentation that are often pervasive in the challenges which people face. Integrative clinical hypnotherapy interventions may provide an effective method of treatment in such cases. The term intelligent compassion is designed to offer a broader view of compassion to avoid the clinician becoming lost in a narrow understanding of the term. This narrow view can create both compassion fatigue leading to burnout amongst caring professionals and compassion anxiety. The latter occurs when the patient repeatedly avoids compassion and the clinician responds with fear which may result in them colluding with the client to maintain their problem state.
Intelligent compassion is essential to translating the states of hypnosis into the practice of clinical hypnotherapy. Attention is central to understanding and directing focus. An intelligent compassionate approach encourages the patient to engage with the suggestion and provides a context for the clinical hypnotherapist to be present with them. It also creates a context where the therapist can direct the patient’s experience through the use of safe empowering suggestions that will disrupt problem patterns and orient attention towards healing and growth. Clinical hypnosis provides a multidimensional phenomenon that can be considered from many different vantage points. Common characteristics such as a heightened state of suggestibility, a more fluid sense of time and space, and the ability to hold opposing viewpoints easily provides opportunities for the clinical hypnotherapist to use suggestions to change the patient’s perspective and experience by facilitating momentary shifts of consciousness.
Integrative clinical hypnotherapy interventions utilise these states to make positive suggestions that reinforce new adaptive neural pathways for coping with life challenges and promoting well-being. One literature review has revealed that hypnosis is understood as a bio-psychosocial phenomenon during which the interaction of multiple factors elucidates the experience and response to clinical hypnosis.40. The study also reveals that the positive social context of the hypnotic experience creates substantially higher levels of rapport between the therapist and patient and is associated with increased hypnotic response.40.
Psychologically, hypnosis involves an increased absorption in some aspects of experience whilst creating a dissociation from other aspects of the same experience. Other psychological factors that play a role include expectancies about the experience of hypnosis, attitudes about hypnosis, imaginative ability, and motivation. There is evidence, for example, that hypnotic responsiveness is augmented when more positive beliefs and expectancies are held about hypnosis.41.
Current trends for medical hypnosis
No medication or treatment addresses all the aspects of chronic pain, such as sensations, emotions, behaviours, and cognitions, which places chronic pain as an important public health issue that contributes to high healthcare costs. Medical hypnosis can be used adjunctively with medical, pharmaceutical or non-pharmacological interventions to manage chronic pain and the consequences of this condition. The evolution of hypnosis along with its scientific growth can be seen in the proliferation of research and the application of hypnosis in the medical and clinical fields. This has led to the need to refine the definition of hypnosis in order to create better compatibility and to allow a common language for clinicians. Division 30 – The Society of Psychological Hypnosis of the American Psychological Association published the definition of hypnosis as “a state of consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness characterised by an enhanced capacity for response to suggestion.42.
The literature from the medical and clinical fields shows the historical use of hypnosis and the way that the clinical approaches have evolved over time. The extensive and complex history provides both an understanding and sometimes a distraction. It is important for clinicians to update their learning and hold consensual current views of the scientific position for hypnosis, in order to enhance their knowledge and to ensure continued appropriate application and research of clinical hypnotherapy. Chronic pain management is one area where the role of clinical hypnotherapy has received a comprehensive and evidenced assessment which has contributed to a better understanding and wider application of this non-intrusive and natural healing phenomenon.43.
One of the recent studies stated that the increased objectivity towards hypnosis practice and research encourages the more creative application of hypnotic intervention in medical and clinical psychiatry. This has led to better interest and acceptance of hypnotherapy and helps to integrate hypnosis within health care.44. This has created the opportunity for more studies into hypnosis and its application which can be seen in the increasing growth and interest in clinical hypnotherapy in this current century. Stewart (2005) has exemplified the application of hypnosis in different medical fields such as allergy medicine, dermatology, oncology, obstetrics, rheumatology, neurology, obesity, gastroenterology, pulmonary medicine, urology, surgery, haematology, and hypertension. By providing reviews of more than 100 published articles from1966 to 2004, hypnosis has been demonstrated as effective in clinical trials for the treatment of both acute and chronic pain.45. Similarly, other literature researchers have provided published examples of the applications of hypnosis in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. 46. Medical hypnosis is proven to have many applications within medicine, particularly in the treatment of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. It is also proven useful in relieving acute or chronic pain, treating gastrointestinal disorders, nausea, allergies, and weight loss.47.
Various researchers have explored the role of hypnosis as a method used to benefit patients as an aid to the healing process.47. Professional associations such as the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, the International Society of Hypnosis, the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis have worked towards improving practice standards and advancing the understanding of medical or clinical hypnosis. These associations also promote the use of hypnotherapy as a treatment in clinical intervention that would benefit the patients in their healing process.48.
At this time, specific restrictive definitions for hypnotherapy as a successful procedure are not recognised precisely because people do not believe it is relevant in the fields of science, technology, and medicine. Nonetheless, hypnotherapy encompasses everything that is science, namely the science of the human brain and its associations with the rest of the body. It is recognised as a beneficial yet often overlooked method of promoting health. Studies have evidenced that clinical hypnosis improves sleeping habits, reduces anxiety, provides effective pain management for numerous medical conditions, and offers beneficial treatment for conditions that extend from irritable bowel syndrome to cancer.49. Literature also reveals that well-defined and precise practise methods of integrative clinical hypnotherapy or medical hypnosis are considered effective in improving the quality of life of patients when performed by appropriately trained professionals.49.
Also identified is the growing role of medical hypnosis in obstetrics and as an intervention for patients both during pregnancy and postpartum. One of the studies highlights that hypnosis naturally induces a relaxed state of mind and body which is most commonly practised by pregnant women in preparation for giving birth. The benefits of hypnosis intervention before, during, and after pregnancy have been well documented in the literature.50. A limited number of well-designed studies have also shown that self-hypnosis may be beneficial for extenuating labour pain and fear of childbirth.51.
One of the recent studies analysed the psychometric properties of the client version of the Valencia Scale of Attitudes and Beliefs towards hypnosis by Spanish speaking participants in Mexico. The results confirmed a positive response toward the benefits of hypnosis. The study which was conducted at Mexico State University analysed the responses of 139 students who had completed a psychometric assessment designed to evaluate the suitability and implications of hypnosis. The questionnaire included 26 questions and met the expected technical quality parameters in psychometrics and the internal consistency of the scale was found to be high.52.
There is a developing positive attitude towards hypnosis which is assisted by the new scientific parameters and increased research and the application of hypnosis in the various spears of medical and clinical fields of medicine. Further research is needed in these areas to get better insight into the inclusion of clinical hypnosis in the field of medicine. The new scientific parameters which define hypnosis have indirectly encouraged increased research and clinical application in the various fields of medicine. Further research is needed in this area to get a better insight into the inclusion of clinical hypnosis in the field of medicine.
CONCLUSION:
This study contributes to the growing body of new insights drawn from scientific evidence and supporting the inclusion of clinical hypnotherapy as an integrative and compassionate method of treatment. It is clear that Integrative Clinical Hypnotherapy interventions with their high level of
scientific standards and newer scientifically informed approaches to therapy have a role in clinical intervention. This is particularly evidenced in the way that they can affect the brain and thought processes offering support for emotional and cognitive distress, which is often implacable in clinical intervention. Its inclusion and application will produce improved treatment outcomes for a wide range of medical and psychological conditions and responses. There is growing appreciation among both patients and healthcare providers for the non-pharmacological technique of clinical hypnosis. Clinical research has demonstrated that clinical hypnotherapy decreases pain perception, pain interference, depression and anxiety. There is also an increase in the overall quality of life for chronic pain patients receiving hypnosis treatment.
Furthermore, this study draws out information from various studies on neuroscience and neuroimaging particularly focusing on the neural processes of pain modulation in patients with chronic pain and highlights the scientific growth of compassionate and integrative clinical hypnotherapy within scientific parameters. This study has also provides an opportunity to think about the scientific facts which surround chronic pain patients and to demonstrate modulation of the pain matrix activity during hypnosis with specific involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex an area associated with emotional and cognitive pain processing. The current researchers have reviewed the recent literature on hypnosis in pain management and gained insights into the beneficial effects of hypnosis on chronic pain and its neurophysiology, which can enable professionals to work more systematically using hypnotherapy in the management of this multifaceted health problem.
Overall this study analyses that in the current scenario, and identifies that a strict and well-defined definition of hypnosis leading to the recognition of hypnotherapy as a successful procedure is not achieved precisely because people do not believe it is relevant in the fields of science, technology, and medicine. Nonetheless, clinical hypnotherapy is considered relevant to everything that is science, such as the science of the human brain and its associations with the rest of the body. Integrative clinical hypnotherapy interventions offer clinicians and their patients successful treatment options that can help manage and mitigate the adverse emotional and cognitive factors that influence pain perception and emotional regulation. The author’s expertise in this article (Sheila Menon 2022) Based on our personal experiences with clinical hypnotherapy as an intervention and following an examination of current literature studies, we believe that this approach to hypnotherapy will be known as integrative clinical hypnotherapy (ICH) or integrative clinical hypnotherapy interventions (ICHI).
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
There is no conflict of interest between authors
