Hypnosis for Pain Management

Keep your eyes on the ball swinging back and forth, watch very closely and focus your attention. We are now entering the world of hypnosis. The first stage of hypnosis is called the "induction" to focus attention and turn off the peripheral awareness. Induction is thought to make a person more receptive to the "suggestion". A hypnosis practioner might suggest a change in perception, sensation, emotion, thought or behavior. In the use of hypnosis for pain management, the suggestion would be for the reduction in pain intensity, frequency, or duration. Hypnosis has been used to treat pain since the 1840's; but lately, this alternative treatment has been gaining some additional recognition. This increased interest is due to a further understanding of the brain's role in the pain experience, the advanced imaging technology that can observe the effects of hypnosis on the brain, and growing evidence of the beneficial effects that hypnosis has on people with pain.

Once researchers discovered that a hypnotic suggestion could create or intensify pain, the natural extension of this research was to change the pain experience in the opposite direction, towards pain relief. Now, many studies show that the hypnotic suggestion can selectively alter the pain experience through selective effects on different areas of the brain. As research continues, hypnosis continues to demonstrate usefulness in pain management with multiple benefits.

To further explore the use of hypnosis to treat chronic pain, I interviewed a practicing psychotherapist, Dr. Daniel Rockers, PhD, who has successfully utilized hypnosis in his practice as an adjunctive treatment for many years.  

• 1. Dr. Rockers, who is most likely to benefit from hypnosis for the treatment of pain?

The most likely candidates for hypnosis are individuals who are motivated and interested in getting alternative help for their pain condition. They should be open-minded, and understand that they may need to learn a skill of self-hypnosis. A very important consideration to remember is that medical hypnosis is not stage hypnosis. Both are actual phenomena, but stage hypnosis is for the entertaining of others, while medical hypnosis is solely for the individual seeking treatment. Medical hypnosis is serious business, and usually involves the patient learning to allow the unconscious mind to help them progress in life. The implication here is that the conscious mind often gets in the way of our own progress!

• 2. Dr. Rockers, how long does the analgesic effect last from hypnosis?

Medical hypnosis for pain is more than just applying an analgesic suggestion. It means establishing a relationship with the patient so that both doctor and patient feel comfortable enough to explore what has led up to the pain condition. For example, one patient that I treated suffered a traumatic assault and resultant pain, but only after several sessions was this revealed. Until that point, I was working to apply analgesia, but with limited success. Other patients may not need such exploration, and in those cases, skillful application of hypnotic analgesia can be successful, with self-hypnosis booster sessions. For example, one individual that I worked with had a damaged spine when quite young and had suffered back pain all her life. Traditional treatments were not so helpful, and she did not want to take medications. She was able to learn a specific technique which helped reduce her pain to a manageable level and pursue her hobbies. Others around her noticed the change.