About Howes Graham

I am an Advanced Hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner using hypnosis hypnoanalysis and NLP for hypnotherapy in the Ipswich Suffolk and Colchester area in Essex and by Skype. Apart from being a Hypnotist using hypnotism I am also an actor, playwright, director and teacher. I am also a Certified Weight Loss and HypnoGastricBand practitioner.

Insomnia. Learn to sleep at will

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Insomniacs typically have taught themselves effectively NOT to sleep.

They go to bed and think: “This is the time to worry!” or they think “I will never sleep tonight!”

And guess what? They have programmed themselves not to sleep … so they won’t sleep!

Really you need to learn how to program yourself to sleep with an easy self hypnosis ritual that gives you the power to sleep again.

You also need to learn strategies for worry and stress.

You don’t need me to tell you the effects of lack of sleep.

I am listed on many speciality sleep sites for my approach which also covers sleep walkers or hypnagogia treatment (asleep while seeming awake and often hallucinating).

Talk to me to see how I can help you

Graham
https://grahamhoweshypnotherapy.co.uk/hypnotherapy-treatments/treatments-with-hypnotherapy/

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

Cancer Report

Hypno Cancer Relief is a Complementary Hypnotherapy and NLP intervention

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Studies at Hull University Hospital by Professor L G Walker suggest that guided visualisation helps with the distressing aspects of Cancer where a patient feels that they must endure the treatment and that there is nothing they can contribute.

Actually in tests they formed two comparable groups: one had treatment and no hypnotherapy and the other also had hypnotherapy.

The survival rate and recovery was significantly higher in the group who underwent the hypnotherapy course – which offers practical approaches to reduce stress and address the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and fear. You are also taught ways to enhance your treatment with visualisation. Your Mindset can be crucial to your recovery.

NB: This is not a replacement for proper medical intervention but is complementary to it and based on cutting edge and solidly researched methods.

Finding your Balance

is a six week survival approach for those living with cancer which I have designed for people facing this most life-changing of illnesses. I teach clients how to use the power of their unconscious – which runs the body and processes behind the scenes – to help in controlling pain and discomfort, improve your mood and to own and engage in the healing process.

If you follow the plan that we work out together you can improve your quality of life and by rehearsing the attack on the cancer and promote recovery this logically leads to an improvement in your condition. Research by Prof L G Walker show great improvement in recovery and longevity in those using this kind of approach.

Your state of mind has a significant effect on your medical outcome, people who are engaged in healthy-minded living will normally do better medically, even if they have a life-changing illness. Dave Elman, the famed American Hypnotherapist, who was widely respected  by Dentists Doctors and Surgeons that he trained in Pain Relief with Hypnosis back in the 1950s and 60s, used to tell them to make sure that their patients were in a positive state of mind before any significant surgery – that people could literally kill themselves by the assumption that they would die!

I work with the client specifically to: Address Their Needs, Raise their Hopes and increase their inner Mental Resources, tackling such things as Depression Stress and Anxiety, so they feel they are participating in their own recovery rather than being the passive recipient of medical interventions

You feel that you are becoming proactive towards your cancer rather than passively accepting it, Making New Neural pathways and “remembering when you were well” – the body knows how to heal itself – it does so with a cut – often before you are aware of the cut consciously – so we stimulate you to relate to a time before your cancer was present and go into that memory as a reference for your unconscious processes – going backwards to move forwards.

There is more on this blog on both Pain Relief and the facts about how hypnosis can help with pain and cancer relief: Cancer and Pain Relief the facts

The Cancer Wellness Doctrine

“Cancer has changed my life, but that does not mean my life has changed for the worse. I will decide how my life has been changed.

While there may be moments of uncertainty, there will always be reasons for hope.

I am the most important member of my healthcare team. The more active and curious I am about my treatment the better my outlook will be.

I have the power to make a difference in my treatment and care.

Physical healing is not the only goal of my treatment. I can also use this time to heal my spirit, relationships and my heart.”

(Revd C. Scott Giles)

Documents on Cancer:

cancer_and_the_environment_508 PDF

Important Document from US Government agency on Cancer please see my approach here and talk to me for a genuine complementary therapy Hypno Cancer Relief

cancer_and_the_environment_508 WORD

Contact me in Confidence for a FREE chat – please leave a message and number if you get the answerphone

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

Graham

Why Diets and dieting and slimming regimes DON’T work long term

Why Diets don’t work long term

There was a very interesting series on BBC TV in the UK which explored the Diet and Dieting / Slimming industry called “The Men who made us thin.” The programme confirmed my own experience in helping people using hypnosis to lose weight. Most of my clients came to me as a last resort. They had been convinced that dieting / slimming regimes were the answer to losing weight and had found themselves yo yo dieting or worse progressively putting on even MORE weight when they went back to so called “normal” eating. Statistics show that dieting and slimming regimes DO NOT work long term. It is the short term results that you hear quoted – and a weight loss expert on the BBC programme pointed out that ANY intervention short term will produce short term weight loss – which is why so many seemingly contradictory new wonder diets or slimming programmes can claim success. So if I told you to substitute Lunch with eating fresh pineapple for 4 weeks – you would lose weight! Does that mean that you want to do that for the rest of your Life? Do you want to feel appallingly guilty for the odd indulgence? Do you find yourself going to the slimming club having starved a few days before to show you have lost a pound in weight? That can just get obsessive when really isn’t it more important that you feel comfortable in your own skin and you can get into those trousers you wore when you were at a satisfactory weight and size? It doesn’t help that newspapers and book publishers want to sell you the latest fad so we are bombarded with propaganda about the latest diet which will be totally discredited in another few years!

The History of Diets and Dieting

Historically the whole industry came into being when an Insurance Actuary in New York studied Death rates from people who were overweight. He came to the correct conclusion that being overweight can give you significant difficulties such as obesity, osteoarthritis or type 2 diabetes – in some cases even leading to heart attacks or, if eating a poor diet, cancer. Many people were dying of being overweight. Big and scary!

However he based his ideal weights on the fairly random ideal weights of a person in their twenties – at their peak. However this is a false value as it is extremely unlikely that you will EVER be what you were in your twenties for a variety of complicated reasons. He was convinced that everyone should be an ideal weight and size and overnight people who were a little overweight or comfortable were typified as being overweight. The Medical Profession adopted this and the diet and slimming industry was born! I am not saying you shouldn’t lose weight if you are significantly overweight – but it should be a weight and size that is healthy but also comfortable to you.

The shocking thing is that many people are perfectly healthy being the weight where they feel comfortable and not necessarily what the charts tell you. One client told me that she had once reached her ideal BMI and looked incredibly scrawny and “not like her”.

A dieting industry was born in the sixties which was eagerly seized on by Businesses – because you were likely to have a customer for Life. The client would blame themselves when they fell off the wagon and come back for more weight loss sessions or would try some other product. Great! The inventor of slim fast shakes went so far as to say that if people stopped using his product then yes they would gain weight and it was their fault!

However who wants to be on diet or slimming or drinking shakes every day for their whole Life when there is an easier alternative.

Diets broadly fall into two categories:

Starvation:

Count those calories, reduce your intake significantly and lose weight… so far so sensible – but this means you always have to be on a regime and people get bored, self sabotage, and go back to “normal eating” and put on weight. The body has an idea of what it thinks your weight and size should be based on years of experience and it also possibly even activates cravings to get you back to where it thinks you should be – the unconscious part of you that automates your blinking and heart beat and breathing also governs your appetite. So if your appetite is trained by years of parents saying “clear your plate” or you think REstaurant meals are correct portion sizes you are in trouble – you are the one putting food in your mouth and too much food equals too much weight – which is then like me strapping every stone or pound or kilogram you are overweight in a rucksack of lard on your back and front and asking you to run! Imagine that!

Restriction:

Avoid certain Food combinations, only eat meat on a Tuesday, cut out bread and potatoes, replace meals with shakes etc etc. The body needs a combination of foods and restricting some foodstuffs can create harm long term – the first shake replacement on the market lead to severe illness as there were little in the way of  vitamins or minerals in it and with only one significant meal a day – yes, you lost weight, but many people got very ill and in some cases died! The shake industry improved their product and made it more balanced but do you want to live that way for the rest of your Life? The same is true for whatever the latest fad is for restricting certain foodstuffs – often short term you will lose weight but longer term it could make you ill. Anybody can make up a diet with the help of a competent nutritionist as I have illustrated with the simple idea of a Pineapple Diet – remember the Grapefruit Diet or Cabbage Diet anyone? I know someone who remembers the F Plan Diet  because he got very good at sprinting .. to the nearest toilet!

So what is a sensible way forward to lose weight AND keep it off ? Here is my experience:

Lose weight with Hypnosis

We know the answer – target your normal eating! Cut out Junk food (junkie food according to the American Health Authority) which can be genuinely harmful if it is your main food intake – an occasional junk food product won’t kill you but if it is at the centre of your diet then you are asking for trouble! The AHA thinks that the 60 per cent who are close to or already obese is because of fat sugar and salt in many  junk foods to an alarming extent.

Eat great food – it doesn’t have to be any more expensive and you will be eating less anyway. I went, at the time of writing, to a Nature reserve where many families were having fun gathering blackberries and I came home loaded with Elderberries, Blackberries and Rose Hips – I made Elderberry Cordial which an Israeli Virologist thinks helps with all kinds of flu, I will also make elderberry ice cream with cloves and honey, Rose Hip syrup for the Cold season (4 times the Vitamin C of Oranges) and Blackberry Sorbet and Blackberry and Apple Dessert. All for free!

I also shop from roadside smallholdings and proper Butchers and Farm shops often MUCH cheaper than Supermarkets and the produce is ripe and, if meat, properly hung and humanely treated. Most importantly it is FRESH – it hasn’t been transported for days to a warehouse and distributed to supermarkets often unripe or with many food miles attached. Of course it is your choice!

And Ready meals are usually high in some cost reducing additive fat sugar or salt – if it is low in fat it may be higher in sugar or contain a chemical additive like aspartame which has question marks over it with regard to cancer and it’s apparent role as an appetite STIMULANT. “Diet” drinks have it for instance and consumers have actually been shown to EAT MORE when they drink it. Some Weight reducing ready meals contain the equivalent of wll paper paste instead of fat and ground feathers as a bulking agent … fresh food is not full of additives either!

Cut down your portion size and eat it slowly / get a smaller plate to fool the eye. This alone will lose you weight but needs to be hand in glove, in my view, with re-educating the unconscious part of you to expect less. The hypothalamus which governs your appetite will also give you the feeling of feeling full if you eat more slowly. You can help yourself by keeping yourself hydrated and drinking a cool glass of water 15 – 20 minutes before a meal with a squeeze of lemon juice makes you feel fuller and reduces the temperature in your stomach making it work harder to burn calories – result: burning calories for little effort. There are many tips and tricks for weight loss nutritionally that I teach clients to help lose weight and actually learn to enjoy food more and appreciate it instead of just gobbling it down too fast and then wanting more!

Get appropriate exercise –

This doesn’t need to be hard – find something you enjoy – Zumba or Wii Fit or Power walk where you used to amble, park the car further away, walk more, take up yoga. You will burn more calories this way and as exercise creates endorphins which are pleasure chemicals it is a great way to combat depression or boredom.

Target why you overeat and put strategies in place to deal with it

Do you worry, get anxious or stressed, bored and comfort or binge eat to feel better? Do you get emotional and do the same? You need alternative strategies in place instead of the habit of comfort or binge eating (or drinking!) You can learn various ways to address the boredom anxiety and stress and take away the drivers to overeat or drink too much.

This is where Hypnosis can help!

Hypnotic Trance is something we can all do naturally – whenever we become “lost” in a great book or film or sports event and we are unaware of distractions, when we go into the zone to perform better as an actor, dancer or sports person or even just focussing on texting or doing an important Business task – we are using trance. Personally speaking I think that everyone can learn HOW to use trance to tremendous advantage. If you can learn to drive a car and then automate the driving then you can learn how to use trance productively! So, for me, Hypnosis isn’t just about losing weight but also addressing WHY you have the problem of bingeing comfort eating or picking and nibbling or drinking to excess. One client used trance to have an eye operation – one thing that would normally have filled them full of terror! The uses extend way beyond weight loss. We can also re-educate the unconscious to “see’ a slimmer you which is a way of reprogramming it to not try to take you back to your more usual plumper self by stimulating craving.

Weight Loss Hypnosis is personal and individual and I tailor my approach to each individual – therefore the success rate is high because we are working together to use simple means to end calorie counting and learn intelligent eating as a way of life – which is easy to do – and empower choice. You will no longer beat yourself up if you have chocolate – you will eat less of it – if you do and it will be a genuine treat or you may just cut back the following day or you may chose to eat fruit instead – it is your powerful choice! You are in the driving seat and you feel less helpless and hopeless because you understand HOW to address uncomfortable feelings to your advantage – which leads to greater happiness.

Hypnosis works for Obesity too – the Hypno Gastric Band Hypnotherapy

The same drivers are present to a greater extent with obesity and the same retraining to become an intelligent eater has worked with scores of clients. I think I have seen just about every combination of issues! With those classified obese I also help them by “fitting” under hypnosis a Hypno Gastric Band – by the fourth session clients understand that if you use trance you can reprogram yourself to believe a gastric band is in place and you then are more likely to feel fuller sooner. This is a cost effective and tried and tested alternative to gastric band surgery.

Here is a testimonial received on the day of writing via Facebook:

“Would recommend this to anyone, I’ve lost nearly three stone and still losing!” RR

If you want more information call me for a a FREE consultation on the phone

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

– I also work by Skype around the world. grahamhowes1

There is more on the three part weight loss course on this link hypnosis to lose weight and the four part Hypno Gastric Band Hypnotherapy course here hypnosis for weight loss with a virtual hypno gastric band

Graham Howes ASHPH GHR registered GHSC regulated Weight Loss Specialist

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

One to one weight loss hypnosis and hypno gastric band sessions are available in Colchester Essex and Ipswich and Hadleigh Suffolk. Lose weight with Hypnosis and the Hypno Gastric Band Hypnotherapy in Suffolk and Essex and by Skype.

 

The top two reasons why people smoke .. And why they should stop smoking!

The Top Two reasons why people smoke as heard in my hypnotherapy practices in Suffolk and Essex and why they should stop:

1: Smoking for comfort

People believe that smoking relieves stress and anxiety and relaxes them while giving them a stimulation. There are many other healthier and better ways to achieve the same end.

After all if I told you that I was giving you a tube to suck filled with 4000 deadly poisons, tars that would sit in your lungs, plus smoke that would impact your ability to breathe and if I also said that you had a one in three chance of dying horribly from smoking it – would you take that chance?

2: Because smoking is glamorous and sociable

It is illegal in the UK to smoke in certain areas and this is because we now know that theorising in tobacco affect not just you but anyone near you that is also other adults, children and even pets. Smoking is injurious to health and is less socially acceptable. Sadly smokers also smell horrible to non smokers both breath and o their clothes and hair. Many people cite smoking as a reason to not date smokers. Hollywood stars were paid a kind of product placement fee in the Golden Age of Cinema to smoke and many of them subsequently died of cancer related to smoking.

Hypnosis is THE most tried and tested and successful way to quit smoking for good and it isn’t necessary to gain weight – many of the drivers for overeating and smoking are the same. So if you want to get fit and healthy and stop relying on using food and smoking or other substances or alcohol as tranquillisers then talk to me to see how hypnotism can teach you the tools to address all the reasons like stress anxiety and more and boost you self confidence too. If you are a sports person I also throw in some coaching!

It is a dangerous habit as we now know that costs in terms of health and an average of £2,500 a year for a habit that kills. It is a habit you learned and you can unlearn it and replace all the reasons you smoked with healthier and even more interesting alternatives..

Stop playing Russian Roulette with a three chambered gun and see how this will even save you money at an average of £2,500 a year.

You can stop smoking AND lose weight with my combined course! I also have an option of the Hypno Gastric Band hypnosis course if you are classified obese.

Hypnosis for weight loss combined with smoking cessation is available in Ipswich Suffolk (most days) and Colchester Essex and Hadleigh (Sunday) and Ipswich (Wednesday) Suffolk. Also by Skype worldwide and throughout the UK.

I also offer stop smoking and weight loss courses separately see this site for more.

Call Graham Howes Hypnotherapy and NLP on

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

 

Graham Howes – Hypnotism for weight loss and smoking in Suffolk Essex and by Skype

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Hypnosis and the visual arts – Hypnotism with Hayley Lock

I have been working with Hayley Lock, a Visual Artist, on an ongoing project to explore how Hypnosis can help inspire Art.

We had a Past Life Regression where Hayley experienced synaesthesia in relation to various Composers that she was playing as a Classical Pianist in War Torn Europe in the 1930s.

hypnosis hayley hypnosis with HayleyWe have just had a long session of Automatic Drawing where on being asked to open her eyes in Deep Trance her hand was asked to draw without the conscious mind being involved.

 

 

In the clip below Hayley is amused to see her hand take off like a rocket and she even swaps hands to create a labyrinthine drawing. At the end she noted the predominant colours that she experienced in this state. Next we explore Automatic Writing.

 

Here is a small clip of our work.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151814689796948

Please contact me if you are interested in similar exploration

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

Here is Hayley’s site Hayley Lock Artist

We have presented our eyes open hypnosis experiments at the British Psychological Society, Spike Island in Bristol, Manchester Art Gallery, Minories Art Gallery in Colchester and more .. also collaborating with a well known musician. See Hayley’s site

Changing your Life with Self Hypnosis – White Rabbits

If you do what you always did – You will get what you always got

It is a truism that if you: “Do what you always did – You will get what you always got” – I don’t know who said it but my experience with many clients hows that many people are limited by their mindset. They assume that they cannot change and that they are the victims of Fate or Luck. I am writing this on St David’s Day March 1st 2013 and you are supposed in the UK to say “White Rabbits” for Good Luck.

The Map is not the Territory

There is almost a cliche in Hypnotherapy and NLP that we say: “The Map is Not the Territory” – which sound very Zen but simply refers to our personal World view shaped by all that has happened and all we have learned. We form opinions and a world view – but that is our perception and other people’s perceptions are different – this is what makes us unique and special individuals – which is terrific. But as Richard Bandler – one of the inventors of neuro linguistic programming often says: “How is it working for you?”

If it isn’t working it is time to “Try something Different – until we find out what works.

Yes you can

As President Obama suggested you can change – actually we change all the time rebuilding bits and pieces – apparently replacing up to 90% of our body each year! So change is natural – so if it isn’t working try something else.

How to reprogram yourself

If you want to give your supercomputer mind a software upgrade – how do you do it? Just telling it won’t work as the bits of your mind that keep all your previous patterns and habits in place will continue to reject too much change – so therefore we have to bypass that bit and suggest to the unconscious part of you that is running up to two and a half million processes including circulation, heartbeat etc … as well as all the Memories stored from Birth and forgotten or accessed on occasion by the Conscious Mind .. this may include traumatic or limiting behaviours .. it is by using trance and NLP that we enable you to gently suggest alternatives. You are conscious of this but as it is working with the subconscious part of you – you will consider the new way if it seems reasonable as a substitute behaviour. This is NOT brainwashing but simply offering you more choices – thereby empowering yourself. You go to meet someone like me to learn how to do this and when you have learned how you begin to learn how to undo habits, manage pain anxiety and stress, lose weight , quit smoking and more .. best of all you get the keys to the Kingdom and can turn down pain at the Dentists and send yourself to sleep when insomniac. If you are spiritually inclined you begin to understand how to access the inner part of you and empower you body and mind in many new directions. Learning Self Hypnosis as we work to help you with your issues – is one of the best gifts you will give yourself – to live your life happily as you really are – free of Self Imposed Limitations.

I offer one to ones in Ipswich and Hadleigh in Suffolk and Colchester Essex and also Worldwide by Skype  – Hypnotherapy Treatments Page – I also run retreats in Italy  and London Workshops at Camden Market Learning Self Hypnosis for a Change

Graham Howes

https://grahamhoweshypnotherapy.co.uk 

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

 

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Hypnotherapy by Skype

Hypnosis by Skype

I was talking by skype the other day to the lovely English Sisters in Rome http://www.hypnoramblings.com/

They have been offering skype Hypnotherapy and NLP sessions for some time and I received this morning a request for help for Driving Test nerves. The Gentle man explained he kept failing and hos Driving Instructor had suggested Hypnosis – could I help? I asked when his test was? He came back that it was two days time! I suggested that we meet ASAP and suggested my Ipswich Clinic. That would be difficult he countered. How about the next day at my Colchester practice? No that would be hard too. Where are you? I asked. Zimbabwe came back the reply.

I realised that Hypnosis can truly be a worldwide intervention

In the case of the Gentleman he didn’t have skype or wanted to use it so I offered to send an MP3 by email for a small payment via paypal.

I realised also that for many places around the World Hypnosis and NLP are still a new and difficult to obtain intervention – although of course in Zimbabwe I am sure that Trance has been used way back for learning and personal development – although it wouldn’t be called hypnosis!

So coming soon sessions by Skype! Thanks English Sisters – you are right – this is one of the new ways forward and it is better than a generic CD or book which will always be “one size fits all!” There is no substitute for precise treatment tailored to your specific needs.

I have since been working in Barcelona and Florida USA to name but two and all over the UK.

Regards

 

Graham

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

Skype: grahamhowes1

https://grahamhoweshypnotherapy.co.uk

 

Pain Relief and Hypnosis the evidence for Hypnotherapy and pain management

One show BBC on Hypnotherapy and Pain Relief

I am quoting in full as a public service a scholarly article from 2009 on the efficacy of hypnosis in assisting with pain management and relief. I would add that NLP is also extremely effective in this regard and also to promote healing. This type of Hypnosis and NLP is available from me. Graham Howes https://grahamhoweshypnotherapy.co.uk

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 September 25.
Published in final edited form as:
Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2007 July; 55(3): 275–287.
doi: 10.1080/00207140701338621
PMCID: PMC2752362
NIHMSID: NIHMS129985

Hypnotherapy for the Management of Chronic Pain

Gary Elkins,1 Mark P. Jensen, and David R. Patterson
Author information ► Copyright and License information ►
The publisher’s final edited version of this article is available at Int J Clin Exp Hypn

Abstract

This article reviews controlled prospective trials of hypnosis for the treatment of chronic pain. Thirteen studies, excluding studies of headaches, were identified that compared outcomes from hypnosis for the treatment of chronic pain to either baseline data or a control condition. The findings indicate that hypnosis interventions consistently produce significant decreases in pain associated with a variety of chronic-pain problems. Also, hypnosis was generally found to be more effective than nonhypnotic interventions such as attention, physical therapy, and education. Most of the hypnosis interventions for chronic pain include instructions in self-hypnosis. However, there is a lack of standardization of the hypnotic interventions examined in clinical trials, and the number of patients enrolled in the studies has tended to be low and lacking long-term follow-up. Implications of the findings for future clinical research and applications are discussed.

Pain that persists for longer than 6 months is referred to as chronic pain (Keefe, 1982). Unrelieved chronic pain can cause considerable suffering, physical limitations, and emotional distress (Turk, 1996). Further, chronic pain is one of the most common reasons for seeking medical care but often persists despite treatment with analgesics and physical modalities. For example, epidemiologic studies indicate that approximately 11% to 45% of individuals in the United States experience chronic back pain (LeResche & Von Korff, 1999), 75% of patients with advanced cancer suffer persistent pain (Bonica, 1990), and chronic pain is the most common reason for the use of complementary and alternative therapies (Astin, 1998; Eisenberg et al., 1993).

Interest in hypnosis for pain management has increased with recent evidence that hypnosis can reduce pain (and costs) associated with medical procedures (Lang et al., 2000), and there are now an adequate number of controlled studies of hypnosis to draw meaningful conclusions from the literature regarding chronic pain (Jensen & Patterson, 2006; Montgomery, DuHamel, & Redd, 2000; Patterson & Jensen, 2003). Hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain generally, but not always, involves a hypnotic induction with suggestions for relaxation and comfort. Posthypnotic suggestions may be given for reduced pain that can continue beyond the session or that the patient can quickly and easily create a state of comfort using a cue (i.e., taking a deep breath and exhaling as eye lids close). The focus of hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain also often involves teaching the patient self-hypnosis or providing tape recordings of hypnosis sessions that can be used to reduce pain on a daily basis outside the sessions. In our experience, some patients experience an immediate reduction in pain severity following hypnosis treatment, whereas others can obtain reduction in pain with repeated practice of self-hypnosis or hypnosis sessions.

The purpose of the present paper is to evaluate the efficacy of hypnosis for the treatment of chronic pain as determined by a review of controlled prospective trials. Studies are reviewed with regard to types of chronic-pain problems treated with hypnosis. This state-of-the-science review includes some recently published clinical trials that have not been included in any previous reviews, as well as a discussion of the implications of the findings for future research and clinical applications.

Controlled Trials of Hypnosis in the Treatment of Chronic-Pain Problems

Thirteen studies, excluding studies of headaches (note: hypnosis in the treatment of headaches is reviewed elsewhere in this issue) were identified that compared outcomes from hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain to either baseline data or a control condition. Hypnosis has been applied to a variety of chronic-pain conditions including those from cancer (Elkins, Cheung, Marcus, Palamara, & Rajab, 2004; Spiegel & Bloom, 1983), low-back problems (McCauley, Thelen, Frank, Willard, & Callen, 1983; Spinhoven & Linssen, 1989), arthritis (Gay, Philippot, & Luminet, 2002), sickle cell disease (Dinges et al., 1997), temporomandibular conditions (Simon & Lewis, 2000; Winocur, Gavish, Emodi-Perlman, Halachmi, & Eli, 2002), fibromyalgia (Haanen et al., 1991), physical disability (Jensen et al., 2005), and mixed etiologies (Appel & Bleiberg, 2005–2006; Edelson & Fitzpatrick, 1989; Melzack & Perry, 1975). These studies are reviewed in regard to research design and outcomes for each chronic-pain condition.

Cancer Pain

Spiegel and Bloom (1983) assigned 54 women with chronic cancer pain from breast carcinoma to either standard care (n = 24) or weekly expressive-supportive group therapy for up to 12 months (n = 30). The women randomized to the group therapy condition were assigned to groups that either did or did not have self-hypnosis training as a part of their treatment. The hypnosis intervention was directed toward enhancing patient competence and mastery in managing pain and stress related to cancer. Hypnotic training included suggestions to “filter out the hurt” of any sensations by imagining competing sensations in affected areas. Patients were also given instructions for using self-hypnosis outside of the group-therapy sessions. Both treatment groups demonstrated significantly less pain and suffering than the control sample. Hypnosis was not the main focus of the expressive-supportive group-therapy sessions, however, patients who received hypnosis in addition to group therapy reported significantly (p < .05) less increase in pain over time (as cancer progressed) compared to patients who did not receive the hypnosis intervention.

Elkins et al. (2004) conducted a prospective, randomized study of 39 advanced-stage (Stage III or IV) cancer patients with malignant bone disease. Patients were randomized to receive either weekly sessions of supportive attention or a hypnosis intervention. Patients assigned to the hypnosis intervention received at least four weekly sessions in which a hypnotic induction was completed following a standard transcript. The transcript included suggestions for relaxation, comfort, mental imagery for dissociation and pain control, and instruction in self-hypnosis. In addition, patients in the hypnosis intervention were provided with an audiocassette tape recording of a hypnotic induction and instructed in home practice of hypnosis. The hypnosis intervention group demonstrated an overall decrease in pain (p < .0001) for all sessions combined. The mean rating of the effectiveness of self-hypnosis practice outside the sessions was 6.5 on a 0-to-10 scale.

pain management with hypnosis

pain relief with hypnosis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Low-Back Pain

McCauley et al. (1983) conducted a prospective trial comparing hypnosis and relaxation training for chronic low-back pain. Seventeen outpatients were assigned to either self-hypnosis (n = 9) or relaxation (n = 8). The baseline was an EMG-assessment session and 1 week later the patients began eight individual weekly sessions. No significant change in any outcome measure was observed during the 1-week baseline period. Patients were assessed 1 week after the completion of treatment and then again 3 months after the treatment ended. Patients in both groups were found to have significant reductions in pain as measured by the McGill Pain Questionnaire and visual analog ratings of pain. Patients given the hypnosis intervention reported significant pre- to posttreatment (percent improvement in the three pain measures were 31%, 25%, and 25%, respectively) and pretreatment to 3-month follow-up improvement. However, both the hypnosis intervention and relaxation were effective; neither proved to be superior to the other.

Spinhoven and Linssen (1989) compared training in self-hypnosis to an education program for chronic low-back-pain patients using a crossover study design. Forty-five patients with low-back pain were assigned to receive one of the two treatments first, followed by 2 months of no treatment/follow-up, then the treatment that they had not yet received, followed by another 2-month follow-up period. A pain diary was used as a measure of pain intensity, up-time, and use of pain medication. Distress and depression were assessed using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). Patients in the hypnosis condition received hypnosis that included a variety of suggestions such as relaxation, imaginative inattention, pain displacement, pain transformation, and future-orientated imagery. Patients were taught to use self-hypnosis and in the fifth session they were given an audiotape to facilitate continued self-hypnosis practice. Patients in the education condition received lectures and facilitated discussion to induce an attitude of self-control of pain. A number of patients dropped out of this study; however, the data that were available from the 24 patients who completed both phases of the study (and therefore received both treatments) showed significant pretreatment to 2-month follow-up improvement on all outcome measures except pain intensity. Further, the post hoc analyses did not reveal any significant differences between the two treatment conditions on any measure. It was concluded that the treatment package was effective in teaching patients with chronic low-back pain to better cope with their pain and to achieve improved adjustment to chronic pain.

Arthritis Pain

Gay et al. (2002) compared the effectiveness of hypnosis and Jacobson relaxation for the reduction of osteoarthritis pain. Thirty-six patients with osteoarthritis pain were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: hypnosis, relaxation training, and a no-treatment/standard-care control condition. The hypnosis intervention consisted of eight weekly sessions that began with a standard relaxation induction followed by suggestions for positive imagery, as well as a memory from childhood that involved joint mobility. The subjects in the standard-care control condition were administered the outcome measures and were offered treatment after their last follow-up assessment. Patients in the hypnosis treatment showed a substantial and significant decrease in pain intensity after 4 weeks of treatment, which was maintained through 3 months and 6 months of follow-up. In comparison, patients in the no-treatment control condition reported little change in pain during the 6 months of this trial. However, although significant differences between the hypnosis and the standard-care control condition were found midtreatment (4 weeks after treatment started), posttreatment, and at follow-up, the differences between the effects of the hypnosis intervention and the relaxation control on pain reduction were not statistically different.

Sickle Cell Disease

Dinges et al. (1997) enrolled 37 children and adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) who reported experiencing episodes of vaso-occlusive pain into a prospective 2-year treatment protocol. A pre- and postexperimental design was used and participants were asked to complete daily diaries during 4 months of baseline and during the 18 months of treatment that involved weekly (for the first 6 months), bimonthly (for the next 6 months), and once every 3 weeks (for the final 6 months) cognitive-behavioral intervention that centered on self-hypnosis training and practice. The hypnosis intervention included suggestions for ideomotor responses (e.g., hands moving together, arm becoming lighter and rising) and encouragement to develop individualized metaphors and self-suggestions to use for pain management. Results indicated the self-hypnosis intervention was associated with a significant reduction in the number of pain days. There were significant baseline versus treatment phase differences observed on: (a) the percentage of days during which both SCD pain (from 20 to 11 days) and non-SCD pain from (19 to 6 days) were reported by patients, (b) percentage of days of non-SCD pain that medication was taken (from 6% to 1%), and (c) percentage of “bad sleep nights” on non-SCD pain days (from 8% to 2%). No significant changes were found in the percentage of days of SCD pain that medication was taken or on the percentage of bad sleep nights on SCD pain days, however. The authors concluded that the overall reduction in pain frequency was due to the elimination of less severe episodes of pain.

Temporomandibular Pain

Temporomandibular disorder can be associated with chronic pain related to dysfunction of the masticatory musculature, the temporomandibular joint, or both. Simon and Lewis (2000) examined the effectiveness of hypnosis on temporomandibular pain disorder in 28 patients. Measures of pain symptoms (pain intensity, duration, and frequency) were assessed on four separate occasions: during wait list, before treatment, after treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. The hypnosis intervention consisted of education about hypnosis and five sessions that involved an eye-closure induction, relaxation imagery, suggestions for limb catalepsy, metaphors, suggestions for hypnotic analgesia and anesthesia suggestions, and suggestions that muscle tension would serve as a cue for relaxation. Patients were also instructed to practice self-hypnosis daily with audiotaped recordings of the hypnotic treatment. The results indicated a significant decrease in pain frequency (p < .001), pain duration (p < .001), and an increase in daily functioning. Analyses also suggested that the treatment gains were maintained for 6 months after treatment with reduced pain and improved daily functioning.

Winocur et al. (2002) compared “hypnorelaxation” to the use of an occlusal appliance or an education and advice condition for the treatment of temporomandibular pain. The study sample consisted of 40 female patients who were randomly assigned to the three treatment groups: (a) hypnorelaxation (n = 15); (b) occlusal appliance (n = 15); and (c) education/advice (n = 10). The hypnorelaxation intervention included progressive muscle relaxation suggestions and self-hypnosis training for relaxation of facial muscles. Patients in the occlusal appliance condition were provided with a full-coverage, hard acrylic appliance constructed to fit the maxillary arch. Patients assigned to the education and advice condition were provided with recommendations regarding how to manage activities and diet in order to better manage pain. Pain intensity (current and worst) was assessed before and after treatment using visual analog ratings. Both active treatment modes (hypnorelaxation and occlusal appliance) were more effective than education/advice in alleviating sensitivity to palpation. However, only patients in the hypnosis condition (not the occlusal appliance condition) reported significantly greater decreases in pain intensity: 57% reduction for current pain intensity and 51% reduction for worst pain intensity compared to patients in the education/advice condition.

Fibromyalgia

In a controlled study, Haanen et al. (1991) randomly assigned 40 patients with fibromyalgia to groups that received either eight 1-hour sessions of hypnotherapy with a self-hypnosis home-practice tape over a 3-month period, or physical therapy (that included 12 to 24 hours of massage and muscle relaxation training) for 3 months. Outcome was assessed pre- and posttreatment and at 3-month follow-up. The hypnosis intervention included an arm-levitation induction and suggestions for ego strengthening, relaxation, improved sleep, and “control of muscle pain.” Compared with patients in the physical therapy group, the patients who received hypnosis showed significantly better outcomes on measures of muscle pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, distress, and patient overall assessment of outcome. These differences were maintained at the 3-month follow-up assessment and the average percent decrease in pain among patients who received hypnosis (35%) was clinically significant, whereas the percent decrease in the patients who received physical therapy was marginal (2%).

Disability-Related Pain

Jensen et al. (2005) examined the effects of 10 sessions of standardized (script-driven) hypnotic analgesia treatment on pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, depression, and perceived control over pain in 33 patients with chronic pain secondary to a disability. Outcome measures were assessed before and after a baseline period, as well as after treatment and at 3-month follow-up. The hypnosis intervention consisted of a hypnotic induction followed by five specific suggestions for alteration of pain: diminution of pain, relaxation, imagined analgesia, decreased pain unpleasantness, and replacement of pain with other nonpainful sensations. Also, posthypnotic suggestions were given for daily practice of hypnosis but the patients in the study were not given any practice tapes prior to the 3-month follow-up assessment. Analyses indicated significant pre- to posttreatment improvement in pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, and perceived control over pain (but not depressive symptoms) over and above change that occurred during the baseline period. Improvement was also maintained at the 3-month follow-up. Hypnotizability and concentration of treatment (e.g., daily vs. weekly) were not significantly associated with treatment outcome. However, cognitive expectancies assessed after the first session showed a moderate association with pain reduction.

Mixed Chronic-Pain Problems

Melzack and Perry (1975) examined the effects of hypnosis and neurofeedback in 24 patients who had a variety of chronic-pain problems. Baseline data was collected during two no-treatment (baseline) sessions, and patients were then randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: four sessions of hypnosis alone, eight sessions of neurofeedback training alone, or both hypnosis and neurofeedback training. The hypnosis treatment consisted of a taped hypnotic induction with suggestions for relaxation, ego strengthening, a feeling of greater tranquility, and of being able to overcome things that are ordinarily upsetting and worrying. No direct suggestions for pain control were included in the hypnosis treatment. The McGill Pain Questionnaire was administered before and after each of the baseline, training, and two posttraining practice sessions. There was a reduction in pain observed during the hypnosis training (range, 21%–32% improvement; median improvement = 23%), however, none of the observed changes in either the neurofeedback or hypnosis conditions were statistically significant in comparison to the baseline phase.

Edelson and Fitzpatrick (1989) evaluated hypnosis and cognitive-behavior therapy for treatment of chronic pain. Twenty-seven patients with various chronic-pain problems (back pain being the most frequent) were randomly assigned to: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) alone, CBT plus hypnosis treatment, or an attention control (supportive, nondirective discussions). The hypnosis and CBT treatments were identical with the exception of a hypnotic induction. It is noteworthy, however, that the CBT intervention used in this study included some what might be considered “hypnotic components.” Specifically, the CBT intervention encouraged the participants to: (1) avoid using the “pain” label to describe their sensations; (b) reinterpret pain sensations as “numbness” through the use of imagery (this component, in particular, might be considered as a hypnosis intervention); and (c) monitor and restructure negative self-talk. The results indicated decreases in pain intensity for both the hypnosis intervention and the CBT treatment that were sustained at 1-month follow-up. However, only the CBT treatment resulted in significantly lower pain rating scores in comparison to the attention control condition. In this study, adding a hypnotic induction appeared to have little positive effect. In fact, in this study the CBT treatment minus the induction had a greater effect on pain behaviors. Given the “hypnotic characteristics” of some aspects of the CBT treatment used in this study, this finding is somewhat puzzling. However, this does suggest the possibility that a hypnotic induction may detract from some forms of CBT for chronic pain.

Appel and Bleiberg (2005–2006) investigated the association between hypnotizability and hypnosis for treatment of chronic pain. Twenty-seven patients with a variety of chronic-pain problems (15 lumbar pain, 7 rheumatological pain, 3 cervical pain, 1 peripheral neuropathy, 1 gynecological-related pain) received hypnosis treatment sessions directed at “teaching self-regulation of the affective and sensory components of pain.” The word hypnosis was not mentioned during the intervention, which included relaxation training, autogenic statements, guided imagery for pain alteration and health and healing, and individualization to use images “in a way that is best for him or her.” The results indicated a significant reduction in pain ratings pre- and posttreatment. Measures of relaxation and suffering were not related to hypnotizability. However, changes in pain ratings were significantly correlated with hypnotizability (r = .55, p < .001) as measured by the Stanford Clinical Hypnotic Scale.

Discussion

This review identified 13 published controlled articles that evaluated the efficacy of hypnosis for chronic pain. With the exception of two articles (Appel & Bleiberg, 2005–2006; Melzack & Perry, 1975), the studies reviewed included a control condition for comparison. In each of the studies, the hypnosis intervention was demonstrated to be significantly more effective than a no-treatment condition in reducing pain in chronic-pain patients. Moreover, the efficacy of hypnosis in reducing pain was consistently confirmed for a wide variety of different chronic-pain conditions (e.g., cancer, low-back pain, arthritis pain, sickle cell disease, temporomandibular pain, disability-related pain).

However, there have been a relatively small number of studies conducted for each of the different chronic-pain conditions (in some cases only one study). Although it is encouraging that 13 controlled studies have reported on the use of hypnosis with chronic pain, there are a number of basic research design weaknesses that tend to run throughout most of these reports. The number of patients enrolled in the studies tends to be low, bringing up issues of power to detect group differences. Control conditions used usually have lacked credible controls for placebo and/or expectation. Multiple measures of outcomes are seldom employed as are follow-up assessment of sufficient duration (i.e., long-term follow-up). Thus, although the findings provide support for the general applicability of hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain, considerably more research will be needed to fully determine the effects of hypnosis for different chronic-pain conditions (e.g., neuropathic, sickle cell disease, arthritis, etc.).

Studies of hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain have often included instructing patients in self-hypnosis as a way of coping with pain and gaining greater self-control over pain (e.g., Dinges et al., 1997; Elkins et al., 2004; Gay et al., 2002; Haanen et al., 1991; Jensen et al., 2005; McCauley et al., 1983; Simon & Lewis, 2000; Spiegel & Bloom, 1983; Spinhoven & Linssen, 1989; Winocur et al., 2002). This usually includes providing patients with tape recordings of hypnosis sessions and instructions in home practice of self-hypnosis. However, research has yet to determine the importance of and the best ways to provide instruction in self-hypnosis practice. For example, it is unknown whether standard tapes are as effective as individualized recordings. Also, the necessary frequency of practice has not been determined or even if home practice is as effective as “live” sessions. Our clinical experience suggests that patients who are more actively involved in self-hypnosis practice benefit more and may have more long-lasting gains (see Elkins et al., 2004; Jensen & Barber, 2000). In clinical practice, we recommend to patients that they practice at least once a day. To facilitate this, we provide them with tape recordings of the sessions. We also give them instructions for practicing self-hypnosis without the use of a recording. Some patients choose to practice by listening to a tape, and some choose to practice self-hypnosis without a tape; many do both.

Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon that may be affected by emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological responses and a multimodal treatment approach may be important for some chronic-pain patients. However, there have been few studies that have evaluated the effect of hypnosis as an adjunct to other treatment modalities for chronic pain, including, for example, treatment programs designed to increase activity and to reduce the negative effects of pain on function (Patterson & Jensen, 2003). One study compared CBT to CBT combined with a hypnotic induction. In that study (Edelson & Fitzpatrick, 1989), only the CBT treatment alone resulted in significantly lower pain-rating scores in comparison to an attention-control condition. This finding is somewhat puzzling, because some aspects of the CBT treatment used in this study appeared to be very similar to a hypnotic intervention (i.e., the CBT intervention included instructions to reinterpret pain sensations as “numbness” through the use of imagery). However, this study suggests the possibility that the addition of a hypnosis induction may have detracted from an intervention focused on altering maladaptive cognitions. Further research is needed to determine the best methods of integrating hypnosis with CBT and other multimodal interventions for chronic-pain management.

The present review also reveals that there is a lack of standardization in hypnotic induction and interventions. There is a need to more clearly identify the components of a hypnotic intervention to better allow comparison across studies and to differentiate hypnosis from other “hypnotic-like” interventions such as relaxation training. For example, in the present review, treatments such as progressive muscle relaxation and mental imagery appeared to be approximately as effective as interventions that were labeled as “hypnosis.” It may be that these treatments are similar in regard to mechanism of action and effect. Research is needed to determine the efficacy of hypnosis and specific hypnotic suggestions and interventions. Jensen and Patterson (2006) proposed a basic chronic-pain hypnotic-analgesia intervention that consists of the following: (a) a standard hypnotic induction that includes a focus of attention and relaxation; (b) suggestions for alteration in subjective experience of pain; (c) hypnotic suggestion lasting at least 20 minutes; (d) four to seven sessions indicating “brief hypnosis treatment” and eight or more sessions to indicate “hypnosis treatment;” and (e) instruction in daily home practice of self-hypnosis. Greater standardization in hypnosis research protocols for chronic pain would allow for greater specificity of treatment and clearer identification of innovations in the development of particularly effective hypnotic interventions.

The current review indicates that hypnotic interventions for chronic pain results in significant reductions in perceived pain that, in some cases, may be maintained for several months. Further, in a few studies, hypnotic treatment was found to be more effective, on average, than some other treatments, such as physical therapy or education, for some types of chronic pain. These findings are encouraging for an initial wave of studies, but a more sophisticated body of research including larger sample sizes and more rigorous controls would be far more convincing. Further, most studies have focused on how hypnotic suggestion may be used to achieve analgesic effect, but hypnosis may also have other benefits for chronic-pain patients such as reduced anxiety, improved sleep, and enhanced quality of life (Jensen, McArthur, et al., 2006). These targets for hypnosis intervention with chronic-pain patients warrant further investigation. Research to date has been very promising and continued research is needed to fully evaluate the effects and mechanisms of hypnosis interventions for chronic pain in randomized trials and clinical practice.

Contributor Information

Gary Elkins, Texas A & M University College of Medicine and Scott and White Clinic and Hospital, Temple, Texas, USA.

Mark P. Jensen, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA.

David R. Patterson, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA.

References

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Astin JA. Why patients use alternative medicine: Results of a national study. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1998;279:1548–1553. [PubMed]
Bonica JJ. Evolution and current status of pain programs. Journal of Pain Symptom Management. 1990;5:368–374.
Dinges DF, Whitehouse WG, Orne EC, Bloom PB, Carlin MM, Bauer NK, et al. Self-hypnosis training as an adjunctive treatment in the management of pain associated with sickle cell disease. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 1997;45:417–432. [PubMed]
Edelson J, Fitzpatrick JL. A comparison of cognitive-behavioral and hypnotic treatments of chronic pain. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 1989;45:316–323. [PubMed]
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Elkins GR, Cheung A, Marcus J, Palamara L, Rajab H. Hypnosis to reduce pain in cancer survivors with advanced disease: A prospective study. Journal of Cancer Integrative Medicine. 2004;2:167–172.
Gay M, Philippot P, Luminet O. Differential effectiveness of psychological interventions for reducing osteoarthritis pain: A comparison of Erikson hypnosis and Jacobson relaxation. European Journal of Pain. 2002;6:1–16. [PubMed]
Haanen HC, Hoenderdos HT, van Romunde LK, Hop WC, Mallee C, Terwiel JP, et al. Controlled trial of hypnotherapy in the treatment of refractory fibromyalgia. Journal of Rheumatology. 1991;18:72–75. [PubMed]
Jensen MP, Barber J. Hypnotic analgesia of spinal cord injury pain. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2000;28:150–168.
Jensen MP, Hanley MA, Engel JM, Romano JM, Barber JB, Cardenas DD, et al. Hypnotic analgesia for chronic pain in persons with disabilities: A case series. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2005;53:198–228. [PubMed]
Jensen MP, McArthur KD, Barber JB, Hanley MA, Engel JM, Romano JM, et al. Satisfaction with, and the beneficial side effects of, hypnosis analgesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2006;54:432–447. [PubMed]
Jensen MP, Patterson DR. Hypnotic treatment of chronic pain. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 2006;29:95–124. [PubMed]
Keefe FJ. Behavioral assessment and treatment of chronic pain: Current status and future directions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1982;50:896–911. [PubMed]
Lang EV, Benotsch EG, Fick LJ, Lutgendorf S, Berbaum ML, Berbaum KS, et al. Adjunctive non-pharmacological analgesia for invasive medical procedures: A randomised trial. Lancet. 2000;355:1486–1490. [PubMed]
LeResche L, Von Korff M. Epidemiology of chronic pain. In: Block AR, Kemer EF, Fernandez E, editors. Handbook of pain syndromes: Biopsychosocial perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum; 1999. pp. 3–22.
McCauley JD, Thelen MH, Frank RG, Willard RR, Callen KE. Hypnosis compared to relaxation in the outpatient management of chronic low back pain. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 1983;64:548–552. [PubMed]
Melzack R, Perry C. Self-regulation of pain: The use of alpha-feedback and hypnotic training for the control of chronic pain. Experimental Neurology. 1975;46:452–469. [PubMed]
Montgomery GH, DuHamel KN, Redd WH. A meta-analysis of hypnotically induced analgesia: How effective is hypnosis? International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2000;48:138–153. [PubMed]
Patterson DR, Jensen MP. Hypnosis and clinical pain. Psychological Bulletin. 2003;129:495–521. [PubMed]
Simon EP, Lewis DM. Medical hypnosis for temporomandibular disorders: Treatment efficacy and medical utilization outcome. Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontics. 2000;90:54–63.
Spiegel D, Bloom JR. Group therapy and hypnosis reduce metastatic breast carcinoma pain. Psychosomatic Medicine. 1983;45:333–339. [PubMed]
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Turk DC. Biopsychosocial perspective on chronic pain. In: Gatchel RJ, Turk DC, editors. Psychological approaches to pain management: A practitioner’s handbook. New York: Guilford; 1996. pp. 3–32.
Winocur E, Gavish A, Emodi-Perlman A, Halachmi M, Eli I. Hypnorelaxation as treatment for myofascial pain disorder: A comparative study. Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology. 2002;93:425–434.

Afterword from Graham

In the UKI would also point to the work of Professor L G Walker at Hull University with regard to treating aids and cancer with hypnotherapy.

http://www.hypnotherapy-colchester-ipswich.com/wp/hypno-cancer-relief-and-pain-relief/

Programme on Hypnotherapy and pain

BBC programme on Pain and hypnotherapy

Call Graham: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

Past Life Regression in Suffolk and Essex and by Skype

3301844667

Past Life Regression

What is Past Life Regression and Future Life Progression?

That is a tricky question as there is fierce debate on the subject! I have shared some of my Past Life sessions with clients, with their permission, with the well known authority Jenny Smedley. She published some of these in her book “Soul Angels” and has quoted me in other books and is soon to kindly feature me in “Chat It’s Fate”.

My experience of my own PLR

I was taught and regressed myself by Susan Arrowsmith – who also regressed Jenny Smedley which initiated her life long fascination with the subject of PLR.

I was a Publisher of Fine Editions and Antiquarian Bookseller living in Bath in the 18th Century. Although sceptical before I went into hypnosis I suddenly found I was a very relaxed “me” but also in a sunny room in a posh part of Bath inveighing against Cheap editions of Books – urging that they should be hand tooled, gold leaf, fine leather. I was drinking a sherry in a sunlit room and awaiting a customer – I did all my Business by Appointment at Home – meeting clients initially in the Coffee House. Under Susan’s questioning I just seemed to “know” this! It was odd yet fascinating. My Wife was “my wife” – the keeper of the Household and I was a somewhat irritable individual.

Past Life since

I have been regressing people now for over five years – sometimes filming the event or recording an audio. I decided on audio because I have many hours of people barely moving – so no point in filming!

I have had French Female Murderers who were Bigamously Married to a Scottish Laird to provide an heir and murdered the opposition who had tormented tghem with the aid of a Cook! She kept avoiding theis dark tower where she was with her son … it became clear that perhaps she faced execution!

Females who were Males back in the nineteenth century and published satirical Magazines – who described life as an orphan on the streets nicking … growing up and working for a Magazine and then starting their own on subscription and prospering. She described in detail with addresses and details of the street and dress of people in 19th Century Whitechapel – where she has never been and I know well. Fascinating!

Others like to just have the experience I had an Emily who just wanted to wander the moors and told me to shut up! Another very Suffolk lady who became the posh bossy Lady of a Mansion in Cumbria and thought I must be a servant.

Then there are people who need closure like the little girl lost in a cold mist – the subject of oft repeated dreams – who had been in a situation at the period of the First World War where her Mother had moved in a new man who disliked her and was cruel. She described the area and where she had run away. We realised that this was why she died and the dreams disappeared – the spooky thing is she played it to her Mother who went pale – it had happened in her Family exactly as described and was the Family skeleton in the cupboard.

Another Man had been run through in a Medieveal Battle in the spot where he had a strange ache that wasn’t for any other discernible reason.

Some people prefer to just experience the whole thing without interruption – one I pity that I was unable to question beacuse she was Emily on the Moor who in a gruff Yorkshire Irish accent told me to shut up! Another very Suffolk Lady became the Lady of a Cumbrian Mansion and treated me like a servant.

I have to be prepared for everything – so thank good ness for my years as an Actor Director and Writer! I had one person who was very confused – it seemed she was in a Medieval Library in a Monastery and again she was a he – a small boy. I tried to get some sense and then asked for the boy to open a book. He did and described stunning pictures of an obviously hand decorated gold encrusted Bible. What did it say? I was fascinated – and then thought it would be in Latin the language of the educated determined to keep their distance from the hoi polloi. But actually she/he could not read at all – why did I assume that? Classic mistake. Someone else was aware of speaking a different language and of translating – like my “publisher”, when I was regressed, there was the present day mixed with the past person. Intriguingly she also talked sometimes about the person as “I” and sometimes “she”. This person had almost nothing to tell beyond an intimate knowledge of the immediate rudimentary shelter in a woods, the nearby river and animal hunting. When I asked her to look in the river and say what she saw – it was a girl in skins, perhaps in Europe and isolated many centuries ago.

I quote these to illustrate that no two PLR sessions – at least for me – are the same. I have also learned from Susan Arrowsmith the dangers of taking a person through the DEath Experience: I don’t – on the basis that the last thing I want them to have to do is relive a potentially traumatic incident. I therefore carry any of these learnings which I DO ask people to take with them and resolve any problems in THIS Life which is where it might be affecting them – whether it be Karma or Deja Vu or any sense of anything that needs to be resolved or removed.

I have also done some FLP – which has been popular in the US – in other words Future Life Progression but I find that many people struggle with the idea that time flows forwards as well as backwards – so that is much rarer. It is not fortune telling of future your life now – but gives a glimpse of a possible future life as another future person.

I find the whole subject fascinating and I cannot say what exactly is going on: some cynics just feel it is a kind of Jazz Impro on a Life – in which case I think it could be an excellent diagnostic tool like Free Associating – or is it something recorded in the DNA that you are able to access in Deep Trance, or is it a genuine journey back into the past? I still don’t know.

Some regressions are packed with detail and I try to elicit this as evidence to be researched while some people just prefer a recreational trip back (or forward!). Everyone has a different reason to look for Past Life from recurrent dreams, to unexplained feelings, to psychic certainty that the answer lies back there.

So you make your choice what you believe and what you want – I have facilitated many fascinating past life regressions and healed quite a few mental and physical wounds too. Is it a diagnostic of a problem that comes out as a kind of metaphor? Or is it a completely real phenomenon and we have to work through our blocks and karma?

Whatever it is to you – I do not judge and have always tried to give people the best experience and to heal where necessary.

If you are interested in knowing more – talk to me, email me or come to my Trance and Yoga Retreat in Italy July 24th in the Garfagnana Mountains in Tuscany or on the same link my workshops at Butterfly Tarot in Camden Market in London.

I am happy to regress you personally in Ipswich Suffolk or Colchester Essex at one of my four practices – I don’t charge the Earth because I believe it is a valuable experience – just £65 for up to two hours and an audio CD of the session. I used to video them but hours of people talking and barely moving was just not an added value!

I practice very safe regression – you are in very watchful hands.

I hope that you have found this interesting there are details on individual Past Life Regression sessions on the link.

See you soon!

 

 

Graham

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

Past Life Regression PLR in Ipswich Suffolk and Colchester Essex

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can hypnotic trance be used for spiritual and personal development?

feat-3-664858_960x3322.pngHypnotic Trance and Personal and Spiritual Development

Can hypnotic trance be used for spiritual and personal development?

I would have to say from my personal experience – yes! I am teaching people to rid themselves of personal restrictions and blocks caused by past trauma or past life trauma or learned behaviour or habits. Most people have restricted their lives unnecessarily through restriction either placed upon them, habits they have got into to cope – such as self medication with drugs or alcohol or smoking or eating too much food. This is all about tranquillizing themselves. If you learn how to master trance through self hypnosis you learn how to move past these restrictions with a skilled hypnotherapist or hypnotist to begin to live in the present moment and live Life more on your own terms.

We usually have a choice but sometimes it means you have to deal with the past so you can learn from mistakes and move forward: “You failed? So what! Next time. Fail Better!” Samuel Beckett

Learn to listen to your feelings and what they are telling you:

Bored? You need company or mental stimulation – shake up your Life and explore new avenues

Stressed? Learn to be calm and prioritise – the top three things and no more.

Worried / Anxious? What are you worried or anxious about and why? Does it change anything? If not take action and do something to address it – learn from any mistakes and move on.

Above all keep reinventing yourself – try it if it works – great … do it until it doesn’t work and then try something else.

Get in touch with your inner adviser the unconscious which is an enormous storehouse of experiencve and all the stuff you have consciously forgotten but your subconscious remembers.

Use visualisation to deal with pain or make a change or develop your awareness – train yourself to astral project or lucid dream if you want to and get inside and talk to that wise voice – your inner genius. You can build a safe place as a personal retreat to do inner work and much more.

I run workshops in London and hopefully in Suffolk and Essex soon. I run a retreat in the Garfagnana Mountains in Tuscany in July. I also do one to ones to teach you to move beyond personal restrictions and blocks.

See under Hypnotherapy treatments for more about Trance workshops and Retreats for personal and spiritual growth

Copyright: Graham Howes

Call: 07875720623

Email: grahamahowes@me.com

Hypnosis for Personal and Spiritual Development in Ipswich Suffolk and Colchester Essex