2002
Gravitz, Melvin (2002). Hypnosis as a counter-measure against the polygraph test of deception.. Polygraph Journal, 31, 293-297.
This article presents a bibliography of experimental and applied studies for reference by those interested in the use of hypnosis as a counter-measure in the “lie detector” test.
Stern, Clara; Stern, William (1999). Recollection, testimony, and lying in early childhood. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (First published in 1909, in German.)
“This book, previously unavailable to American readers, describes a seminal study by William and Clara Stern, first published in Germany in 1909, documenting their own children’s abilities to recollect, recount, testify, and distinguish truth from falsehood” (from publisher statement). Contents: Recognition as the basis of recall; The chronological development of recall and testimonial ability; False testimony–Mistaken recollections, pseudo-lies, and lies; Recognition; Correct recollection; Purposive recall; Mistaken recollections; Experimental studies of testimony in early childhood; The falsification of testimony through fantasy; Pseudo-lies and lies; Educating young children to report on their experiences; The origins of lying and its prevention; The capability of small children as witnesses in legal proceedings.
1988
Perugini, Eve Marie; Kirsch, Irving; Allen, Sarah T.; Coldwell, Eleanor; Meredith, Janelle M.; Montgomery, Guy H.; Sheehan, Julia (1998). Surreptitious observation of responses to hypnotically suggested hallucinations: A test of the compliance hypothesis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 46 (2), 191-203.
Suggestions for arm levitation and for visual, auditory, tactile, and taste hallucinations were administered twice via audiotape to a group of high suggestible students and low suggestible simulators. During one of the administrations, participants were led to believe they were alone, but their behavior was surreptitiously recorded on videotape and observed on a video monitor. During the other administration, they were observed openly by an experimenter who had not been informed about group assignment. When unaware that they wre being observed, simulators were significantly less responsive to suggestion and engaged in substantially more role-inappropriate behavior. In contrast, the responsiveness of nonsimulating students was not affected by the presence of an experimenter, and they exhibited little role-inappropriate behavior even when alone. These data indicate that the responses of suggestible individuals reflect internally generated changes in experience and are not due to simple intentional compliance (i.e., faking).
1995
Zamansky, Harold S.; Ruehle, Beth L. (1995). Making hypnosis happen: The involuntariness of the hypnotic experience. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 43 (4), 386-398
The authors tested the hypothesis that hypnotized individuals do not truly experience their responses to suggestions as occurring involuntarily, but instead absorb themselves in imagery that is congruent with the suggestions while avoiding critical thoughts, or even simply comply with suggestions without genuinely experiencing their responses as nonvolitional. Participants were instructed to engage in thoughts and imagery that conflicted with the suggestions given, were urged to pay attention to their behavior, and were questioned regarding the perceived involuntariness of their responses. Simultaneously, electrodermal skin conductance responses provided a measure of the truthfulness of their reports. It was found that responses to all hypnotic suggestions were reported as being involuntary, in spite of the conflicting imagery and increased saliency, and that these reports were truthful. These findings provide disconfirming evidence for the sociocognitive theories of hypnosis.
1994
Kennedy, James; Coe, William C. (1994). Nonverbal signs of deception during posthypnotic amnesia: A brief communication. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 42 (1), 13-19.
The question of hypnotic subjects complying with instructions, perhaps even purposely deceiving the hypnotist or deceiving themselves, has arisen from the state-nonstate (skeptical-credulous) theoretical controversy. However, experimental testing of competing hypotheses has been difficult. The current report offers methodological procedures that may prove useful. Subjects who were given posthypnotic amnesia instructions were tested on free recall and implicit recall of a 20-word list. To detect the possibility of deception, videotapes of real subjects and simulating subjects during and after posthypnotic amnesia were rated for nonverbal signs of deception, signs taken from the works of Ekman, Ekman and Friesen, and Zuckerman et al. Preliminary results were gathered on a small pilot sample, and recommendations for procedural improvements are proposed.
Spiegel, David; Scheflin, Alan W. (1994). Dissociated or fabricated? Psychiatric aspects of repressed memory in criminal and civil cases. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 42 (4), 411-432.
During the last decade, clinicians, courts, and researchers have been faced with exceedingly difficult questions involving the crossroads where memory, traumatic memory, dissociation, repression, childhood sexual abuse, and suggestion all meet. In one criminal case, repressed memories served as the basis for a conviction of murder. In approximately 50 civil cases, courts have ruled on the issue of whether repressed memory for childhood sexual abuse may form the basis of a suit against the alleged perpetrators. Rulings that have upheld such use underscore the importance of the reliability of memory retrieval techniques. Hypnosis and other methodologies employed in psychotherapy may be beneficial in working through memories of trauma, but they may also distort memories or alter a subject’s evaluation of their veracity. Because of the reconstructive nature of memory, caution must be taken to treat each case on its own merits and avoid global statements essentially proclaiming either that repressed memory is always right or that it is always wrong.
1992
Bates, Brad L. (1992). The effect of demands for honesty on the efficacy of the Carleton Skills-Training Program. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 40 (2), 88-102.
30 low hypnotizable Ss were administered the Carleton Skills-Training (CST) program. Prior to testing, 15 Ss were administered honesty instructions (Bowers, 1967) in an effort to encourage responses that were consistent with subjective experiences and to dissuade Ss from performing in a manner intended to please E. Posttraining hypnotizability scores for Ss given honesty instructions were consistently smaller than those for 15 Ss who did not receive these instructions, implying that scores for the latter group exaggerate the extent to which hypnotic experiences are altered by the CST program. The pattern of results supports the view that demand characteristics contribute to the efficacy of the CST program, and that improvements in actual hypnotic talent are more limited than Spanos’ original work implies.
1991
Kinnunen, Taru; Zamansky, Harold S.; Block, Martin L. (1991, August). Is the hypnotized subject lying?. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco
To determine whether or not hypnotized subjects misrepresent or lie about their hypnotic experiences, electrodermal skin conductance responses were measured while groups of deeply hypnotized subjects and simulators responded to questions about their experiences to a series of suggestion. 89% of the responses of the hypnotic subjects met the criteria for truthfulness, while 65% of the responses of the simulators indicated deception. Differences between “reals” and simulators were highly significant. The relevance of the results for the nature and theory of hypnosis is discussed. (ABSTRACT from Bulletin of Division 30, Psychological Hypnosis, Provided by former Editor, James Council.)
1963
Bentler, P. M.; Hilgard, Ernest R. (1963). A comparison of group and individual induction of hypnosis with self-scoring and observer-scoring. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 11, 49-54. (Abstracted in Index Medicus, 63, June, S-1599)
45 volunteer Ss were hypnotized in small groups and were subsequently hypnotized in individual sessions. In both sessions observer- and self-scores were recorded for all suggestions of the Harvard Group Scale adaptation of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. The correlation between observer- and self-scores indicated that hypnotic susceptibility in the 2 sessions was very similar. Group self-scores were also found to predict quite accurately objective hypnotist scores of the subsequent individual session. A 2nd sample of 34 nonvolunteer male Ss were hypnotized individually following Form A of the Stanford scale. Self-scoring was found to be remarkably similar to observer ratings, and the results of group administration very comparable to those of individual administration of hypnotic susceptibility tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
DEFENSE
1998
Wickramasekera, Ian (1998). Secrets kept from the mind but not the body or behavior: the unsolved problems of identifying and treating somatization and psychophysiological disease. Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, 14, 18-132.
The identification and therapy of somatoform and psychophysiological disorders are major problems for medicine. This paper identifies three measurable risk factors (Wickramasekera 1979, 1988, 1993a, b, 1995) that are empirically associated with somatoform and psychophysiological disorders. These risk factors are high hypnotic ability, low hypnotic ability, and high Marlowe Crowne scores. Patients who are positive on one or more of these risk factors (all of which can constrict consciousness) have a high likelihood of having somatoform and psychophysiological disorders and should be studied with the additional risk factors proposed in the High Risk Model of Threat Perception (HRMTP). Treatment of patients should begin with the Trojan Horse Role Induction procedure (Wickramasekera 1988), which enables patients, who might otherwise resist psychological interpretations of their physical problems, to recognize that unconscious threat perception could be driving their somatic symptoms, an understanding that reduces their resistance to psychotherapy. A case study is presented of a patient without identifiable pathophysiology or psychopathology to account for somatic symptoms that were largely resistant to standard medical therapy. The patient was positive for several of the psychosocial and psychophysiological risk factors of the HRMTP and after experiencing the Trojan Horse Role Induction showed improvement in somatic symptoms.
1994
Wickramasekera, Ian (1994). Psychophysiological and clinical implications of the coincidence of high hypnotic ability and high neuroticism during threat perception in somatization disorders. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 37, 22-33.
The electrodermal response to cognitive threat of unhypnotized female patients with somatic symptoms and high on both hypnotic ability and neuroticism (H-H) was found to be significantly higher (p<.01) than that of a matched group of female patients moderate on hypnotic ability and low on neuroticism (M-L). On verbal report the H-H and the M-L groups did not differ, but they were significantly different on a measure of self-deception (L scale) or repression. The above findings are consistent with predictions from the High Risk Model of Threat Perception (HRMTP), which states that people in the H-H group are both chronically and acutely more reactive to threat than the people in the M-L group. This finding may have important theoretical, clinical, and financial implications for the diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of somatization disorders seen in primary medical care. 1991 Dixon, Norman F.; Henley, Susan H. (1991). Unconscious perception: Possible implications of data from academic research for clinical practice. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 179 (5), 243-252. Evidence for the reality of unconscious perception and perceptual defense suggests that the experimental paradigms used to investigate these phenomena might play a role in the understanding and treatment of mental disorders. The literature on applying subliminal stimulation to problems of diagnosis and therapy indicates that data support the view that the meaning of external stimuli of which the recipient is unaware may be responded to and determine emotional responses, lexical decisions, overt behavior, and subjective experience. Data confirm the reality of psychopathology as a substrate of emotionally colored, stored information with a potential for producing somatic symptoms and disorders of thinking, affect, and behavior. To the extent that psychopathology is screened from conscious scrutiny and thus impervious to supraliminal information, it may be accessed and ameliorated by drive-related stimuli of which the S is not aware. 1988 Young, W. C. (1988). Psychodynamics and dissociation: All that switches is not split. Dissociation, 1, 33-38 Contrasts the roles of splitting and dissociation in multiple personality disorder. It is proposed that dissociation is a unique defensive process that serves to protect the patient from the overwhelming effects of severe trauma and that multiple personality disorder need not call upon splitting as its central defensive process. Fantasies of restitution may be incorporated into the dissociative defense. Psychological, physiological, and behavioral models all are of use, making it likely that ultimately dissociation will be understood along multiple lines of study. 1981 Wilson, John F. (1981). Behavioral preparation for surgery: Benefit or harm?. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 79-102. Elective surgery patients were prepared for surgery with training in muscle relaxation or with information about sensations they would experience. Relaxation reduced hospital stay, pain, and medication for pain and increased strength, energy, and postoperative epinephrine levels. Information reduced hospital stay. Personality variables (denial, fear, aggressiveness) were associated with recovery and influenced patients' responses to preparation. Less frightened patients benefitted more from relaxation than did very frightened patients. Nonaggressive patients reacted to information with decreased hospital stay along with increased pain, medication, and epinephrine. Aggressive patients responded to information with decreased hospital stay along with decreased pain, medication, and epinephrine. Patients using denial were not harmed by preparation. A catharsis/moderation model is proposed to explain how information benefits patients. An active coping model is proposed to explain the benefits of relaxation. This study suggests that behavioral preparation benefits even frightened, aggressive, or denying elective surgical patients. 1974 Galin, David (1974). Implications for psychiatry of left and right cerebral specialization: A neurophysiological context for unconscious processes. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31 (4), 572-583 A brief review is presented of hemispheric specialization for different cognitive modes, and of the symptoms that follow disconnection of the two hemispheres by commissurotomy. Our present knowledge of the hemispheres' cognitive specialization and potential for independent functioning provides a framework for thinking about the interaction of cognitive structures, defensive maneuvers, and variations in awareness. Parallels are noted between some aspects of the mental processes of the disconnected right hemisphere and some aspects of primary process thinking and repression. The hypothesis is proposed that in normal intact people mental events in the right hemisphere can become disconnected functionally from the left hemisphere (by inhibition of neuronal transmission across the cerebral commissures), and can continue a life of their own. This hypothesis suggests a neurophysiological mechanisms for at least some instances of repression and an anatomical locus for the unconscious mental contents. 1966 Stross, L. (1966). Impulse-defense implications in a case of amnesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 89-103. An 18-yr-old girl with a delinquent history leading to several suicide attempts and a fugue is described as she was observed during shifting phases of her amnesic syndrome. Using the case study as a research tool, it is suggested that alteration of ego state might be an archaic, primitive means of defense against relatively unneutralized, intense drives. More speculative are the propositions, generated from this case, that the ego could employ different defensive means with regard to libidinal and aggressive drives and that alteration of ego state might be a specific defense against aggression. (Spanish & German summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) Bowers, Patricia G. (1965). Effect of hypnosis and suggestions of reduced defensiveness on creativity test performance (Dissertation). Dissertation Abstracts, 26, 2864-2865. 1954 Rosen, Harold; Erickson, Milton H. (1954). The hypnotic and hypnotherapeutic investigation and determination of symptom-function. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2 (3), 201-219. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, 55: 7017) 1. Symptoms and even syndromes may subserve the repetitive enactment of traumatic events; may reproduce, instead, specific life situations; may satisfy repressed erotic and aggressive impulses; or may at one and the same time constitute defenses against, and punishment for, underlying instinctual drives. They may mask underlying schizophrenic reactions, or hold suicidal depressions in check. They may serve these and other functions concurrently, or none, or any specific one or combination of them. 2. With selected patients under hypnosis, symptom-function may be determined rapidly and in a therapeutic setting. Various techniques can be utilized. Attacks may be precipitated and then blocked, either by direct hypnotic suggestion or by regressing the patient to a period pre-dating the onset of his disease, so that substitutive motor or other activity will be precipitated in a form accessible to therapeutic investigation; attacks may be precipitated in slow motion, so that individual components can be therapeutically investigated in detail; dissociated states may be induced; dream acting-out may be suggested; or symptoms may be suggested away while emotions back of symptoms are concurrently intensified, so that, again, underlying dynamic material will immediately become accessible for therapy. Still other techniques may be utilized. 3. If treatment, as well as evaluation, be through these techniques, and if treatment be successful, it may be that the analogy of a log jam will be of value. The jam can usually be broken by pulling out one or two key logs. The rest then start falling into place -- and the whole log jam disappears. This may be what happens, although to a limited extent, during therapy of this type. 4. Various of these techniques have been illustrated throughout this paper. Case histories however, have at times been distorted in order to maintain the anonymity of the patients involved" (pp. 218-219). DELUSION 1994 Spanos, Nicholas P.; Burgess, Cheryl A.; Burgess, Melissa Faith (1994). Past-life identities, UFO abductions, and satanic ritual abuse: The social construction of memories. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 42 (4), 433-446. People sometimes fantasize entire complex scenarios and later define these experiences as memories of actual events rather than as imaginings. This article examines research associated with three such phenomena: past-life experiences, UFO alien contact and abduction, and memory reports of childhood ritual satanic abuse. In each case, elicitation of the fantasy events is frequently associated with hypnotic procedures and structured interviews which provide strong and repeated demands for the requisite experiences, and which then legitimate the experiences as "real memories." Research associated with these phenomena supports the hypothesis that recall is reconstructive and organized in terms of current expectations and beliefs. 1988 Barrett, D. (1988). Trance-related pseudocyesis in a male. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 36 (4), 256-261 Pseudocyesis has been linked in previous literature to trance phenomena. The present paper presents a case in which pseudocyesis was accidentally induced by hypnotic suggestion, continued by an autohypnotic process, and reversed by informal suggestion. This case has important implications for the role autohypnosis may play in maintaining the phenomenon and for the usefulness of hypnotic techniques in reversing the symptoms. 1966 Andreasen, A. G.; Singer G. (1966). Hypnosis and hypnotizability: Delusion or simulation?. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 14 (3), 257-267. Because Sutcliffe (see 36:4) showed that hypnotic suggestions are not comparable in sensory content with real stimuli, the postulated difference between "pseudoperception" and "simulation" as indexed by reported subjective experiences of hypnotic Ss was tested. From 215 undergraduates, 30 high-susceptibility (HS) and 30 low-susceptibility (LS) Ss made kinesthetic and visual judgments of horizontality. A significant response, not attributable to simulation, was found only for the HS-hypnosis induction group; the effect was not attributable individually to susceptibility, hypnosis induction, or motivation. It is concluded that hypnosis, defined by this significant interaction effect between high susceptibility and hypnosis induction can be interpreted as a pseudoperceptual response to suggestion. (Spanish & German summaries) (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Wagner, Frederik F. (1966). The delusion of hypnotic influence and the hypnotic state. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 14 (1), 22-29. Several case studies are discussed briefly, illustrating the main aspects of delusions of hypnotic influence and how the delusional system differs from the hypnotic state. It is a symptom of (usually paranoid) schizophrenia, often appearing among the earliest symptoms in the course of the illness. These feelings usually arise when the patient experiences a weakening of ego functions, or a breakthrough of libidinous or aggressive impulses. While there is a tendency to rationalize aspects of hypnotic behavior, delusions of hypnotic influence are deeply rooted in the dynamics of the patient''s psychopathology. They usually remain as a permanent symptom, and prognosis is poor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1963 Gindes, Bernard C. (1963). Delusional production under hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 11, 1-10. Hypnosis creates a situation for the development of fantasies which carry over into waking life as delusions. The patient, susceptive to common impressions of hypnosis, may use the opportunity to indulge ordinarily inhibited impulses. The therapist should be alert to the jeopardy of his involvement in such delusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) Pulver, Sydney E. (1963). Delusions following hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 11, 11-22. Delusions occurring after hypnosis in the nonpsychotic patient are usually a result of the interplay of 3 factors. (a) the development of rapid, tense, transference reactions in hypnosis; (b) the presence of major defects in the patient''s character structure; and (c) the occurrence of countertransference reactions on the part of the hypnotist which touch on a specific area of conflict within the patient. The presence of a chaperon or the use of tape recorders are not satisfactory preventive measures. Rather, the physician using hypnosis should focus upon: (a) preliminary psychological evaluation and selection of patients free from disposition to delusion formation, (b) identification of transference reactions and a willingness to discuss with patients, (c) awareness of his own emotional responses to the patient. Basic courses in psychiatry are recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1962 Sutcliffe, J. P.; Jones, J. (1962). Personal identity, multiple personality, and hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 10, 231-269. (Abstracted in Index Medicus, 63, Mar., S -543) The concept of multiple personality is critically examined in the light of its historical development. Various conceptions of multiple personality are considered: as a diagnostic fashion, as a product of shaping in therapy, as a product of hypnotic suggestion, as simulation, and as an extension of characteristics found in "normal" personalities. These considerations lead to the conclusion that the significant alterations of personality characterizing the syndromes are loss of self-reference memories, and confusions and delusions about particular identity in time and place. The parallels in multiple personality and hypnotic phenomena lead to the heuristic hypothesis that degrees of proneness to multiple personality are predictive of degrees of hypnotizability. (76 item bibliogr.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) 1961 Sutcliffe, J. P. (1961). 'Credulous' and 'Skeptical' views of hypnotic phenomena: Experiments on anesthesia, hallucination, and delusion. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 189-200. The author distinguishes between 2 interpretations of hypnotic phenomena: the credulous (S does or does not experience what the hypnotist suggests) and the skeptical (S reports what is suggested regardless of the "reality" of his experience). 2 groups of Ss (distinguished with respect to the presence or not of genuine hypnotic behavior and posthypnotic amnesia) were placed in a 3 [control (not under hypnotic trance), hypnotic trance, nontrance acting (S asked to act as if conditions were as suggested)] by 2 (stimulus present or not) design involving paraesthesias, hallucinations, and delusional thinking. Evidence (such as GSR, interference in thinking due to feedback, test measures of delusion) suggests that S does not misperceive the real situation, but misreports it. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4II89S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved) DENTISTRY 1994 Bloom Peter (1994, October). Training boundaries that enhance responsible therapy: Using hypnosis creatively in one's own discipline. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, San Francisco. Presented three cases that he elected not to treat, to illustrate the principle that we should only treat cases we would be professionally trained to treat without hypnosis. (1) a hemmorhoidectomy patient, where he elected not to do hypnosis because he is not trained specifically in anesthesiology and didn't know how to do anesthesia procedures; (2) conversion hysteria in 12 year old girl, because he isn't trained in child psychiatry and doesn't know child development; (3) to confirm the supposed existence of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs (when a woman tried to get him to hypnotize her so the "truth" would emerge). We must free ourselves from treatment of patients who retreat from reality, when we can't find commonality in goals. Stewart, James (1994). Hypnotherapy with dental patients. [Lecture] UCLA Hypnosis Seminar. Dr. James Stewart is both a dentist and a clinical psychologist.] Among dental patients, 15% of patients are anxious; 75% of those patients could associate that fear to early childhood experiences, and showed signs of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but only when they have to go for dental treatment. Those 75% respond well to hypnosis (respond quickly, short-term; it is even great to do the therapy in the dental chair, e.g., relieving trauma in trance). It is important to diagnose PTSD because treatment will be different if the patient has an anxiety disorder. The disorders are not "simple phobias" because the trauma does not meet the criterion of "silly and unreasonable." In hypnosis I routinely use the suggestion, "find a safe place," and may tell them they can go through a videotape or a filing cabinet to find a safe place. If the patient cannot remember a safe place, it is diagnostic of serious problems, more than dental anxiety. The exploration, verbalization of a safe place enhances rapport. A dentist should not accept a referral for hypnosis when the dental work has to be done next week; better to use sedation, and schedule hypnosis Rx later. For anxiety or pain, do not try to relax it away; better to go where it is, define it (size, density, etc.) How does it feel? Can you put your finger on it? Like vapor? Soft, like steel? PTSD. During World War I they called it malingering and gave shock (not ECT). During World War II the psychoanalytic view was that PTSD was pre-Oedipal. Viet Nam used phenothiazines for "delayed stress reactions." Almost all the variance in the number and severity of symptoms can be explained by the length of time the patients were in battle. During World War II, they did a lot of age regressions under sodium pentathol (a "catharsis") which was often very successful, but there was no theoretical understanding. After that the patient got psychoanalysis. These days in doing desensitization for phobias I do not bother with developing a hierarchy [of feared situations] and I let the patient go through the anxiety more often. Also, one can have the patient walk away from the scene until they subjectively feel far enough away not to feel anxiety. Wormnes, Bjorn (1994, October). Hypnosis in integrated treatment of dental fear. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, San Francisco. Research reports from different countries estimate the proportion of adult dental phobic patients to be between 5% to 10%. It represents a large health problem. Helping patients to continue regular treatment by their local dentist and experience it as tolerable is the main treatment goal in our program. The main treatment method is a flexible and integrated exposure training. The psychotherapist works in cotherapy with the dentist. Using hypnosis in the dental chair is of great help, and patients are normally found to be very susceptible and easily hypnotized. Hypnosis helps the patient to experience increased tolerance of treatment and also to perform better than expected in the treatment situation. 1993 LaGrone, Randy G. (1993). Hypnobehavioral therapy to reduce gag and emesis with a 10-year-old pill swallower. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 36, 132-136. A 10-year-old child experienced severe nausea and psychogenic vomiting that resulted in refusal to take oral medication in pill form. The youngster was treated with hypnobehavioral therapy consisting of mental imagery, relaxation, direct suggestion, adaptive self-talk, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement. The child's parents were instructed to reinforce approximations of successful pill swallowing while withdrawing attention for avoidance, whining, gagging, and vomiting. A one-year follow-up revealed successful pill swallowing without significant distress. 1991 Clarke, J. H.; Reynolds, P. J. (1991). Suggestive hypnotherapy for nocturnal bruxism: A pilot study. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 33, 248-253. Although one can find many case reports of hypnotherapy for bruxism, there is a paucity of scientific research on the subject. This study describes the use of suggestive hypnotherapy and looks at its effectiveness in treating bruxism. Eight subjects who reported bruxism with symptoms such as muscle pain and complaints of bruxing noise from sleep partners were accepted into the study. An objective baseline of the bruxing was established using a portable electromyogram (EMG) detector attached over the masseter muscle during sleep. Hypnotherapy was then employed. Both self-reports and posttreatment EMG recordings were used to evaluate the hypnotherapy. Long-term effects were evaluated by self-reports only. The bruxers showed a significant decrease in EMG activity; they also experienced less facial pain and their partners reported less bruxing noise immediately following treatment and after 4 to 36 months. 1991 Somer, Eli (1991). Hypnotherapy in the treatment of the chronic nocturnal use of a dental splint prescribed for bruxism. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 39, 145-154 A behavioral medicine case is described in which the patient was treated with a combined approach involving both hypnoanalytic and hypnobehavioral techniques. A 55-year-old man with bruxism was referred after 10 years of craniomandibular treatment because of his dependency on a dental splint prescribed for nocturnal use. A projective hypnoanalytic exploration helped to uncover and consequently resolve an earlier conflict that had been reactivated in the patient's work situaation and which had become a constant source of mental and muscular tension. The hypnoanalytic exploration was followed by a cognitive-behavioral hypnotic intervention that was tape-recorded and prescribed for bedtime practice. Pre- and posttherapy psychological, physiological, and self-report measurements corroborated the patient's sense of well being that came with his newly found ability to sleep without the dental splint. The importance of considering multiple etiological factors in the treatment of such psychosomatic disorders as bruxism is discussed. 1989 Joubert, P. H.; Van Os, B. E. (1989). The effect of hypnosis, placebo, paracetamol, and naloxone on the response to dental pulp stimulation. Current Therapeutic Research - Clinical and Experimental, 46, 774-781. Healthy volunteers with varying degrees of hypnotic susceptibility, as measured by the Stanford Clinical Hypnotic Scale [sic] (SCHS), participated in a trial to evaluate analgesia induced by an indirect hypnotic technique, rapid induction analgesia (RIA). RIA produced increases in the pain threshold, as measured by dental pulp stimulation, in nine of ten subjects. The magnitude of the response was unrelated to SCHS scores. Neither placebo nor paracetamol capsules affected pain threshold measured by this technique. The effect of RIA on pain threshold was not reversed by naloxone, mitigating the possible involvement of endorphins in this phenomenon. Rapid Induction Analgesia, developed by Joseph Barber, was employed in this study of pain that was generated with dental pulp stimulation. RIA involves an induction followed by several kinds of suggestion, e.g. "Nothing is going to be done to you and you are free to respond and to experience what is acceptable to you. ... You have the ability to notice things. ... The way things are noticed might change. ... Memory is changeable and you may choose to remember or forget things. ... The comfortable feelings you are experiencing can be experienced easily and quickly again and again. ....To the latter was coupled the idea that this could happen again if the hypnotist put his hand on the subject's arm" (p. 776). The lowest electrical current that produces slight discomfort was used as the measure of pain threshold.. RIA produced increases in pain threshold for 9 of 10 Ss. The 10th Subject was not used in the rest of the experiment, and one other Subject withdrew due to scheduling problems. The remaining 8 Ss experienced the following sequence of events in the experiment: --Rest 15 minutes --Pain threshold measure --Two 500-mg capsules of paracetamol or two of placebo --Wait 2 hours; then pain threshold measure --RIA (10 minutes); aroused from hypnosis; pain threshold measure with E's hand on arm --Insert IV; give 8 mg naloxone or 0.9% saline --Pain threshold measure with E's hand on arm The four possible combinations (placebo-saline, placebo-naloxone, paracetamol- saline, and paracetamol-naloxone) were administered to each S on four occasions, in randomized order, with at least one week in between visits. Whereas pain threshold was elevated by RIA above both the first (p<.025) and the second (p<.05) baselines, neither placebo nor paracetamol (like Tylenol) raised the threshold. Naloxone did not reverse the RIA effect of elevated threshold; in fact, there was a tendency for RIA pain threshold to increase even more after injections of either Naloxone or saline. The Experimenters noted that the baselines apparently changed over time. They were significantly lower than the RIA threshold during visits 1 and 2, but during visits 3 and 4 the baselines seemed to approach RIA values. In their Discussion, the authors wrote, "This study appears to have raised more questions than it answered. There is no doubt that RIA, as used in this study, produced a significant shift in pain threshold as assessed by means of dental pulp stimulation. The fact that we were unable to detect an effect with paracetamol or placebo [N.B. which were given before the hypnosis procedures] means either that we were not really measuring something that was relevant to clinical pain or that the measurements were not sensitive enough for the detection of placebo effects or the analgesic effects of paracetamol. "It furthermore appears that the success of RIA does not depend on the hypnotic susceptibility of the subjects. This is contrary to the findings of Van Gorb [sic] et al but agrees with the studies of Barber and Fricton and Roth. "The temporal effects are also quite interesting. Firstly, it appears that the RIA was potentiated by the injection of either saline or naloxone. This could have been a placebo manifestation of the intravenous injection, but this appears unlikely in terms of the prior explanation given to the subjects. Subjects were told that the injections were to see whether the analgesic effects of RIA, if present, could be reversed. At no time was it suggested that the injections could have an analgesic effect. Another explanation might be that RIA is potentiated by repetition and that the second employment of the technique is more effective than the first. The other temporal effect seen was the tendency for baseline values to increase at later visits (Figure 4). This might mean progressive relaxation of the subject as he/she became more accustomed to the experimental situation with each subsequent visit or that the RIA state induced at the initial visits became associated with the experimental situation and that the posthypnotic suggestion became operative without the cue of the hypnotist's hand on the subject's arm. It does, however, appear that the maximum RIA effect was reached at the first visit and remained constant throughout. "From our findings several conclusions may be made. Firstly, that RIA appears to be an effective method for producing analgesia in the majority of subjects and does not appear to depend on hypnotic susceptibility. Secondly, endorphins do not appear to be involved in the analgesia produced by this method. Thirdly, dental pulp stimulation using a standard apparatus commonly used in dental practice does not appear to be appropriate for demonstrating placebo effects or for assessing analgesic efficacy of simple analgesics. Pain thresholds determined in this way would therefore not be of use in clinical pharmacology in comparing different simple analgesics. Finally, trial designs should take the temporal shift in baseline values into consideration" pp 779-780. DEPRESSSION 2001 Hensel, Carolyn; Sapp, Marty; Farrell, Walter; Hitchcock, Kim (2001). A Survey of members of ASCH, SCEH, and Division 30, and if they reported using hypnosis to treat depression. Sleep and Hypnosis, 3 (4), 152-166. A telepone survey was conducted with randomly selected members of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH), and the Psychological Hypnosis Division of the American Psychological Association (Division 30). The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which hypnosis society members reported using hypnosis to treat major depression. A 3-group MANOVA did not find any differences among the groups, and all members reported using hypnosis to treat depression. Yapko, Michael (2001). Hypnosis in treating symptoms and risk factors of major depression. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 44 (2), 97-108. This article summarizes aspects of effective psychotherapy for major depression and describes how hypnosis can further enhance therapeutic effectiveness. Hypnosis is helpful in reducing common symptoms of major depression such as agitation and rumination and thereby may decrease a client''s sense of helplessness and hopelessness. Hypnosis is also effective in facilitating the learning of new skills, a core component of empirically supported treatments for major depression. The acquisition of such skills has also been shown to not only reduce depression, but also the likelihood of relapses, thus simultaneously addressing the issues of risk factors and prevention. Yapko, Michael (2001, October). Hypnotic intervention for ambiguity as a depressive risk factor. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Vol. 44 (No. 2), 109-118. In the face of ambiguous life events, depressed individuals are more likely to make negative and depressing interpretations than nondepressed individuals. Fundamental to the success of cognitive-behavioral treatments, one of the most empirically supported treatments for depression is teaching the client to recognize and self-correct so-called cognitive distortions. To facilitate that learning process, clients can learn to better recognize and tolerate ambiguity inherent in many situations, and thereby diminish the drive to form subjective interpretations (either negative or positive) when more objective evidence is unavailable. This article describes ambiguity as a risk factor for depression and details a strategy employing hypnosis for teaching the skills of both recognizing and tolerating ambiguity. Yapko, Michael (2001). Treating depression with hypnosis: Integrating cognitive-behavioral and strategic approaches. New York NY: Brunner-Routledge. NOTES (From the cover) Focuses on structuring and delivering of hypnotic interventions for major depression, with a substantial use of concepts and techniques from cognitive-behavioral and strategic approaches as a foundation. Current research on depression is used to emphasize the still growing knowledge of depression. Hypnosis has shown itself to be effective in not only reducing symptoms, but in teaching the skills (such as rational thinking, effective problem-solving and coping strategies, and positive relationship skills) that can prevent recurrences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved). 1998 Eimer, Bruce; Freeman, Arthur (1998). Pain management psychotherapy: A practical guide. New York NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. NOTES