1994
Sapp, Marty (1994). The effects of guided imagery on reducing the worry and emotionality components of test anxiety [Abstract]. Journal of Mental Imagery, 18 (3&4), 165-180.
This study investigated the effects of guided imagery on reducing the worry and emotionality components of test anxiety. Subjects receiving guided imagery were compared to a Hawthorne control group on the worry and emotionality components of test anxiety and academic achievement. The guided imagery subjects showed significant reductions in levels of worry and emotionality, and a significant increase in academic performance. The treatment gains were maintained at a 6-week follow-up.
1988
Donovan, David (1988). Factor analytic structure of attitudes towards hypnosis, guided imagery, and relaxation. [Unpublished manuscript] (Paper written for Comrey’s Factor Analysis Course, UCLA) Keywords: attitudes, factor analysis, guided imagery, relaxation
NOTES
Factor analysis of semantic differential responses of 212 adults regarding 3 terms (hypnosis, imagery, relaxation) placed imagery in an intermediate position between the extremes of hypnosis and relaxation. Both common and unique factors extracted are discussed.
1986
Thompson, Cynthia K.; Hall, Howard R.; Sison, Cecile E. (1986). Effects of hypnosis and imagery training on naming behavior in aphasia. Brain and Language, 28, 141-153.
The effects of hypnosis and imagery training on the naming behavior of three subjects with Broca’s aphasia were investigated using a multiple baseline design across subjects. Treatment consisted of the induction of hypnosis, followed by guided imagery focused on the physical and functional attributes of stimulus objects. Measures of naming ability on both trained and untrained items were taken at baseline, after every training session, and a few hours after training each day. Measures were also taken of imagery ability, hypnotic susceptibility, and psychological state. Results indicated that treatment facilitated improvement in naming ability, over baseline level, for two subjects. In the case of the third subject, the verbal label was incorporated into the imagery procedure following 10 training sessions. Subsequently, this subject’s naming behavior improved over baseline level. The results are discussed in terms of current theory and research in neuropsychology and cognitive psychology.
1983
Schandler, Steven L.; Dana, Edward R. (1983). Cognitive imagery and physiological feedback relaxation protocols applied to clinically tense young adults: A comparison of state, trait, and physiological effects. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 672-681.
Examined changes in targeted and general tension behaviors as well as reductions in physiological tension associated with cognitive imagery and electromyographic biofeedback relaxation procedures. Three groups of 15 female college students participated. During three weekly sessions each person received either guided cognitive imagery relaxation, frontalis muscle feedback relaxation, or a self-rest control procedure. The Anxiety Differential was administered before and after each session, while frontalis EMG, heart rate, and skin temperature were monitored continuously. A second Temperament Analysis was administered after the final session. The imagery procedure was associated with moderate reductions in physiological tension and significant reductions in state anxiety and three tension-related personality dimensions. Self-rest persons displayed lesser reductions in general tension with little physiological change. While biofeedback persons showed the largest reductions in physiological tension, they displayed only small and variable changes in state anxiety and personality dimensions. The data raise continued questions about the application of physiologically based operant relaxation procedures and support the use of cognitively mediated protocols for the treatment of specific or general anxiety behaviors.
1982
Brown, Daniel P.; Forte, Michael; Rich, Philip; Epstein, Gerald (1982-83). Phenomenological differences among self hypnosis, mindfulness meditation, and imaging. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 2 (4), 291-309.
A survey of 122 subjects was conducted to investigate the differences in the phenomenological quality of the experiences engendered by three types of awareness discipline: self-hypnosis (21 Ss), waking dreaming (49 Ss) and mindfulness meditation (25 Ss from a 2-week retreat, and another group of 27 Ss from a 2-day weekend retreat). A questionnaire, the profile of Trance, Imaging, and Meditation Experience (TIME) was used in the survey. Discriminant analyses were used to construct models of the differences in the phenomenological quality of the experiences among the three groups. A number of phenomenological dimensions, in the major areas of attention, thinking, memory, imagery, body sensations, emotions, time sense, reality sense, and sense of self, were found which could accurately distinguish among the experiences of practitioners of the three types of awareness training. Results show that while self hypnosis involves self-referential thinking, memory changes, and intense emotions, waking dreaming emphasizes the immediate impact of emerging images, which unfold in a thematic manner and have a sense of their own reality. Mindfulness meditators have difficulty managing distractions, but with experience learn greater awareness of bodily processes, and experience changes in the perception of time and self; mental processes seem to slow down, and awareness assumes an impersonal quality. No attributions as to the causes or sources of these phenomenological differences are made, as the survey was not large enough to provide comparison groups, subject matching, or other statistical controls necessary for causal analyses. NOTES 1:
(Information taken from a pre-publication manuscript.)
Lyles, Jeanne Naramore; Burish, Thomas G.; Krozely, Mary G.; Oldham, Robert K. (1982). Efficacy of relaxation training and guided imagery in reducing the aversiveness of cancer chemotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 509-524.
Fifty cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, 25 by push injection and 25 by drip infusion, were assigned to one of three conditions for their chemotherapy treatments: (a) progressive muscle-relaxation training plus guided-relaxation imagery; (b) therapist control, in which a therapist was present to provide support and encouragement but did not provide systematic relaxation training; and (c) no-treatment control. Patients participated in one pretraining, three training, and one follow-up session. Results indicated that during the training sessions, patients who received relaxation training, relative to patients in either of the other two conditions, (a) reported feeling significantly less anxious and nauseated during chemotherapy, (b) showed significantly less physiological arousal (as measured by pulse rate and systolic blood pressure) and reported less anxiety and depression immediately after chemotherapy, and (c) reported significantly less severe and less protracted nausea at home following chemotherapy. The attending nurses’ observations during chemotherapy confirmed patient reports. In general, patients in the therapist control condition and the no-treatment control condition did not differ significantly from each other. The differences among conditions generally remained significant during the follow-up session. The data suggest that relaxation training may be an effective procedure for helping cancer patients cope with the adverse effects of their chemotherapy.
1978
Porter, J. W. (1978). Suggestions and success imagery for study problems. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 26, 63-75.
A procedure is presented for dealing with study problems in cases where patients come with an expectancy of help through hypnosis. Specific suggestions directly related to the study difficulty are given. “Success imagery” is outlined for use under hypnosis and by the student himself in his daily life. Two self-management techniques associated with the relaxation induced by exhalation are given further strength by being made posthypnotic suggestions. A direct posthypnotic suggestion for “concentration and recall” is combined with contingency management to effect more efficient performance when the decision is made to study. Four sessions are shown by clinical experience to be generally adequate to allow a transition from therapy to self-management of the problem aided by the student’s own use of self-hypnosis. A general outline of how this is achieved for the first three sessions incorporates both Wolberg’s (19656) suggestions to remove barriers preventing progress and Stanton’s (1977) Rational-Emotive Therapy suggestions to strengthen the person’s belief in himself.
H RESEARCH
Habit
2000
Eimer, Bruce. N. (2000). Clinical applications of hypnosis for brief and efficient pain management psychotherapy. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 43 (1), 17-40. (July)
This paper describes four specific clinical applications of hypnosis that can make psychotherapy for pain management briefer, more goal-oriented, and more efficient: (1) the assessment of hypnotizability; (2) the induction of hypnotic analgesia and development of individualized pain coping strategies;
(3) direct suggestion, cognitive reframing, hypnotic metaphors, and pain relief imagery; and (4) brief psychodynamic reprocessing during the trance state of emtoional factors in the patient”s experience of chonic pain. Important theoretical and clinical issues regarding the relationship between hypnotizability to the induction of hypnotic analgesia are presented, and attempts to individualize pain treatment strategies on the basis of assessed differences in hypnotizability and patients” preferred coping strategies are described. Some ways are also presented of integrating direct hypnotic suggestion, COGNITIVE-EVALUATIVE reframing, hypnotic metaphors, and imagery for alleviating the SENSORY and AFFECTIVE-MOTIVATIONAL components of pain, with an exploratory, insight-oriented, and brief psychodynamic reprocessing approach during trance for resolving unconscious sources of resistance to treatment, and reducing the emotional overlay associated with chronic pain. Some basic assumptions underlying the use of this approach are discussed, and a brief step-by-step protocol is outlined.
1996
Spiegel, Sharon B. (1996). Uses of hypnosis in the treatment of uncontrollable belching: A case report. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 38 (4), 263-270.
Uncontrollable belching is frequently benign in origin, but can be distressing in its psychosocial consequences. Physicians have little to offer in the way of medical treatment. This is a case report of a 71-year-old woman with incessant eructation of four months duration treated with brief psychotherapy utilizing hypnosis. The patient was symptom-free at termination, and this improvement was sustained at six month follow-up. This paper includes a detailed description of some of the hypnotic suggestions as well as a discussion of the factors that may have contributed to change.
1995
Holroyd, Jean (1995). Handbook of clinical hypnosis, by Judith W. Rhue, Steven Jay Lynn, & Irving Kirsch (Eds.) [Review]. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 43 (4), 401-403.
NOTES 1:
“This is a book for the thinking clinician” (p. 401). “The editors are to be congratulated for making this volume much more coherent than most edited books” (p. 402). “My impression is that the book is best suited for an intermediate or advanced course on hypnotherapy, or for people who are already using hypnosis in treatment. Although there is some material on the basics of hypnotic inductions and a few introductory sample scripts for inductions, a beginners” course should probably use a different book, or this book could be accompanied by an inductions manual. … I recommend it very highly” (p. 403).
1994
LaCrosse, M. B. (1994). Understanding change: Five-year follow-up of brief hypnotic treatment of chronic bruxism. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 36 (4), 276-281.
In this paper I describe the treatment of a 63-year-old woman with a 60-year history of nocturnal bruxism. Treatment included assessment, two psychotherapy sessions, including a paradoxical behavior prescription to reduce daytime worrying, hypnotic suggestions for control of nocturnal grinding, and reinforcement of the patient’s expectations for success. This case demonstrates how enduring change may occur rapidly in spite of the chronicity of a patient’s complaint. Follow-up assessments at 2, 3, and 5 years revealed that she continued to be symptom-free with her self-reports corroborated by her spouse and family dentist. I discuss implications for understanding the role of hypnosis in therapeutic change.
Wagstaff, Graham F.; Royce, C. (1994). Hypnosis and the treatment of nail biting: A preliminary trial. Contemporary Hypnosis, 11, 9-13.
A clinical trial was conducted examining the relative efficacy of therapeutic suggestions preceded by and without a hypnotic induction in the treatment of nail biting in 17 students. Outcomes showed a hypnotic induction added significantly to therapeutic benefits and was the only condition that resulted in symptom improvement. Results from only one session showed that 7 of 11 hypnosis subjects stopped nail biting compared to only 1 of 6 control subjects. Reports of “believed in efficacy” predicted treatment success better than ratings of motivation, hypnotic induction per se, or scores on the Creative Imagination Scale. However, within the group receiving hypnotic induction, hypnotic- depth scores significantly correlated with treatment success, suggesting that state factors such as dissociation might be involved. NOTES 1:
NOTES
The hypnotized Ss were given the T. X. Barber (1969) induction, a request for their depth estimate on a scale of 0-10, and then a set of suggestions to discourage nail biting. The suggestions were of four types: (1) to have a positive attitude, that nail biting is a habit that can be broken and that stopping will enhance attractiveness and self esteem; e.g., ‘With just a little self control you will stop biting your nails and feel better about yourself.’ (2) to stop the habit; e.g. to say to themselves, ‘I will not bite my nails today/tomorrow,’ five times each morning and at night, and whenever the temptation arose. (3) to improve feelings of self-efficacy; e.g., ‘If you ever feel the urge to bite your nails tell yourself that you want to break the habit and that you are perfectly capable of doing so. You are not weak.’ (4) that the results would be outstanding; e.g. ‘After only ten days or so … you will have no desire to bite your nails, indeed the very thought of doing so will repulse you.’
Control subjects received the same instructions, without a hypnotic induction; the procedure was labeled a ‘positive attitude for self discipline’ technique.
Judges rated improvement without being aware of the Ss’ self-report on whether they had stopped biting their nails. Judges’ ratings correlated r = .94 with Ss’ statements about whether they had stopped the habit. Improvement scores also correlated significantly with belief the treatment would be effective (r = .60) and Creative Imagination Scale scores (r = .53), but not with motivation. The hypnosis group had significantly higher belief scores than the control group. Within the hypnosis group itself, hypnotic depth was the only variable to correlate significantly with improvement.
The Discussion stated, “However, taken together, the findings indicate that hypnotic induction added significantly to the therapeutic benefits of suggestions for the cessation of nail biting, and that Johnson and Barber’s (1978) concept of ‘believed-in efficacy’ was more important in accounting for therapeutic success than motivation (at least as measured here), hypnotic induction per se, or the subject’s proclivity for imaginative involvement. Nevertheless, belief still accounted for less than 40% of the variance in improvement. This may have been due to measurement error or insensitivity in the measures. Alternatively, or additionally, other factors may have been influential. For example, if CIS scores are considered to be indirect measures of hypnotic susceptibility, then belief was more influential than hypnotic susceptibility; however, from a hypnotic state theory perspective, the significant correlation between hypnotic depth (LSS scores) and improvement within the hypnosis group might suggest that some further feature of the ‘hypnotic state’ could still have been at work, such as a dissociative process (Hilgard, 1986). On the other hand, from a non-state perspective, perhaps subjects receiving hypnotic induction and reporting high depth scores might have felt more obliged to respond to the demand characteristics of the study, and tried harder to please the experimenter (Wagstaff, 1981); the general motivation questions used here could have been insensitive to such an effect” (p. 12).
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.
1992
Page, Roger A. (1992). Clark Hull and his role in the study of hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 34, 178-184.
NOTES 1:
The contributions of Hull include his attempts to dispel misconceptions about hypnosis, comparisons of capacities in the hypnotic state with those in the awake state, a sampling of early findings that are still valid today, and examples of his contributions to methodology. Additionally, the roots of many modern-day models and concepts are to be found in his early works.
“Bernheim (1902) had believed hypnosis was identical to natural sleep, while Braid (1899) had believed the resemblance between hypnosis and natural sleep was just superficial. Pavlov (1923) held an intermediate position; he hypothesized that hypnosis was a transition to true sleep involving selective inhibition of certain brain centers” (p. 179).
“His proposition that hypnosis conforms to the basic principles of habit formation was supported by his own work (1933) and, with few exceptions, holds true today. For example, many studies have found that hypnotic responding improves with practice and eventually reaches a plateau (e.g., As, Hilgard, & Weitzenhoffer, 1963; Evans & Schmeidler, 1966). Parenthetically, one can see a resemblance here to the later notion of ‘plateau hypnotizability’ (Shor, Orne, & O’Connell, 1966). Although Barber and Calverley (1966) did demonstrate that an exception to this proposition will occur if subjects become bored and disinterested, it is still true that hypnosis is generally facilitated by practice” (p. 181).
“Yet another example from the same work can be found in the following description of the results of a conditioning experiment: ‘… it is possible that the hypnotic group were conditioned more readily because they were the kind of individuals who are susceptible to hypnosis rather than because they were actually in the trance when subjected to the conditioning procedure.’ (p. 219) In this statement, one can see the now taken-for-granted distinction between hypnotic susceptibility and being hypnotized, as discussed, for example, by Graham and Leibowitz (1972)” (p. 182).
“Still other now familiar concepts can be gleaned from his 1933 book. One would be the notion of trance having a kind of ‘inertia.’ Yet another stems from his hypothesis that hypnotic suggestions produce relaxation, which in turn suppresses ‘… the spontaneous activity of the symbolic or thought processes.’ (p. 310) This may well be the first conceptualization of what most recently has been referred to by Plotkin and Schwartz (1985) as the lack of a disposition or capacity to generate final-order appraisals” (p. 183).
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 36months.
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
Holroyd, Jean; Maguen, Ezra (1989). And so to sleep: Hypnotherapy for lagophthalmos. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.
We used hypnosis to facilitate eye closure during sleep for a 44-year-old woman whose nocturnal lagophthalmos prevented use of a contact lens following cataract surgery and could have resulted in severe corneal damage. On three separate occasions the symptoms remitted following a very brief course of treatment. We discuss the results in terms of alternate theories of hypnotic performance.
NOTES
The Discussion section notes, “There was an excellent correlation between the onset of hypnotherapy and the cessation of the recurrent corneal erosion secondary to nocturnal lagophthalmos. Healing of corneal erosion, disappearance of the superficial punctate keratopathy,
and alleviation of ocular foreign body sensation occurred promptly following hypnotherapy (with two separate therapists)” (pp. 267-268). The authors present the view that “heightened suggestibility, more vivid imagery, and more specific influence of thoughts upon organ systems probably came into play (Brown & Fromm, 1986; Holroyd, 1987). Social influence explanations (role taking, expectancy, compliance) seem less relevant as explanations. This highly motivated patient had not been able to keep her eyes closed during sleep despite her conscious efforts, her ”good-patient” role, her positive expectations about the benefits of standard treatments, and respectful incorporation of the assistance provided by her ophthalmologist” (p. 268).
Jupp, J. J.; Collins, J. K.; Walker, W. L. (1989). Relationships between behavioural responsiveness to hypnotic suggestions and estimates of hypnotic depth following 11 sequential instances of hypnosis. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 17, 93-98.
Behavioral responsiveness to suggestions was assessed in an initial hypnosis session, and hypnotic depth was assessed in this session, followed by 10 weekly standardized hypnotic experiences. Correlations were calculated between behavioral responsiveness, initial and subsequent depth estimates, and between successive trance depth estimates. Levels of trance depth estimates were found to increase through weeks 1 to 11. Significant positive correlations were found between behavioral responsiveness scores and trance depth estimates to the fourth week but not beyond. Significant positive relations were found between successive estimates of trance depth except for the correlation between estimates for the fourth and fifth weeks. These results are discussed in terms of the estimates of trance depth being attributions from self-observations of behavioral responsiveness to hypnotic suggestions.
1987
Barabasz, Marianne (1987). Trichotillomania: A new treatment. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 35 (3), 146-154.
The details of easily replicable interventions using hypnosis and restricted environmental stimulation therapy in the treatment of 4 cases of trichotillomania are presented. Hypnosis or hypnosis combined with brief restricted environmental stimulation appeared to be effective in 3 of the 4
Patients were given practice with hypnosis and also restricted environmental stimulation sessions to maximize response to hypnotic suggestions, as previous research indicated that only highly hypnotizable people responded to hypnotherapy for trichotillomania. The treatment itself consisted of simple posthypnotic suggestions, as “You will be acutely aware whenever you put your hand to your head, then it is entirely up to you, you have the power, the control, no one else, no habit controls you. You can pull your hair if you want to or you can choose to control the habit” (p. 149).
1983
Spiegel, David (1983). Hypnosis with medical/surgical patients. General Hospital Psychiatry, 5, 265-277.
The role of hypnosis as a tool in the treatment of problems commonly encountered among medical and surgical patients is examined. Hypnosis is defined as a change in state of mind far more akin to intense concentration than sleep. Diagnostic implications of differences in hypnotic responsivity are explored, and scales suitable for use in the clinic are examined. Uses of hypnosis in treating anxiety, pain, childbirth, psychosomatic symptoms, seizure disorders, neuromuscular dysfunction, and habits are described and evaluated. The phenomenon of hypnosis is presented as a means of exploring the mind-body relationship in a controlled fashion, providing information of diagnostic importance while at the same time allowing hypnotizable patients to intensify their concentration and interpersonal receptivity in the service of a therapeutic goal.
1980
Bornstein, P. H.; Rychtarik, R. G.; McFall, M. E.; Winegardner, J.; Winnett, R. L.; Paris, D. A. (1980). Hypnobehavioral treatment of chronic nailbiting: A multiple baseline analysis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (3), 208-217.
3 highly hypnotizable Ss were administered a hypnobehavioral treatment package in an attempt to alleviate chronic nailbiting behavior. The combined hypnotic and behavioral procedures included standard induction and deepening techniques, motivation enhancement, time-projection, self-reinforcement, aversion-relief, coping self-instructions, and posthypnotic suggestion. A multiple baseline design across Ss was employed as a means of evaluating the treatment intervention. Results for all Ss indicated immediate and dramatic increase in fingernail lengths concomitant with the introduction of treatment. At 3-month follow-up, 1 S demonstrated a moderate reversal effect while the remaining 2 Ss continued to indicate substantial progress. These findings were discussed with regard to the efficacy of hypnobehavioral treatment strategies and utilization of single-case experimental designs in future hypnotherapy research.
1977
Barkley, R. A.; Hastings, J. E.; Jackson, T. L., Jr. (1977). The effects of rapid smoking and hypnosis in the treatment of smoking behavior. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25 (1), 7-17.
29 Ss were assigned to one of 3 treatment conditions and treated for their cigarette smoking over a 2-week period. These conditions were: group rapid smoking, group hypnosis, and an attention-placebo control group. All treatments produced significant reductions in average daily smoking rates during the treatment phase but all Ss returned to near baseline levels of smoking by the 6-week follow-up. The rapid smoking and hypnosis groups did not differ from the control group in smoking rates at treatment termination or at the 6-week follow-up. They also did not differ from the control group in the number of Ss abstaining from smoking by treatment termination but did differ at follow-up. Eventually, at the 9-month follow-up, only Ss from the group rapid smoking condition had significantly more abstainers than the control group. The results suggested that rapid smoking can work as effectively in group procedures as previous individualized approaches had demonstrated. Group hypnosis, while less effective than some previous individualized approaches had indicated, was nevertheless only marginally less effective than the group rapid smoking procedure. The use of abstinence rates as opposed to average rates of smoking was strongly recommended as the best measure of treatment effectiveness for future research in this area.
1976
Laguaite, J. K. (1976). The use of hypnosis with children with deviant voices. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 24, 98-104.
Hypnosis was used with 18 children aged 4 years, 7 months to 10 years, 1 month, with a mean age of 6 years, 8 months. All children had deviant voices — 7 had vocal nodules, 4 had hypertrophy of the vocal bands, 5 had normal larynges, and 2 could not be visualized adequately. All but 1 of the children responded by entering some degree of trance state. The younger children responded better when eye closure was not suggested. Post-therapy judgments of voice quality and laryngeal examinations showed that only 2 had shown no improvement. The 2 were the least responsive to hypnosis. Factors thought to be important in influencing the children’s responses are discussed.
1966
Barber, Theodore Xenophon; Calverley, David S. (1966). Toward a theory of hypnotic behavior: Experimental evaluation of Hull’s postulate that hypnotic susceptibility is a habit phenomenon. Journal of Personality, 34, 416-433.
NOTES
Examines Hull’s 1933 theory that hypnotic susceptibility is a habit phenomenon, which he derived from a review of the literature and an experiment. Also presents his own experiment to test it.
1965
Gruenewald, Doris (1965). Hypnotherapy in a case of adult nailbiting. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 13 (4), 209-219.
A middle-aged female nailbiter was treated in short-term hypnotherapy. Hypotheses and observations postulated in the literature for the dynamics of the symptom in children and young adults were shown to be valid in this case of more advanced age. Light-to-medium trance proved adequate for exploration and resolution of conflicts of which nailbiting was symptomatic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Vasilev, L. (1965). Mysterious phenomena of the human psyche. New York: University Books. (Abstracted in American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1965, 8:2, 146-147)
The review of this book by Leo Wollman (American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1965, vol. 8, pp. 146-147) states, “Many interesting theories about hypnosis are aired in this book. The opinions Pavlov propounded many years ago, about cortical inhibition are assiduously asserted, yet some statements made bear investigation. The mere sight of the experimenter in B. N. Birman’s experiments with dogs put the dog into a hypnotic state. The appearance in the room of other people, who had not participated in the experiments, had no sleep inducing effect. For the experimental animal, therefore, the experimenter himself had been transformed into a conditioned hypnogenous stimulus. Similarly, in group hypnotherapy, the entrance of the physician-hypnotist into the room often effects a hypnotic state in some of the subjects. The doctor has become the stimulus for the conditioned response, that of hypnotic trance state induction.
” An interesting and perhaps little known fact elicited from Chapter III (Hypnotism and Suggestion) is the high percentage (12%) of those replies to questionnaires during the First International Congress on Experimental Psychology held in Paris in 1899, which indicated that 3,000 respondents had hallucinations while in a normal state of health. The majority were visual; auditory and tactile hallucinations were less frequent” (pp. 146-147).
1955
Hart, Hornell (1955). Measuring some results of autohypnosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3 (4), 229-242.
NOTES
The author developed self ratings for mood (euphoria-dysphoria) and alertness-fatigue, which were administered to college students in neutral conditions and after self-hypnosis conditions. The self hypnosis, or “auto-conditioning” usually involved deep relaxation self suggestions followed by other suggestions. The suggestions involved using the word ‘you’ to be able to re-instate the autoconditioning more and more effectively; suggestions for attitude change (e.g. that ‘No matter what comes, we will grapple with it courageously’); and euphoria auto-suggestions (e.g. that ‘you will come out of this deep relaxation, feeling rested, alert, cheerful and courageous’).
In both single session experiments, as with a class of nurses who experienced an 8 minute auto-conditioning procedure, and in experiments extending over time, depression decreased. He noted that “for various reasons, the students who participated in autoconditioning experiments between February and May, 1955, were in many respects less successful than some of the previous experimental groups had been” (p. 235).
Increased alertness and diminished fatigue was also observed.
Many students chose to give themselves suggestions to correct the habit of procrastination. Two-thirds of the participants reported complete success, up to the level specified, and only one of 43 experiments on correcting procrastination was a “flat failure.”
McCord, Hallack (1955). Hypnotherapy and stuttering. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3, 210-214. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, 57: 1368)
NOTES
Reviews literature and concludes: “On the basis of the evidence presented, it would seem indicated hypnotherapy is a technique deserving further attention by research-minded speech pathologists with hypnotherapeutic training and skill.
“In this connection, no doubt, special attention should be given to the relative permanency of the so-called ‘cures,’ for frequently the hypnosis literature is not clear on this point. …
“Also, it is indicated speech pathologists who research in hypnotherapy should select and report on their techniques with care. Many hypnotherapists agree, for example, that a straight suggesting-away-of-symptoms technique seldom results in a lasting behavior change with many subjects. Unfortunately, this relatively ‘weak’ technique is often the only one known to persons not familar [sic] with the hypnosis literature.
“However, authorities indicate more lasting behavior changes are often brought about when more sophisticated hypnotherapeutic techniques are used — techniques such as psychotherapy under hypnosis, abreaction, hypnoanalysis, emotion intensification, projective hypnoanalysis, memory change during age regression, attitude modification, etc. …
“Finally, research workers should investigate the possible value of providing even temporary freedom from stuttering symptoms for some patients. Perhaps some individuals would find it desirable to return for further hypnotherapy periodically, even as the hayfever sufferer returns to his allergist each year for a shot in the arm with the onset of the ragweed season” (pp. 212-213).
1931
Krueger, R. G. (1931). The influence of repetition and disuse upon rate of hypnotization. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 14, 260-269.
NOTES
In this research, Krueger and his advisor, Clark Hull, used good hypnotic subjects to demonstrate that such selected Ss close their eyes more and more quickly when given standardized suggestions of relaxation, sleep, and eye-closure in repeated sessions.
HALLUCINATIONS
2003
Whalley, Matthew; Oakley, David (2003). Psychogenic pain: A study using multidimensional scaling. Contemporary Hypnosis, 20, 16-24
Hypnotic suggestions designed to induce a sensation of pain were given to eleven highly hypnotisable participants and produced the intended effect in six of them. Subjective aspects of the pain experiences were investigated using conventional pain questionnaires and a multidimensional scaling technique. The implications are discussed in terms of a model of consciousness and the aetiology of chronic pain.
1999
Kirsch, Irving; Wickless, Cynthia; Moffitt, Kathie H. (1999). Expectancy and suggestibility: Are the effects of environmental enhncement due to detection?. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 47 (1), 40-45.
This study replicated the effect of Wickless and Kirsch’s experiential expectancy manipulation, in which lights and music from hidden sources were used to convince participants that they were responding successfully to suggestions for visual and auditory hallucinations. The hypothesis that the effect is mediated by detection of the manipulation was tested by providing some participants with cues that their experiences were due to actual changes in the physical environment rather than to their responses to suggestion. This hypothesis was not confirmed. A significant effect on suggestibility was obtained only among participants not given cues aimed at enabling detection of the manipulation, and among those provided with the cues, suspicion of the manipulation was negatively correlated with response to suggestion.
1998
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
Spiegel, David (1995, November). Neurophysiological effects of hypnotic perceptual alteration. [Paper] Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, San Antonio, TX.
NOTES 1:
We studied the relationship between selective attention and hypnotic processes. Michael Posner’s theory has different centers for different kinds of attentional processes. Posterior (anterior to the occipital) cortex seems related to arousal. Anterior system has 2 loci: anterior cingulate and [missed words] pole, which relates to the narrowing of attention in hypnosis. We used cued target detection tasks, with MRI measures.
We think hypnotic attention is related to the anterior system.
In an earlier study we used 10 Highs, measured their visual ERPs, with both hypnotic obstructive hallucination and normal attention conditions. We found early and late evoked potential wave component differences: P100, P200, and P300. We were surprised by the P100 or attentional component.
Steven Hilliard’s work used an ERP model, and an attentional paradigm with only 1/2 visual field involved. Usually N1 and P1 loci of EEG are the most affected in attentional studies using the evoked response potential measure.