Harnessing Hypnosis: Advanced Medical Techniques and Healing
Recent scientific trials looking at the use of hypnosis in medical techniques has found a number of patients undergoing certain procedures can require a lower level of sedative to help with ensuring a successful outcome.
Two trials were held into the subject. One of them was carried out in the UK. It notes that a nurse reading a relaxation script to a patient ahead of their operation can make a difference in the amount of sedatives required.
A number of news organisations have covered the story, including Wales Online.
It quotes a medical expert who says the use of hypnosis isn’t an alternative to anaesthetics but is useful when utilised alongside drugs which are designed to encourage someone to sleep through an operation.
The study found that the use of language is a crucial part in helping to reduce someone’s anxiety levels.
Doctors believe using specific techniques will help to reduce a patient’s stress response before certain procedures (one professor suggested its usage for breast cancer screening to help reduce discomfort during a mammogram).
Another anaesthetist said that they felt medical professionals should avoid using ‘negative suggestions’ to help reduce perceptions around pain.
They said that feelings around injections could be tempered by stating that the sensation would be ‘numbing’ rather than ‘stinging.’
As an aside, blood donors in the UK will be well aware of the phrase ‘sharp scratch’ prior to the insertion of a needle to collect blood. The words are certainly more reassuring than the possible alternatives!
I recently came across a fascinating article from Scientific American (16/10/2012) which examined the link between music and brain activity.
As an aside, I feel I should admit that I am currently writing the monthly newsletter whilst gently listening (and bopping) to the dulcet tones of the 2023 Eurovision song contest.
The article explained research relating to music and its influence on the brain. The study was carried out by psychologist Annett Schirmer whose findings were presented at a meeting for the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans.
As a layperson’s summary of their research, they found the brain reacted positively to certain auditory stimuli. In short, when it comes to music, our brains seem to be hotwired to the usage of particular beats and rhythms.
Schimer said that a short exposure time to music allowed brain waves to quickly synch themselves a rhythm. The article says that it doesn’t require a prolonged length of time before someone enters into ‘some sort of trance-like state.’
Most of us will notice that the use of the same music in a hypnotherapy setting can act as a powerful ‘cue’ for a client to start the relaxation process. Ivan Pavlov, of course, established the link between certain types of noises and conditioned responses.
He encouraged dogs to associate the ringing of a bell with the production of food for them. The result? They heard a bell and began to salivate. The same is true with humans.
Certain fast food commercials will use simple whistles and tunes so we can quickly associate their product with their jingle.
And, if we’re feeling a little peckish, then the trick might just work for us – with our hands reaching to the phone to order a quick delivery via an app.
For hypnotherapy, the music itself is designed with ‘deepeners’ whereby a piano starts to descend down a scale so we gain a sense of descent into a relaxing trance state.
Schimer is further reported as saying that the synchronicity of the music is important as it allows us to start to perceive the ‘world in synchrony, so that would facilitate their ability to interact.’
She noted that music can synchronise brain waves which can boost the perception of the world around us. The experiment centred around whether or not subjects would notice something they saw at the precise point they heard an expected musical beat.
We’re less likely to notice stuff if we see something and it’s not in sync to what we’re hearing.
My simple analogy would be the sensation of watching television but being unable to follow a story line because the editing and the dubbing haven’t properly aligned and so lip movements don’t match the sound.
The article focuses on brain waves and how certain types of music can really put us in a good mood (and vice versa when it comes to music which doesn’t fit with our taste or style).
Of course, not all music will have the same effect. Context is everything. Heavy rock played in a reception area might see potential clients giving a High Street business a wide birth!
Ronald Milliman’s research in the 1980s found that slower music helped to ensure customers remained calmer throughout their shopping experience.
In turn, shops that played tunes which helped people feel relaxed would see an upturn in profits at the tills.
Bad day in the office? Put some smoothing music on the stereo and chill out. Certain types of music help our brains can really help to create a sense of order in a world which can, at times, appear to be disordered – and chaotic.
And so, if you’re looking for chaos then listen and watch Croatia’s entry into this year’s Eurovision (I dare you). If you’d like something dynamic then classic Sweden’s entry (Tattoo) is just the ticket (it won).
If, on the other hand, you want a bit of fun then Austria’s entry is quite the catch! If you would like to learn Hypnotherapy you can apply here.
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