breast cancer and hypnosis

September 10, 2007 at 1:25 pm (anesthesia, command, family, hormones, hypnosis)

I have recently received an email from Anne Spencer from the infinity institute bout the uses of hypnosis in cancer and surgery… a very interesting thing to allow the mind to take you on a holiday whilst the body is healing itself.

I apologise for the direct copy but it seems the best way to let you know about this…

Begin…

The following was submitted to us by Christina Gikas and we are pleased to share it with you today.

ABC News

Hypnosis Reduces Breast Surgery Side Effects

Pain, Nausea and Other Side Effects Mitigated by Pre-Surgery Sessions, Study Shows

By SUSAN KANSAGRA, M.D., ABC News Medical Unit

Aug. 28, 2007 -

It’s something that’s usually associated with stage performances and helping smokers quit, but new research suggests hypnosis may soon be an important tool in helping patients endure common side effects of breast cancer surgery.

 

Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York showed that a 15-minute hypnosis session reduced side effects including pain, nausea and emotional distress in patients undergoing breast cancer operations.

The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

“If this were a drug, it would be very successful,” said lead study author Guy Montgomery, director of the Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program at Mount. Sinai School of Medicine.

Montgomery added that hypnosis carries the added benefit of having no side effects – a quality that makes it an attractive alternative to many drugs used for similar purposes.

Two hundred women who were about to undergo surgeries like a breast biopsy or removal of a suspicious breast lump participated in the study. About half of the women received a 15-minute hypnosis session shortly before their operations. The other women in the study had a consultation with a psychologist before surgery.

The hypnosis session included relaxation exercises that encouraged the women to think of pleasant thoughts, such as a beach on warm day. The women who did not undergo hypnosis talked to a psychologist, who listened and offered supportive comments only.

After their surgeries, the women who had hypnosis experienced less pain, nausea, fatigue, discomfort and emotional upset than their counterparts–and these differences were substantial, the study’s authors reported.

 

Not only did hypnosis reduce the side effects from surgery, but it also did this while reducing the amount of anesthesia used during the surgery. Additionally, the researchers showed that hypnosis decreased the amount of time spent in the operating room by almost 11 minutes, leading to an overall cost savings of about $770 per patient.

These results were seen despite the fact that treatments involving hypnotism don’t work for everyone; previous studies have shown that about 11 percent of people are resistant to hypnosis. But researchers noted that the tests used to weed out hypnosis-resistant women from the study would have taken longer to perform than the hypnosis itself.

Believing in Good Results

 

Hypnosis is believed to work by helping patients expect good results. It also helps take attention away from pain, and some studies have even shown that hypnosis can actually change the way a patient perceives pain.

“When we take an aspirin & we expect to have headache relief,” Montgomery said. “One of the things hypnosis is very good at is helping people form expectancy to these outcomes, such as less pain and less nausea.”

While hypnosis is commonly associated with a loss of control, many doctors say it is a powerful tool that patients can use to take charge of their own health.

 

C. Richard Chapman, professor and director of the Pain Research Center at the University of Utah said, “This study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that psychological interventions complement medical interventions. & Such interventions empower patients by engaging them in their own care and giving them control over their own pain, nausea and discomfort.”

Montgomery said that even patients who are skeptical about or fearful of hypnosis can take advantage of its benefits if they are properly counseled.

“We’re going to tell you that hypnosis is typically not like hypnosis used in television or seen in movies,” he said. “Rather, its something that we can do together that can help you reduce side effects. & You’re really the person in control.”

Adding to this notion is the fact that the hypnosis sessions the women underwent included instruction on how they could perform hypnosis on themselves in the future.

 

Not Just for Breast Cancer Surgery

In addition to being effective, hypnosis may also prove to be a versatile tool. The benefits of hypnosis have been shown in previous research to extend to other procedures as well, including gynecological surgery and coronary artery bypass.

Montgomery said he is hopeful that doctors continue to expand the use of hypnosis in other medical applications.

 

“This could become part of standard care,” he said. However, he added, “it’s not a panacea for everything, but rather a tool in the toolbox that we can use to address specific problems.”

 

Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

Carpe Diem…

Anne H. Spencer, PhD

Founder, Exec Director

www.infinityinst.com ~ 27 Years Teaching the Power of the Mind ~

END.

Thisamazing, the healing power of the mind can really kick it up a notch when you realise exactly how to get there.

Be well, hug those you love

Mel

1 Comment

A handfull of hair

August 8, 2007 at 5:11 pm (anesthesia, command, hypnosis, kids, painrelief)

My little 7yo daughter Amazon just pulled a handfull of hair out of her own head just to prove that she could to the witchlings who are staying tonight (while I and their dad are at rehersals, their mum is on night shift at the moment) Hubby is looking after them.

The thing that amazes me is that we all use hypnotic states at all times, and in children, well, they are just as easy as that, they fall into an altered state easily and naturally.

Amazon supressed the usual feeling of something pulling her haid (and yes, every morning is a trauma when we have to brush it) and actually riped out her hair… the primary gain was strong enough psychologically that she could feel nothing as she was doing this.

And this is why people can have operations under hypnotic anethetic, amazing isn’t it?

I personally gave my husband a week long anesthetic from his teeth hurting as it was going to take that long to get to the dentist.

Command language aside, this is just remarkable and easily available for any one who really wants to apply themselves, they can do anything.

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!!!

be well

Mel

Leave a Comment

Mums and the importance of self love and acceptance

May 14, 2007 at 2:34 pm (custody, family, hypnosis, kids)

And I wonder what you are doing today? I have been out and about talking to pregnant women and getting amazing results in having them feel good about themselves.. and in pregnancy that makes all the difference, recent studies have shown that our ancestors nutrition and lifestyle has an effect on the genes that they have passed down… so not only are you what you eat…. so are your children… and so on The British journal of psychiatry.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/179/5/450?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=Thompson+C&searchid=1042156800691_3824&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&journalcode=bjprcpsych

it says that keeping preggy mum happy and well nourished leads to better birthweight

Cortisol is the fright flight or fight hormone we get it from stress, while we need a little of it every day to get us out of bed and doing stuff, too much too regularly makes the blood sticky, this means it is harder to get the oxygen and nutrients through to baby because guess what? baby is not a body organ and is not as important as the heart, liver and bits that belong to mama so blood will be drawn away from the uterus in a highly stressful situation so that mama can fight off a tiger… or such things

Our bodies look after us first and that means babies are second, so when we are living our l indulging in stress and are pregnant at the same time… the little ones are bathed on our emotions so make sure that you want the baby, sit quietly and thank it from time to time for just being there and allow the love you feel for it and for you to flood your systems, your baby will feel this and respond by growing even more healthily than before

Be Well

Mel

Leave a Comment

love a little more…. live a little longer

May 3, 2007 at 11:42 am (command, hypnosis, relationships)

its just that simple

Mel

Leave a Comment

Hypnosis an Pregnancy

March 30, 2007 at 3:09 pm (family, fertility, hormones, hypnosis, pregnancy)

It is always fun to have a pregnant client, they are just so lovely, the first time mums just do not know how to feel and so they are feeling all over the place about everything.

Second time mums are so much more relaxed… they just want the pregnency over with so that they can get on with the busy things that they do from day to day.

It had been said many years ago that pregnant women should avoid tragedy or seeing something disturbing, this actually follows now because a study has shown that cortisol which is the fight, flight or fright hormone  courses through the body and the babies as well, this has an interesting effect on the growing mind, the study indicates that babies who have had distressed mothers aremore likely to have psych problems when they are older… WOW

Here is the link

http://www.postgradandbeyond.mq.edu.au/enewsletter/05-humanities/issue_18_stories/story3.htm

Leave a Comment

Positive sayings and command language

March 27, 2007 at 10:38 pm (command, family, hypnosis, relationships)

I like how your hair shines in this light, instead of I like your hair

That dress moves so beautifully on you instead of I like your dress

Round out the compliment with How it is good and Exactly what is good – nice about them and then they have less chance to yes..but you.

“How good to you feel” is a tag question that lets people know that they can feel good

And you may notice how easily and naturally these roll off the tongue when we use the positive command eg

Yesterday was really bad.. you know?I stuffed up and it was just awful

or

Yesterday was really not good, you know?I made huge mistakes and I learned a lot!

Effectively both are the same sentence and you may notice now just how much more optimistic the second sentence is….. when we accept the way things were and look forward we give ourselves and others permission to learn from the experience and put the effort of focus into a better outcome in the future.

The command language in each sentance has an enormous effect on our bodies and minds and as a therapist I cut people off as quickly (and gently) as I can so that we can steer them to a better plane, whilst honoring the intention of the client to get across that yesterday was not good (command word = good)

When someone asks “how are you?”…. say “fantastic” and light up with a big smile, and notice their bodies standing more upright as you say it, copying yours and as you take a nice deep breath of optimism, you can also notice that theirs will match yours and they automatically look like they feel better (the secret is that they do now too!!, just for a moment, and that makes a huge difference when you realise that we touch so many lives for a fraction of a second every day and can make their life so much happier with a little frivolous joy ;-)

Practice it, have a go!!.. its fun and contagious

Mel

Leave a Comment

… and his autoimmune system is now attacking itself

March 22, 2007 at 10:57 am (Parts conflict, command, hormones, hypnosis, relationships, separated)

I know of a couple who have split up for two years now and the guy has been dragging his feet with settlement, so much so that he is now in contempt of court.. it means more to him to piss off his ex than to just get it over with.

Sadly, they have a child and the many issues that go along with that.

(back story)

for the last 5 years, he has been predicting his own death, this is one of the reasons that his wife left him because he took her on his roller coaster of emotions every day and she could not cope any more and left him.  He is morbidly obese and though in the last 2 years shed 75kg+ he is still a big boy.

Last week, I have been told that he was due in court in three weeks time and he  will not do anything about it, the guy is a friend so all I can do is be there if he needs to chat.

On Monday I find out that he is now in hospital in ICU on a respirator with secondary pneumonia and his own immune system is attacking his lungs , he had been coughing up blood…. talk about a parts conflict.

For as long as I have known them, he has been generally unhappy, and from what his ex wife says, he was always saying he was going to die around his birthday, this has been going on for years because she would call me crying from time to time and say she could not help him want to live, he did not want to get off the couch and look at alternatives, he just kept saying that he would die and it would be soon….   he turns 35 in may

Simply put,  be careful what you say because the subconscious mind is always aware and gives you exactly what you want, given that once she had left him he then went out and shed so much weight, if he turned his thinking to I want to live.. then perhaps this would have been different, he still can pull through, he just needs to want it enough, however in his language now saying “I don’t want to die” Still carries the command ‘to die’, the subconscious can (and does depending on the depth of importance) ignore the ‘don’t’.

Think for a positive outcome and say it 10 times in the morning and 10 times at night

Emile coue coined the phrase

“every day and in every way I am becoming better and better and better”

I give this to my clients to say and because it is open ended for the better, then the subconscious takes this on easily and naturally and changes things in just the right time for you.

Be well

Mel

Leave a Comment

A Frightening development in marketing – Hypnomarketing

March 1, 2007 at 12:18 am (command, fertility, hypnosis, relationships)

I believe that this is not only detrimental to the Hypnotherapy industry, it is also dangerous for the poor suckers who walk into this honey pot.

http://hypnomarketing.biz/

My husband just got an invitation to go to a hypnoshow free, with free alcohol and nibblies.

As I am a clinical hypnotherapist I thought cool, a show is always fun to watch… upon reading I am APPALLED that this is going to happen. they are charging the client $20K to $100K (client is trendy clothing company)

And inviting the young trendy an uninformed to come for a free show… .hell I would go too!!

The thing that buggs me is that they are so up front that they are promoting a clothing line, ideally this would be ok however, knowing that the subconscious mind does not know the difference between reality and imagination, I am EXTREMELY concerned because they are directly linking these clothes with feeling great and sexual potency and such things (as all good advertising does), however, putting these people even though they are willing into a trance and linking the clothes with actual wellbeing is a dangerous road to take in my opinion

Therapists Know that 20% of people are HIGHLY SUGGESTIBLE and with a few drinks, this percentage only increases.

Subconsciously when you walk onto stage, you are giving deep approval for what is to occur and if that is being in a show great, if that is being made a slave to a brand for life and it is directly attached to sexual potency, wellbeing and a happier life, that is irresponsible, especially given the people coming think that they a going to get something free, a skillfully (and I know the hypnotist, he is EXTREMELY good, his use of command, embedded and metaphorical are fantastic, he was an NLP trainer) worded patter can really make an impact – great for advertising… not so good for the simply uninformed…

Yes they are adults, yes they walk in (and have to sign waivers!!) It just feels wrong, in my map of the world..

advertising is the are of co-ercion true.

Moving people into a highly suggestible state even with their agreement and promoting to them as such linking it explicitly to their health and wellbeing? what happens when the brand folds? or does not come in their size? HOW WILL THE SUBCONSCIOUS REACT WHEN THESE THINGS THAT ARE NOW SO NECESSARY FOR SELF ESTEEM ARE NOT AVALIABLE?

Impotence? heart disease? relationship troubles? cancer?

what do you think? will this send our Industry back onto the stage and out of actually helping people? what will the push back be?

Mel

2 Comments

Mind my Menopause…. how mental work helps all the ladies

February 27, 2007 at 11:23 pm (Hypno-kinesiology, Menopause, fertility, hypnosis, painrelief)

Hi there, I have just had 2 independent beautiful women ask me to help them with assistance for menopause, I take this very seriously so I need to do a lot of research on this topic.

There seems to be some debate over HRT and all the  issues surrounding that… one lady is 55 and the other is 39 and has had her ovaries removed by an over zealous Doctor it would appear.

As we work with the parasympathetic system of the body, teaching people to control their comfort and being able to just breathe deeply really makes a difference because that little 2seconds of breath holding, allows the osmosis of co2 moving into the Alveoli and oxygen into the blood stream to happen in the lungs a little more cleanly and allow a much nicer relaxation of the system as a whole because a well oxygenated set of organs runs much nicer and can work things out more regularly.

lots more to cover, stay tuned as I work out a plan to actually help these and other lovely ladies.

Any thoughts?

Mel

Leave a Comment

Lack of organisation on my behalf

February 27, 2007 at 4:42 pm (family, hypnosis, kids, relationships)

So, things are getting a little frazzled at the moment, I had not been as attentive for my family as I could have been and am now reaping the rewards… Dreamer is off in dreamland again and Amazon is “moody” so back to mumming, I have been on a 2 week INTENSIVE course for Hypnotherapy, I am 3/4 through getting my Diploma of Clinical Hypnotherapy and just need to get a few assignments in so on the downward hill run, I am excited that my client bast is growing and I can see many more clients on the near horizon so the worst is over and now our family can begin to naturally heal and work towards …… da da daaaaa WORLD DOMINATION!!

how is your week going?

Leave a Comment

« Older entries