Helping children and adults with hypnosis and biofeedback
ABSTRACT
Hypnosis and biofeedback are cyberphysiologic strategies that enable subjects to develop voluntary control of certain physiologic processes for the purpose of improving health. Self-hypnosis has been used with and without biofeedback for a wide range of therapeutic applications, and both laboratory studies and clinical trials have shown it to be effective in improving symptoms and outcomes in various disorders. More formal Cochrane reviews of hypnotherapeutic interventions are currently under way. Thorough patient assessment should precede training in self-hypnosis in order to properly tailor training strategies to patient preferences and characteristics, especially for children. Workshops offered by various clinical societies are available to train health professionals in self-hypnosis.
TRAINING IN HYPNOSIS INSTRUCTION
Health professionals who wish to teach self-hypnosis should take workshops sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis or its component sections, or by the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. The Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics also provides annual workshops to prepare health professionals for teaching self-hypnosis to children. Contact information for these organizations is provided in the sidebar on this page.
The basic workshops should include at least 22 hours of supervised practice of hypnosis techniques and didactic information. After completing such basic training, the professional should seek a mentor who, by phone or e-mail, can provide guidance and support. The professional who is developing skills in self-hypnosis instruction should also attend follow-up workshops, watch videotapes of other teachers, and read basic textbooks and hypnosis journals recommended by professional hypnosis societies.
Hypnosis board examinations are given in four areas: medicine, dentistry, psychology, and social work. The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis has developed a hypnosis certification program for professionals who use hypnosis in their practice and teaching.
Importantly, the professional who is developing skills in self-hypnosis instruction should learn self-hypnosis for him- or herself. Learning self-hypnosis is a valuable lifelong skill that provides many benefits.
THE FUTURE
We anticipate that appropriate and early training in self-hypnosis and biofeedback can enable children to learn to control autonomic responses relating to cardiovascular function. Preventive work by pediatric health professionals may include monitoring of autonomic responses early in life, identification of children most at risk because of autonomic lability, and interventions to reduce that risk via hypnosis and biofeedback training. We anticipate that laboratory and brain imaging studies will provide increasing documentation of the impacts of hypnotic suggestions on neural processing, and that Cochrane reviews will demonstrate increasing evidence for the clinical value of hypnosis.
