Hartmann, Walter; Golden, Gail A. (1990). A “magic” aid for hypnosis and suggestion in crisis management: A brief communication. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 38 (3), 157-161.
NOTES
Mentions use of the stone talisman in several kinds of cases: case of an 8-year-old girl who fell at school and broke her ankle; a case of mother and child in an automobile crash; patients with presurgery anxiety; case of suicidal rumination of a patient in ongoing psychotherapy; case of post-mastectomy fear of attending follow-up clinic. The “magic” tool is intended to help patient in carrying out suggestions. “The tool and its transfer appear to help meet the commonly observed need for something tangible in complex situations–the need for ritual to symbolize and embody our perceptions and understandings of difficult and abstract processes” (p. 159). J. Holroyd
1989
Bierman, Steven F. (1989). Hypnosis in the emergency department. American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7, 238-242.
Five cases are presented wherein hypnosis was used by the emergency physician either as the primary mode of treatment or as an adjuvant to standard medical care. Common hypnotic phenomena (e.g. anesthesia, analgesia), as well as novel effects, are reported. The technique used for trance induction and utilization is briefly outlined, and criteria are set forth for the bedside recognition of hypnotic trance.
Venn, Jonathan (1988). Hypnotic intervention with accident victims during the acute phase of posttraumatic adjustment. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 31, 114-117.
Victims of accidents or other trauma often experience acute symptoms of confusion, disorganization, and intrusive memories. Victims can be extremely suggestible during their initial adjustment, and they readily comply with suggestions to enter hypnosis. Reframing and other hypnotic interventions can be useful in managing acute symptoms and may facilitate long-term adjustment. A case is presented in which hypnosis was successfully used with a man who was acutely distressed after accidentally killing a pedestrian. Whether the heightened suggestibility experienced during acute posttraumatic adjustment entails an increase in hypnotizability is an interesting topic for future research, and one which has theoretical import.
1986
Kohen, D. P. (1986). Applications of relaxation/mental imagery (self-hypnosis) in pediatric emergencies. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 34 (4), 283-294.
Problems for which children come to Emergency Rooms are anxiety-producing for children and parents, whether or not these problems are perceived as “true” emergencies by health care professionals. Fear and pain are important factors in the response to such situations. Self-hypnosis (relaxation/mental imagery) is a useful adjunct for rapid reduction of anxiety and discomfort in pediatric emergency situations; it can serve to diminish fear, improve self-control, and alter the perception of discomfort. Hypnosis can also enhance development of a sense of mastery in the injured or ill child. 6 case examples are described which illustrate the variety of specific clinical applications and hypnotherapeutic approaches.
1981
Kleinhauz, Moris; Beran, B. (1981). Misuses of hypnosis: A medical emergency and its treatment. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29 (2), 148-161.
Hypnosis is an intense interpersonal relationship requiring 2-way respect and involvement. Inadequate understanding of this dynamic relationship, and a consequent inability to cope with its potential dangers, may result in posthypnotic trauma. Unless treated carefully by a hypnotherapist who is experienced in both the techniques of dehypnotization and the utilization of psychotherapy, such traumas may persist for a very long time. In this paper, one striking case illustrates mishandling of the hypnotic event and immediate posthypnotic treatment and details the procedure by which successful treatment was eventually determined.
1972
Hodge, James R. (1972). Hypnosis as a deterrent to suicide. American Journal of Clinical
Hypnosis, 15 (1), 20-24.
A method that has been found successful in temporarily deterring suicide attempts is to give the post-hypnotic suggestion that the patient will not be able to carry out an actual suicide attempt until he has discussed it with the psychiatrist, in advance of the attempt, and in the psychiatrist’s office, and further, that the patient will agree to enter a trance at any time the psychiatrist insists, even though the patient may not wish to do so. The rationale for this approach is that, (a) A temporary deterrent is often all that is necessary to prevent a given suicide attempt, (b) Hypnosis can have only a temporary deterring effect on suicide, (c) A direct and permanent confrontation that he can never commit suicide would be bound to fail and would not promote therapy of the personality, and (d) It gives the patient an alternative to suicide.
1972
Weitzenhoffer, A. M. (1972). Open-ended distance hypnotherapy. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 14 (4), 236-248.
Distance hypnosis and hypnotherapy, i.e., via the telephone or the postal service, is not new, having been mentioned a number of times in the scientific literature of the late 19th Century. However, despite its actual as well as potential usefulness, distance hypnotherapy appears to have remained relatively unknown and unused. This article presents the detailed modus operandi of the technique and a number of illustrative cases.
1959
Hodge, James R. (1959). The management of dissociative reactions with hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 7 (4), 217-221. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts 61:920)
NOTES
Conclusions
A case report is given of an unusual type of dissociative reaction, and treatment by a variety of hypnotic techniques is described. A distinction is made between the emergency and long term asects of treatment by hypnosis, and emphasis is laid upon understanding the symptom and avoiding a too rapid challenge of the symptom. Special mention is made of the technique of predicting the future of the symptom” (p. 221).
“The patient was a 19 year old white Marine who became subject to hysterical seizures in which he acted the part of his own dog which had died several years before. The attacks occurred at irregular intervals; but when the patient was first seen they were occurring about twice weekly. During these seizures, which came on without warning, the patient would get down on all fours, bark and growl like a dog, attack ward personnel, paw at the floor, and respond to simple commands like those given to a dog such as ‘Down, boy’ or ‘Play dead’. He would become motorically hyperactive and sometimes pound his head against the floor or walls. The really dangerous act which he performed, however, was to attempt to gouge out his own eyes with his hands; and for this reason cuff restraints had to be applied during each attack. There were no methods, until hypnosis was tried, which could control or terminate these attacks, which usually lasted from 30 to 60 minutes” (p. 217).
1955
Rosen, Harold (1955). Regression hypnotherapeutically induced as an emergency measure in a suicidally depressed patient. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3 (1), 58-70.
NOTES
After cautioning that regressive techniques are only to be undertaken by very experienced therapists, the author states in conclusion, “However, if the therapist have a thorough grounding in dynamic psychiatry, he may as an emergency measure, through the adjunctive use of hypnotic techniques of the type described in this article even induce regressive phenomena in the potentially homicidal or suicidal psychotic patient, in order that they may be integrated and utilized in the service of the ego, at first by blotting out ego-boundaries between patient and therapist, so that later on during the course of the therapeutic process these self-same ego-boundaries may be re-defined and re-constituted on a more mature emotional level and with much healthier personality functioning.
EMOTION/MOOD
1995
Crawford, Helen J.; Kapelis, Lia; Harrison, David W. (1995). Visual field asymmetry in facial affect perception: Moderating effects of hypnosis, hypnotic susceptibility level, absorption, and sustained attentional abilities. International Journal of Neuroscience, 82 (n1-2), 11-23.
Effects of hypnotic level, affect valence and cerebral asymmetry on reaction time (RT) in the discrimination of Ekman and Friesent (1978) stimuli of angry and happy faces were studied in counterbalanced conditions of waking and hypnosis. Assessed previously on two hypnotic susceptibility scales (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility; Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C)], non-depressed subjects were 16 low (0-4 SHSS:C) and 17 highly (10-12 SHSS:C) hypnotizable, right- handed college students. Subjects were required to identify affect of faces, presented tachistoscopically to left (LVF) or right (RVF) visual fields, by using a forced-choice RT paradigm. Highs were significantly faster than lows in angry and happy affect recognition. Hypnosis had no significant effects. For highs only, angry emotional valence was identified faster when presented to the right hemisphere (LVF), but there were no significant hemispheric effects for happy emotional valence. For lows there were no hemispheric differences. Gender was a nonsignificant factor. Significant correlations showed that faster reaction times to angry and happy stimuli, in both LVF and RVF in waking and hypnosis, were obtained by subjects who reported more deeply absorbed and extremely focused and sustained attention on the Tellegen (1982) Absorption Scale and a subscale of the Differential Attentional Processes Inventory (Grumbles & Crawford, 1981). Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973) and Affect Intensity Measure (Larsen, 1985), in general, did not correlate with RTs. The potential role of the fronto-limbic attentional system in the recognition of external visual sensory affect is discussed.
1994
Ray, William J.; Moraga, R.; Faith, M. (1994, October). Psychometric and psychophysiological studies of hypnotizability and dissociation. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, San Francisco.
NOTES 1:
In the last 5-6 years we see a beginning of a consistency in this type of research on EEG and hypnosis. Baseline EEG theta for high and low hypnotizable Ss was higher significantly in frontal and temporal areas; less significantly in parietal and occipital areas. It begins to look like a signature of hypnotizability. Our research will be published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology next year.
In Japan they see theta as sustained attention; some aspects of theta relate to MAO and also to dopamine. Betsy Faith did the same research, replicating almost exactly.
There are no differences between Highs and Lows in alpha or beta; but we find differences in theta (especially frontal, and in 40 Hz more posteriorly). It may not be L-R hemisphere difference as previously thought, but more a rostral-caudal dimension.
The signature to hypnotizability is more frontal theta at baseline. This may also relate to a drop in theta after induction, but those results are not so clear. Highs have a larger drop in theta from pre to post induction than is observed in the Lows.
We did a “chaos analysis” of EEG. There are three main measures, including dimensionality. Dimensionality is a measure of complexity. People demonstrate high dimensionality when asked to do tasks, low dimensionality in anesthesia.
High hypnotizable Ss start an induction with higher dimensionality than the Low hypnotizable Ss, and as we go through the induction they remain the same. So this measure shows individual differences but does not give evidence of a state (because it doesn’t change).
Chaos dimensions for 2 mental math problems show lower dimensions in frontal compared to posterior areas; but for imagery [labeled on slide as positive and negative emotional tasks] the dimension is the same across areas.
For the dimension measures, lows look like they are doing mental math and highs look like theyare doing imagery, in baseline.
SECOND PART OF RESEARCH–DISSOCIATION. For 100 years dissociation and hypnosis have been viewed as similar. Two dissociation scales were used – Putnam’s DES and Reilly’s scale. A factor analysis found four factors: 1. absorption or derealization 2. depersonalization 3. segment amnesia 4. in situ amnesia
(Segment amnesia differs from in situ amnesia because you wake up to it at that moment in the in situ vs the segment case.)
We have 20-30 people who score very high on hypnotizability.
Colin Ross finds the same factors as our factors 1 and 2, but he finds only one amnesia factor where we find two.
The correlation between DES and Harvard ranges .05 to .18. Are the high hypnotizables related to high dissociatives, with others not related? A scatter plot did not reveal that.
FFT EEG bands during baseline for high and low dissociation Ss find no differences for high and low dissociative subjects. We conclude that dissociation and hypnosis are two orthogonal processes.
Now we are beginning to look at the pathways that lead one to become highly hypnotizable or dissociative.
COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE:
Ian Wickramasekera: Have you introduced threat to high or low DES people? Answer: High and Low DES people with happy and unhappy imagery tasks do the opposite, with the dimensionality measure. With emotionality you don’t see stable baseline differences, you see reactivity differences.
A. Barabasz: I think the DES isn’t a good measure of dissociation in hypnosis which is voluntary and not pathological.
D. Spiegel: Sabourin’s study found more theta in left frontal during hypnosis, whereas you foundless. Answer: That’s why I don’t know what to do about the state effects.
J. Crawford: Sabourin had Ss doing tasks, so they may have been more active than yours.
1993
Bruehl, Stephen; Carlson, Charles R.; McCubbin, James A. (1993). Two brief interventions for acute pain. Pain, 54, 29-36.
This study evaluated two brief (3-5 min) interventions for controlling responses to acute pain. Eighty male subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 intervention groups (Positive Emotion Induction (PEI) or Brief Relaxation (BR)) or to 1 of 2 control groups (No-instruction or Social Demand). The PEI focused on re-creating a pleasant memory, while the BR procedure involved decreasing respiration rate and positioning the body in a relaxed posture. All subjects underwent a 60-sec finger pressure pain trial. Analyses indicated that the PEI subjects reported lower ratings of pain, fear, and anxiety, and experienced greater finger temperature recovery than controls. The BR procedure resulted in greater blood pressure recovery, but did not alter ratings of pain or emotion relative to controls. Further research is needed to explore the clinical use of the PEI for acute pain management.
Pekala, Ronald J.; Ersek, Barrett (1993). Firewalking versus hypnosis: A preliminary study concerning consciousness, attention, and fire immunity. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 12, 207-229.
This study assessed the subjective effects associated with firewalking, and compared them with the subjective effects associated with hypnosis and a baseline condition (eyes closed sitting quietly). Twenty-seven subjects, who walked over hot coals during a firewalk ceremony, completed questionnaires about what they subjectively experienced during the firewalk. Their experiences were subsequently compared with those of subjects (n – 246) who experienced hypnosis and a baseline condition. The data suggested that firewalking, as assessed across all subjects, is characterized by high levels of volitional control and rationality, and a very absorbed attentional style wherein the mind is one-pointed, and consciousness is characterized by strong feelings of joy and high levels of internal dialogue. Firewalking was also found to be associated with significantly more joy, one-pointedness of thought, absorption, and internal dialogue than hypnosis or the baseline condition. In addition, a cluster analysis suggested two subgroups of firewalkers based on their subjective experiences of the firewalk. Interestingly, analyzing the attentional experiences among these firewalkers who got slightly burned, versus those who did not, revealed significant differences. A one-pointed and absorbed attentional focus may be the critical variable for the fire immunity observed in firewalking.
NOTES 1:
About 500 people walked across coals, in 3-4 steps. At end of weekend, 71 said they would complete a questionnaire and it was mailed to them. Of those, 27 responded (25 of 26 in an average of 23 days). Hence, 5% of the population who walked responded to the questionnaire, and it was some time later. Three of 24 reported minor blisters. Those who didn’t get burned reported less detachment, less of a feeling of being out of their bodies, and more thoughts than the firewalkers who got slightly burned.
Pekala has defined an altered state of consciousness as associated with the perception of being in an altered state of awareness (the _subjective sense_ of _altered state_ –SSAS [30]), and a change in the patterning or configuration of the subsystems or dimensions of consciousness. Adiscrete state of consciousness, as defined by Pekala, is associated with a significant pattern change but no perceived alteration in state of consciousness (no SSAS). An identity state of consciousness, on the other hand, is defined as having neither a significantly perceived alteration in state of awareness nor a perceived pattern change among dimensions of consciousness in reference to another state of consciousness. Since the PCI can measure both intensity and pattern effects, it can be used to assess for altered, discrete, and identity states of consciousness.
Using a cluster analysis they found that one group of 16 subjects reported the firewalk experience to be characterized by a significant alteration in awareness and experience (body image, time sense, etc.), and significant intensities of internal dialogue, positive and negative affect, and arousal, while a second group of six subjects reported little alteration in consciousness or experience, little losses in rationality or control, and less internal dialogue, positive and negative affect or arousal than the larger group.
Whereas hypnosis is usually associated with a loss in control (the classic suggestion effect), firewalking was found to be associated with increased control, a more aroused state, and more fear! Firewalking appears to be a more absorbed and one-pointed state than even hypnosis.
The nature of attentional experience is similar across firewalkers (DAQ results).
Both firewalking and hypnosis meet the criteria for altered states of consciousness (different pattern and different subjective experience), but they are not altered states in reference to each other; they are _discrete states of consciousness_ in reference to each other, because there is a significantly different patterning of PCI dimensions between the two conditions, but no significant SSAS. This suggests that the firewalk state is qualitatively different from the hypnotic state (as induced by the induction procedure to the Harvard Scale) and probably represents a differenttype of state of consciousness than hypnosis. Firewalkers obtained a lower mean hypnoidal state score than hypnosis subjects, so it does not appear that the fire immunity is due to being in a “hypnotized” state.
The fact that there appears to be two groups of successful firewalkers, one of which did not report much alteration in consciousness, calls into question the theorizing concerning the importance of alteration in state of consciousness as being etiologically related to successful firewalking. Since about 25 percent of the firewalkers clustered into what appears to be a nonaltered state of awareness, this suggests a sizable percentage of subjects who did not report any significant alteration in consciousness and experience.
Hence, what may be important is not an alteration in consciousness, but rather an alteration in attention. The cluster analysis revealed a relatively unitary attentional state across all subjects suggesting that attention was deployed in a rather similar manner across all subjects, that is, with very high absorption and one-pointedness. it was also the DAQ dimensions, and not the PCI dimensions, that successfully discriminated a trend between the blistered and nonblistered firewalkers. Hence, high levels of one-pointedness and absorption, that is, how attention is deployed during firewalking may be more critical (than an alteration in consciousness in general) for the fire immunity observed during firewalking.
1992
Bindler, Paul (1992, October). Hypnosis and Psychotherapy: The clinical utility of altered states of consciousness. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA.
NOTES 1:
Author assesses state, especially attentional changes, with Multidimensional Consciousness Scale (receptivity, arousal, …. etc.)
Clinical management of anxiety is goal. Cites Nash as characterizing anxiety disorders with cognitive/affective characteristics similar to hypnotized state. Wickramasekera’s model has people high in neuroticism and high in hypnotizable being hypersensitive to stress, with physiologicalhyperarousal. Lows have alexithymia, may be unresponsive to symbolic events but very responsive to concrete events; poor verbalization of alexithymics leads to somatization.
Author focuses on relaxation and anxiety reduction. Suggests that Crawford’s attention model (highs better able to shift cognitive and attentional strategies) is useful.
Instructions facilitate focusing attention inward so external stimuli become irrelevant. Therapist helps patient focus attention on the link between cognitions and tension.
Isenberg, S. A.; Lehrer, P. M.; Hochran, S. (1992). The effects of suggestions and emotional arousal on pulmonary functions in asthma: A review and a hypothesis regarding verbal mediation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 54, 192-216.
This paper reviews the empirical literature on the relation between asthma, suggestion, and emotion, and proposes the hypothesis that these effects are mediated parasympathetically. The literature indicates that, among asthmatics, suggestion can produce both bronchoconstriction and bronchodilation, and that stress can produce bronchoconstriction. The proportion of asthmatic subjects showing bronchoconstriction to both suggestion and stress averages 35%-40% across studies, but, because of methodological considerations, might be conservatively estimated as closer to 20%. The effect is smaller for suggestion of bronchodilation, and is very short-lived among nonasthmatics. No clear connection has been found between these responses and such subject variables as age, gender, asthma severity, atopy, or method of pulmonary assessment, although some nonsignificant tendencies appear. Most studies in this literature used small n”s and did not systematically examine various somatic, environmental, and demographic factors that could influence results. A hypothesis is presented regarding vagal mediation of psychological effects on the airways, as well as possible alternative mechanisms, and recommendations for future research to evaluate these hypotheses.
1992
Kihlstrom, John F.; Barnhardt, Terrence M.; Tataryn, Douglas J. (1992). The psychological unconscious. American Psychologist, 47, 788-791.
In response to Greenwald’s article on contemporary research on unconscious mental processes, the authors address three issues: (a) the independence of much recent research and theory from psychodynamic formulations; (b) the broad sweep of the psychological unconscious, including implicit perception, memory, thought, learning, and emotion; and (c) the possibility that the analytic power of unconscious processing may depend both on the manner in which mental contents are rendered unconscious and the manner in which they are to be processed.
Mare, Cornelia; Lynn, Steven Jay; Segal, David; Sivec, Harry; Marsden, Kim; Myers, Bryan (1992, October). The ‘dream hidden observer’: A real-simulator comparison. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA.
NOTES 1:
In previous research, after the Stanford Scale Form C dream suggestion, the authors gave the suggestion to the Ss that “in hypnosis you can discover part of the unconscious mind that is aware of new thoughts, images, that might be related or might not be related to your dream; let your index finger lift when that happens.” There were strong demand effects observed in those Ss.
94% of highs and 78% of mediums passed the hidden observer test, with more personal and more primary process material produced in the hidden observer condition. All Ss recalled their suggested dreams after awakening, but only 1/3 recalled their hidden observer. The authors think it was because Ss thought the hidden observer was “unconscious.”
Authors compared highs with low simulators in the present study. Michael Nash says two things differentiate highs: more primary process thinking, and more affect availability in hypnosis. In this study, if high hypnotizables’ dreams have more of these, it would support the psychoanalytic model.
N = 18 Highs who passed 9 Harvard Scale suggestions; 18 lows passed 3 or fewer suggestions. Simulating instructions were from Orne, 1977.
Hypnotists were blind to the hypotheses and to the hypnotizability of Ss. This differs from the first study in two ways: (1) instructions to Ss (here they were more like Hilgard’s original suggestions), and (2) more probing about dream content before receiving the hidden observer instructions.
We did a 5-point scale on bizarre content, on different thoughts after the experience, and on additional content. Primary process was measured by Bizarre Content and by Shifts in Time or Location. Did ANOVA on 2 primary process and 3 affect measures. Many other analyses also were used. Even under multiple probes, most Ss passed hidden observer test. (In both groups only 1 didn’t pass the hidden observer test.) So it is a very reliable suggestion, suggesting that hidden observer instructions are a very credible metaphor (for clinical practice).
The 2 groups were comparable on rates of reporting more personally revealing information in the hidden observer condition: so this suggestion could be useful to get additional information from patients.
The results supported one hypothesis: dream reports were associated with more primary process thinking. This was more true of highs than lows. Results supported the view that primary process is not attributed to role playing because the blending of dream and hidden observer responses occurred in the high hypnotizables; more novel content was found in the highs.
No support was found for the hypothesis that more affect is produced under these conditions.
Though simulators were unable to role-play the primary process thinking of highs, they may have been vigilant and may have suppressed primary process thinking.
Perry, Campbell (1992, October). J. Phillip Sutcliff’s contributions to the field of hypnosis. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Arlington, VA.
NOTES 1:
Sutcliff did research that led him to conclude that the high hypnotizable was deluded rather than truly perceiving things, and he said the high is simply strongly emotionally invested in the suggested belief.
Putnam, Frank W. (1992). Using hypnosis for therapeutic abreactions. Psychiatric Medicine, 10, 51-65.
Abreaction, the dramatic reliving of traumatic events under hypnosis, is a powerful therapeutic intervention useful in the treatment of victims of trauma. First systematically applied in World War I, abreaction coupled with psychotherapeutic processing of the recovered material is increasingly being used with victims of child abuse and chronic PTSD. Abreactions are helpful in recovering dissociated or repressed traumatic material, reconnecting missing affect with recalled material and for transforming traumatic memories. Although abreactions can be induced with medications, hypnosis is the method of choice except in acute situations where it is not possible to establish rapport. A variety of hypnotic techniques for the induction and management of abreaction are discussed, together with the indications and contraindications for their use.
1991
Brown, Peter (1991). Ultradian rhythms of cerebral function and hypnosis. Contemporary Hypnosis, 8, 17-24.
As a consequence of his observations of the clinical work of Milton Erickson, Ernest Rossi has proposed an ‘ultradian rhythm theory of hypnosis’. Rossi demonstrated that the spontaneous changes in cognition, affect and behaviour which occur as part of the ultradian cycle (which Ericksonreferred to as ‘the common everyday trance’) are similar to the changes which occur during hypnosis. A review of studies of the phasic changes in hemispheric function suggests that ultradian changes do parallel the changes found in hypnosis.
NOTES 1:
Falling asleep and waking up are regulated by two separate mechanisms rather than being opposite poles of one mechanism (Winfree, 1980). Kleitman (1961) suggested a 90-min cycle, the basic rest-activity cycle (BRAC). In addition to physiological alterations, there are alterations in cognition, mood and behavior (Rossi & Cheek, 1988); vigilance (Okawa, Matousek & Petersen 1984); peripheral blood flow (Ramano & Gizdulich, 1980); respiratory amplitude (Horne & Whitehead, 1976); visual evoked potentials (Zimmerman, Gortelmeyer & Wiemann, 1983); pupillary diameter, stability and reactivity to light, and saccadic eye movements (Lavie & Kripke, 1981).
These diurnal variations may relate to hypnotic behavior. There is a recurring increase in daydream and fantasy, as well as visual imagery (Kripke & Sonnenschein, 1978). “There is evidence for a parallel recurring cognitive and emotional cycle with increased emotional responsiveness and a more subjective cognitive processing of information (Evans, 1972; Holloway, 1978; Overton, 1978; Thayer, 1987). Subjects appear to repeat the cycle approximately 16 times per day, with a range of 70-120 minutes. Kripke and Sonnenschein (1978) noted that the subjects were personally unaware of any repeating cycle in their mental lives” (p. 19).
The brainstem arousal mechanisms seem to be implicated in periodic changes in the EEG. Ultradian rhythms are “more easily detected under conditions of increased sleep need, reduced external performance demand and lowered motivation to focus externally (Broughton, 1985)” (p. 20). Sterman (1985) observed that the rhythm was most marked in resting state and disappears during complex visuomotor tasks. Relationship of EEG patterns to attentional patterns indicate there may be two different forms of attention, one for focused awareness (often thought to be associated with trance state) and the other a generalized vigilance (which would be reduced in hypnosis). Ultradian changes in consciousness reflected in the EEG may suggest increased internal absorption associated with visual imagery, a feature of the trance state.
“There has recently been a partial direct confirmation of Rossi’s hypothesis. Aldrich and Bernstein (1987 [International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis]) reported a bimodal distribution of Harvard Group Scale Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS) scores when they are done at different times throughout the day. They note the parallel of the changes in HGSHS scores and the circadian variations in body temperature which suggest changes in hypnotic responsiveness coinciding with the fluctuations of physiological rhythms.
“Other support comes from some highly original work involving breathing rhythms. There are cyclic alterations in relative air flow between the left and right nostrils with an average period of 2-3 hours (Hasegawa & Kern, 1977). This nasal ultradian rhythm is correlated with an increase in contralateral cerebral hemispheric activity (Werntz, Bickford, Bloom & Shannahoff-Khalsa, 1981, 1983; Klein, Pilon, Prosser & Shannahoff-Khalsa, 1986). The alterations in hemispheric function do appear to be related to changes both in the style of cognition, particularly in an increase in vivid visual imagery, and in performance on specific tasks (Klein et al., 1986). Thus these studies support the notion of an ultradian rhythm of cerebral function which is associated with characteristic physical manifestations mediated by the autonomic nervous system. Whether or not these changes are directly related to the findings reported by Aldrich and Bernstein has yet to be established” (p. 21).
The authors conclude that “the most consistent evidence for ultradian rhythms is demonstrated by the mechanisms of the hypothalamic-limbic system and by brain-stem mechanisms that regulate arousal and attention processes (Parmeggiani, 1987); neuroendocrine regulatory mechanisms(Follenius, Simon, Brandenberger & Lenzi, 1987) and autonomic nervous system function (Bossom, Natelson, Levin & Stokes, 1983; Gordon & Lavie, 1986). These studies also suggest an ongoing dynamic interaction between cortical and subcortical structures throughout the ultradian cycle (Parmeggiani, 1987), and suggest that these interactions may be of great significance in hypnosis” (p. 21).
Cornell, William F.; Olio, Karen A. (1991). Integrating affect in treatment with adult survivors of physical and sexual abuse. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61 (1), 59-69.
Presents a theoretical and technical model for affectively centered treatment of adults abused as children, focusing on the function of denial and dissociation as central defense mechanisms. The concept is introduced of working at an “affective edge.” At this experiential point, a client can maintain both cognitive understanding and emotional and bodily awareness without triggering denial and dissociation. This approach fosters careful monitoring of the client’s functioning both during and between therapeutic sessions. The proposed therapeutic approach uses noninvasive touch and body-centered techniques. Focus is on integrating affect and on the importance of the therapeutic relationship.
DeKoninck, J.; Brunette, R. (1991). Presleep suggestion related to a phobic object: Successful manipulation of reported dream affect. Journal of General Psychology, 118, 185-200.
When compared with subjects who received presleep suggestions for negative affect, subjects who received positive affect suggestions had significantly higher levels of positive emotions in their dreams, rated their own dreams as more pleasant, and had significantly lower levels of anxiety, sadness, and aggression. This supports the hypothesis that presleep suggestion can be an effective technique in influencing the affective dimension of the dream.
Madrid, Antonio D.; Barnes, Susan v.d.H. (1991). A hypnotic protocol for eliciting physical changes through suggestions of biochemical responses. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 122-128.
We employed brief hypnotherapy to effect physical changes in patients suffering from medical disorders including allergies, rectal bleeding, systemic lupus, hyperemesis, headache, asthma, and chronic pain. We present, in language appropriate to the individual patient, considerations and suggestions to effect the release of healing biochemicals. Ideomotor signals indicated the patient’s awareness of the healing. We hypothesize that the technique triggered novel state-dependent memory, learning, and behavior.
NOTES 1:
They hypothesize that the technique they use triggers novel state-dependent memory, learning, and behavior (See for example Rossi, 1987, and Rossi & Cheek, 1988).
Hypnotic Protocol: “1. Tell the patient that he can heal himself by allowing his body to supply its own biochemicals needed to make him well. If a specific biochemical is known, such as cortisone or endorphins, name it. “2. Hypnotize the patient. Resistant or hard to hypnotize patients need not be deeply hypnotized because the patients, using this protocol, will automatically go into trance while accomplishing the next task of accessing and using ideomotor signals (Erickson, 1980; Rossi & Cheek, 1988). “3. Tell the patient that his index finger will automatically and involuntarily twitch and float when his body releases the biochemicals he needs. This ideomotor response (Rossi & Cheek, 1988) is the sole physical response required of the patient. Rossi hypothesizes that the ideomotor response correlates with biochemical changes (Rossi & Cheek, 1988). “4. Next, ask the patient to consider some things (as described below). Present the considerations one after another until one of them triggers the ideomotor response. “5. In some instances, ask the patient to practice on his own. Many patients who have dramatic emotional reactions during or at the completion of the task may not need to practice on their own” (p. 123).
They present several ‘considerations’ to the patient, one after the other, tailored to the patient’s specific case, until his finger twitches or floats, indicating a biochemical response. For example, the following ‘considerations’ have been used: “1. Psychodynamic: ‘Consider that you are not blamed for anything; that you are in fact perfect just the way you are; that you are loved by those you care about.’ ‘Consider that you can forgive whoever needs forgiving for hurting you.’ ‘Consider that there are no longer any threats; everything is better; everything is as it used to be.’ “2. Autosuggestion: ‘Tell your body to heal. It knows what to do; so ask it to do it.’ ‘Tell your adrenal glands to produce the steroids that your body needs.’ ‘Allow a glowing light to permeate that injured back, filling it with healing energy.’ “3. Incompatible responses: ‘Cover yourself with a cool breeze, cooling the injured leg.’ ‘Imagine your back getting slack and limp and relaxed.’ ‘Imagine your stomach lining becoming smooth and moving with easy, ocean-like waves.’ “4. Emotion calling: ‘Consider yourself feeling very happy with everything, for no reason at all.’ ‘Consider yourself getting angry at someone–your mother, your wife (husband), your boss, your lawyer.’ “5. Bargaining: ‘Tell yourself that you will heal if you agree to stay away from that job.’ ‘Tell yourself you will heal by allowing your right arm to begin to hurt when you are over- exerting yourself.’ ‘Tell yourself that you will heal in exchange for something else, not so serious, to replace this disease and to serve the same function'” (pp. 123-124).
They present seven cases involving, respectively, allergies, rectal bleeding, systemic lupus, hyperemesis of pregnancy, adult onset asthma, chronic pain, and cluster headaches. Two cases were particularly interesting because they represented patients who did not respond initially.
Their procedure involves reframing the state or emotion originally associated with the onset of disease using considerations, and then giving a suggestion that it is within the power of the person, rather than factors outside, to heal the body. First they instruct the patient that the body can heal itself; then they give the list of suggestions for the patient to consider, persisting with different considerations until they get an ideomotor response. Incorporation of the patient’s psychodynamic issues appears to be very important.
The authors regard it as unimportant if the patient cannot by hypnotized; “As Cheek (Cheek & LeCron, 1968; Rossi & Cheek, 1988) points out, the patient’s inability to be hypnotized may be synonymous with his disease. It is actually beneficial if the patient cannot achieve ideomotor responses at first because both he and the therapist then trust the validity of the response when it does occur after the appropriate consideration” (p. 127).
Pekala, Ronald J. (1991). Hypnotic types: Evidence from a cluster analysis of phenomenal experience. Contemporary Hypnosis, 8, 95-104.
The phenomenological experiences of very-low and very-high, and low, medium and high susceptible individuals were cluster analyzed, attempting to determine if individuals of differing levels of hypnotic susceptibility report experiencing different types of phenomenological experience during hypnosis. Phenomenological experience was assessed by means of a self-report questionnaire called the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI); it allows for quantification of 12 dimensions of phenomenological experience. K-means cluster analysis yielded two relatively distinct clusters of individuals for both low/very-low and high/very-high susceptible individuals. These results suggest at least two types of very-low/low and very-high/high susceptible individuals as determined by their reported experiences during hypnosis.
NOTES 1:
The author notes that Sheehan and McConkey (1982) found three types of highs: concentrative, independent, and constructive. Spanos, Lush & Gwynn, 1989, found two groups of lows–one capable of learning hypnotic skills and the other less so.
In this study the author did two cluster analyses: (1) Harvard lows (0-1) and highs (11-12), and (2) all subjects divided into lows, mediums and highs, with cluster analyses performed _separately_ for these three groups.
In the first analysis, there were two groups of very low hypnotizable subjects distinguished on the basis of altered state of awareness and rationality; and two very high groups, distinguished on the basis of imagery and positive affect.
One group of very lows reported “little alteration in altered state and altered experience and almost complete volitional control, self-awareness, rationality and memory” (p. 98) and were called ‘classic very lows’ because they were like refractory subjects in their self reports. The other group of very lows reported “moderate alterations in altered state and altered experience, and major decrements in volitional control, self- awareness, rationality and memory” (p. 98) and were called ‘pseudo very lows’ because their reports were a little like medium or high hypnotizables.
One group of very high hypnotizables had “great alterations in state of consciousness and moderate altered experiences; a loss of control, self awareness, rationality and memory; and little vivid imagery” (p. 98) and were called ‘classic very highs’ because their reported experience was like that of somnambules. The other type of highs were called ‘fantasy very highs’ because they had “moderate alteration in consciousness and experience, a great deal of vivid imagery, moderate positive affect, and only mild-to-moderate losses in rationality and memory” (p. 100).
When low, medium, and high susceptible subjects’ PCIs had separate cluster analyses, the lows had three clusters: classic, dialoging, and pseudo lows. The dialoging group was between the other two in their experiencing yet reported a great deal of internal dialogue. Among the highs, the same two clusters appeared as for the very highs.
Among the mediums there were two groups: high mediums who reported a significant drop in volitional control, self-awareness, rationality, memory, and internal dialogue, and an alteration in state of awareness; and low mediums who had milder changes.
Comparing results to Sheehan and McConkey (1982), the classic highs may correspond to their concentrative type and the fantasy highs to their independent type, because the latter generated imagery without a request to do so.
Regarding the pseudo-lows, “it is intriguing that there appear to be some individuals who make little response on the behaviorally oriented Harvard Scale, and yet report some phenomenological alterations. Are they individuals for whom hypnosis may be somewhat more effective even though they are not that hypnotizable (as measured by the ‘direct’ Harvard Scale) or could they be Spanos’s (Spanos et al., 1989) ‘trainable’ low susceptibles?” (p. 102).
Persinger, M. A.; Makarec, Katherine (1991-92). Interactions between temporal lobe signs, imaginings, beliefs and gender: Their effect upon logical inference. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 11, 149-166.
Rotton’s Paralogic Test, Wilson-Barber’s Inventory of Childhood memories and Imaginings (ICMI) and the PPI (Personal Philosophy Inventory) were administered to 100 male and 100 female university students. Both sexes displayed moderately strong (0.50) correlations between content-selected and factor analyzed clusters of possible temporal lobe signs, exotic beliefs and the numbers of childhood imaginings. Although there were no sex differences between the accuracy of logical statements that contained paranormal or neutral content, males who displayed more temporal lobe signs were more accurate for logical items that contained paranormal content. Females who displayed more imaginings were more accurate for valid than for invalid items. Accuracy for items with paranormal content increased with exotic beliefs but not with conservative religious beliefs for both sexes. The relationship between exotic beliefs and accuracy for items with paranormal content was especially strong for females. These results suggest: 1) gender differences in the neurocognitive processes that contribute to logical problem solving and 2) accuracy may depend upon the degree to which the subject matter is commensurate with the person’s history of enhanced temporal lobe signs, capacity for fantasy and imaginings and beliefs in exotic concepts.
NOTES 1:
Review of related literature indicates that Personal Philosophy Inventory (PPI) temporal lobe signs are correlated with temporal lobe EEG alpha but not occipital lobe alpha (Makarec & Persinger, 1990), with increased suggestibility (Persinger & DeSano, 1986; Ross & Persinger, 1987), with creativity and proneness towards fantasy (Persinger & DeSano, 1986; Ross & Persinger, 1987; Makarec & Persinger, 1987), and with reports of psi experiences and beliefs in such things as reincarnation and aliens in UFOs (‘exotic themes’) (Persinger & Makarec, 1987; Persinger & Makarec, 1990).
This experiment was designed to answer four questions: ” 1) Do imagery and temporal lobe signs emerge from the same source of variance?; 2) Do males and females differ significantly in their incidence of imaginings and temporal lobe signs?; 3) Do males and females differ in their ability to solve logical problems?; and 4) Is the accuracy of problem solving affected by the subject matter of the problem and the problem solver’s temporal lobe signs and capacity for imagery?” (p. 151).
The PPI consists of 140 true-false items that were selected with a goal of discerning temporal lobe signs within a normal population. One 30-item subscale has items that are similar to experiences reported by patients with verified electrical foci in the temporal lobes, albeit milder (the TLS or temporal lobe sign scale). Of these 30 items, 16 refer to ictal-like experiences (the CPES, or complex partial epileptic signs), and 14 refer to interictal-like behaviors (ILB). CPES items are items like “Sometimes an event will occur that has special significance for me only,’ and ‘While sitting quietly, I have had uplifting sensations as if I were driving over a rolling road.” ILB items are items like “People tell me I blank out sometimes when people are talking,’ and ‘When I lose an argument I spend a lot of time thinking about what I should have said.”
Wilson and Barber’s Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI) has 52 true-false items that include reports of paranormal experiences (5 items), moderate imaginings (18 items) such as ‘When I was a child I enjoyed fairytales,’ and extreme imaginings (15 items) such as ‘When I was a child or teenager, at times I was afraid my imagining would become so real to me that I would be unable to stop it.’
Rotton’s Paralogic Test [unpublished, at Florida International University, Miami] has 16 syllogisms, each with major premise, minor premise, and conclusion. “The person must decide if the argument is valid (n = 8) or invalid (n = 8). Half of each of the valid and invalid arguments refer to mundane material while the other half of the arguments refer to paranormal-related material. An example of the former is ‘If a president is a crook, he would be impeached; Congress did not impeach Nixon. Therefore Nixon is not a crook’ and ‘If flying saucers really existed, somebody would have photographed one. Nobody has ever photographed a flying saucer. Therefore, flying saucers do not exist'” (p. 153).
Correlations were computed separately for males and females. Both groups increased in accuracy for paranormal items as their belief in things like reincarnation and UFOs (‘exotic concepts’) increased. Males with a higher number of temporal lobe signs demonstrated more accuracy for logic test items with paranormal (psi) content than logic test items with mundane