Schneck, Jerome M. (1955). Hypnosis-death and hypnosis-rebirth concepts in relation to hypnosis theory. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3 (1), 40-43.
NOTES
The author presents a few case notes in support of his proposition that hypnosis is symbolically conncected with ideas of death and rebirth in some patients. The final sentence of this article reads, “The unconscious identification of the hypnotic state with processes relating to death and rebirth may be involved far more frequently than realized with widespread belief regarding alleged remarkable beneficial effects of the hypnotic state and procedure which incorporates simple, authoritative suggestion” (pp. 42-43).
Schneck, Jerome M. (1955). Hypnotic interviews with the therapist in fantasy. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 3 (2), 109-116. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, 56: 1126)
” Summary. This report furnishes illustrations from two patients of the technique consisting of hypnosis interviews conducted by the patients with the therapist in fantasy. This method emerged from previous work with visual imagery in the form of scene visualization and some of its derivatives. The writer believes that further work with the technique presented now may prove to be beneficial in psychotherapy. At the same time it offers an opportunity for further study of personality functioning in general and certain aspects of psychodynamics. The patients manipulate the session in a way which furthers a duality in their functioning as a result of which they attempt to probe and contend with contradictory tensions in their unconscious. The image of the therapist undergoes certain distortions demonstrating dynamisms such as projection and identification as utilized by the patient. The therapist is in a position to view all of this and to discern elements in his relationship with the patient which may otherwise have escaped him. Countertransference issues may be clarified in this way. The technique may assist at points where the therapist seems to be functioning too blindly and where the patient may more pointedly show the way by guiding the therapist while relating to a mental image of him. There is a possibility that some aspects of this approach in treatment may prove of value in psychotherapy which does not incorporate hypnosis. This may be of assistance to workers who have not been trained in hypnotherapy” (pp. 115-116).
1954
Erickson, Milton H. (1954). Pseudo-orientation in time as an hypnotherapeutic procedure. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2 (4), 261-283. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts 55: 5753)
NOTES
The author reports employing an experimental therapy technique, projection into future time while in hypnosis, with five patients. “This technique was formulated by a utilization of those common experiences and understandings embraced in the general appreciation that practice leads to perfection, that action once initiated tends to continue and that deeds are the offspring of hope and expectancy. These ideas are utilized to create a therapy situation in which the patient could respond effectively psychologically to desired therapeutic goals as actualities already achieved. … ‘time projection'” (p. 261).
Erickson, Milton H. (1954). Special techniques of brief hypnotherapy. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 109-129. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts 55: 2508)
NOTES
Author describes techniques used with patients who aren’t able, for internal or environmental reasons, to undertake comprehensive therapy, “Intentionally utilizing neurotic symptomatology to meet the unique needs of the patient” (p. 109). He provides 8 case reports.
Patient 1 was reassured, in hypnosis, that his arm paralysis was due to “inertia syndrome” which he would continue to have, but it wouldn’t interfere with his work.
Patient 2, also with arm paralysis had another comparable, non-incapacitating, symptom substituted.
Patients 3 and 4, for whome restrictions on therapy were the limits of time and situational realities, had their symptoms transformed (e.g. by introducing in hypnosis the obsessional thought or worry that he would NOT have the symptom for which he sought help).
Patients 5 and 6 were helped, through hypnosis, to symptom amelioration. (Patient 5 had an IQ of 65.)
Patient 7 “Therapy was achieved … by a deliberate correction of immediate emotional responses without rejecting them and the utilization of time to palliate and to force a correction of the problem by the intensity of the emotional reaction to its definition” (p. 121)
Patient 8 “the procedure was the deliberate development, at a near conscious level, of an immediately stronger emotion in a situation compelling an emotional response corrective, in turn, upon the actual problem” (p. 121).
Erickson, Milton H. (1954). The development of an acute limited obsessional hysterical state in a normal hypnotic subject. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 27-41.
NOTES
The 25 year old female graduate student in psychology had often been used in hypnosis experiments and as a demonstration subject, and had witnessed induction of hypnotic deafness, blindness, and color-blindness though she had not been given those suggestions herself. Scientific curiosity appeared to be the motivation for volunteering to experience hypnotic blindness, but she was skeptical about her ability to experience it. The author gave a series of “exceedingly tedious” suggestions to develop somnambulism (passively responsive and receptive) followed by suggestions leading gradually to development of “blindness” with the intention of concealing it from the hypnotist, with attendant strong and mixed emotions.
The initial attempts failed because the subject ostensibly was deceiving herself into thinking she had developed hypnotic blindness, but the author also was of the opinion that she was seeking to meet unconscious personality needs. The author then covertly changed the goal of the experiment “to develop in the subject an acute hysterical obsessional compulsive mental state which would be accompanied by hypnotic blindness and which would parallel or resemble the obsessive compulsive hysterical mental disturbances encountered in psychiatric practice” (p. 32). The author developed a monologue of suggestions based in part on the utterances of hospitalized obsessive patients and in part on trauma relating to traumatic blindness in a kitten and a friend of the subject. In a slow but directed manner the author built up a double-bind situation which eventually led to the experience of hypnotic blindness as well as heightened emotional reactivity, crying etc.
Kline, Milton V.; Guze, Henry (1954). The alteration of oral temperature through hypnotic techniques: I. Pilot experimentation. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2 (3), 233-237.
NOTES
The authors used a variety of hypnotic techniques to attempt to modify the oral temperature of a normal 30 year old male who was capable of both positive and negative hypnotic hallucinations and of reaching a somnambulistic level with spontaneous, complete, post-hypnotic amnesia. Techniques included direct suggestions (general for temperature rising as when ill, and specific, i.e. his oral area was getting hot), time regression to when he had experienced a fever, age regression to age 10 when he had a high fever, direct suggestion of temperature drop, and positive hallucination of extreme elevation in a plane. A waking simulation control was run for each condition.
Although the subject appeared uncomfortable and showed behavioral changes, the mean oral temperatures did not differ from the baseline mean significantly for either hypnosis or simulation conditions, except for the hallucinated experience of flying in a plane at an altitude of 100,000 feet. That condition lowered the temperature an average of 3 degrees Fahrenheit. In that experimental condition there was no mention of temperature alteration per se, “thus indirect mechanism rather than direct mechanism appears to be more effective in the hypnotic control of temperature” (p. 237).
LeCron, Leslie M. (1954). A hypnotic technique for uncovering unconscious material. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 76-79. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, 54: 7497)
“Summary. A technique is given whereby unconscious material and information may be learned under hypnosis through automatic movements of the fingers, or of Chevreul’s pendulum. The movements are controlled by the unconscious mind of the patient. Questions are asked which can be answered either ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ With most people the movements of the pendulum can even be elicited in the waking state. Essentially, the method is a variation of automatic writing with movements substituted for writing. A brief case history is given wherein knowledge was gained in this way as to the causes for severe menstrual pains” (p. 79).
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)
NOTES
“Summary.
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).
Schneck, Jerome M. (1954). A hypnoanalytic investigation of psychogenic dyspnea with the use of induced auditory hallucinations and special additional hypnotic techniques. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2, 80-90.
“Summary. This paper describes in detail and with discussion the hypnoanalytic session which was instrumental in relieving a patient of severe dyspnea and fatigue based on intense, long standing psychological conflict. The conflict entailed the intermingling of past concerns and current pressing problems. These had to do with the patient’s long repressed feelings about having been told that her birth had been unplanned. They related to current indecision about becoming pregnant. Attitudes toward her parents were significant and these involved mixed feelings with the significance of her conscious and unconscious images of them. Into this picture there were projected the patient’s attitudes toward herself and her methods of functioning somatically as well as psychologically. The symbolic connotation of her symptoms as deterioration and dying in relation to needs for self-destruction were clarified. The symptoms of one and a half to two years duration were dissipated within a few hours and improvement had been maintained for more than a year at the time of writing.
“The use of induced music associations in order to make inroads into the core of the conflict is described. The dynamic significance of spontaneous choice of such theme [sic] is discussed. Other hypnotic techniques involve visual imagery with dream-like qualities and in the form of scene visualizations (8, 9). Attention is centered on induced auditory hallucinations and interesting facets of such experiences are discussed in relation to subjective and objective qualities of such hallucinations and the issue of dynamic validity” (p. 90).
Schneck, Jerome M. (1954). Hypnotherapy in a case of claustrophobia and its implications for psychotherapy in general. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2 (4), 251-260. (Abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, 55: 6064)
NOTES
“Summary. This report presents the hypnotherapy of a patient with claustrophobia. The crucial event responsible for symptom formation occurred in military service when the patient was trapped in a trench by a tank which stopped over the patient before proceeding, and at which time the sides of the trench began to cave in. Subsequent traumatic events served as reenforcement. It is likely that a low threshold for the development of anxiety predisposed this patient to the development of the claustrophobia, although the major trauma sustained was undoubtedly of tremendous impact and a distinct threat to life. Emotional experiences were sealed and free expression was permitted through hypnotic revivification. The dynamics, further elaborated in the report, suggest that similar occurrences not necessarily in military settings may be approached therapeutically in this way. Aside from the reliving technique, recall stimulation through a dream induction approach was employed. Other hypnotic methods were described and further implications for psychotherapy in general were elaborated. Hypnotherapeutic and hypnoanalytic approaches to phobic reactions have been described at length elsewhere” (p. 260).
1953
Kline, Milton V. (1953). Delimited hypnotherapy: The acceptance of resistance in the treatment of a long standing neurodermatitis with a sensory imagery technique. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (4), 18-22.
Author’s Summary – A case of experimental hypnotherapy of a chronic neurodermatitis has been presented within which the resistance of the patient was accepted as reasonable. Therapy was structured by the patient’s limitations and the results, at least in this one case, justified the procedure. It is suggested that a more global perception of resistance be recognized apart from its unconscious meaning and that cognitive aspects of resistance be evaluated and utilized in treatment planning. The problem of an artifact neurotic reaction in resistance oriented therapy is discussed.
Kline, Milton V. (1953). Hypnotic retrogression: A neuropsychological theory of age regression and progression. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1, 21-28.
Author’s Summary – In a review of the salient aspects of research in hypnotic age regression an evaluation of the data tended to indicate that under certain conditions valid age regression is discussed in the light of a neuropsychological theory of age regression. This theory based upon a concept of hypnotic retrogression views regression and progression phenomena in hypnosis as a form of psychological activity involving disorientation for the subject and a reorganization of his perceptual equilibrium and control mechanisms with particular reference to time-space perception. The term hypnotic retrogression is used to describe the centrally induced state which alters time-space perception and renders hypnotic regression and progression possible.
Rosen, Harold (1953). Hypnodiagnostic and hypnotherapeutic fantasy—evocation and acting-out techniques. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1 (1), 54-66.
NOTES
Developed techniques to reach patients who have little motivation for psychotherapy, sometimes hypnotizing them without their knowledge or conscious consent. “By still other techniques, symptom-formation was then blocked and the inevitable, resultant anxiety reaction repressed, so that underlying fantasies could erupt into conscious awareness even to the point of being acted out” (p. 65). By these means he determined the neurotic of psychotic functions being served by the patient’s physical symptoms. The hypnotic interpersonal relationship is “a fantasy-evoking one in which the patient, on the basis of his own experiential background and with more ready access to his pre-conscious, thinks, feels, experiences, reacts and even acts-out exactly as he believes the hypnotist wishes him to, projecting his own impulses, desires and fantasies to the therapist” (p. 66).
TEMPERATURE
1993
Hall, Howard; Minnes, Luke; Olness, Karen (1993). The psychophysiology of voluntary immunomodulation. International Journal of Neuroscience, 69, 221-234.
In twenty-two studies of intentional efforts of humans to change immune measures, only four monitored psychophysiologic parameters. One study reported physiologic alterations associated with immune changes. In this current study we examined changes in pulse rate and peripheral temperature associated with intentional changes in neutrophil adherence. Subjects had blood, pulse and temperature recordings collected before and after either a rest condition (Group A), or a self-regulation exercise (Groups B and C) for two sessions. Group C had four prior training sessions before participating in the experimental sessions. This study found no association between psychophysiologic alterations and neutrophil changes. the control group (A) demonstrated no significant neutrophil changes but showed physiologic alterations, whereas, the experimental group (C) that showed increases in neutrophil adherence demonstrated no significant physiologic changes. It was speculated that intentional changes on neutrophil adherence and the pattern of the psychophysiologic measures were associated with and reflective of cognitive activity.
1992
Hajek, P.; Jakoubek, B.; Kyhos, K.; Radio, T. (1992). Increase in cutaneous temperature induced by hypnotic suggestion of pain. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 74, 737-738.
Eight patients with atopic eczema and six healthy subjects were given hypnotic suggestion to feel pain in the upper part of the back and in one case on the palm. An average local increase in skin temperature of 0.6 degrees centigrade (detected by thermovision) occurred under this condition. For some patients cutaneous pain threshold was increased before the experiment by means of repetitive hypnotic suggestion of analgesia. These subjects reported feeling no pain subjectively, but the local change in skin temperature was equal in both cases. The results suggest a central mechanism induced by measuring changes in pain threshold in the skin, which changes are independent of local changes in blood flow. Local pain in the middle of the upper part of the back, and in one subject for comparative purposes in the region of the right palm, was induced during a single hypnotic session by specific suggestion which emphasized a subjective feeling of local pain lasting for 6 minutes. In four of the eczema patients long-lasting cutaneous analgesia was induced before this experiment by a different suggestion which stressed the impossibility of conducting pain form the skin to the brain and which was repeated in ten consecutive hypnotic sessions. The spatial thermal reaction of the skin surface was monitored, with consecutive recordings taken at 20-sec. intervals before and after finishing the hypnotic suggestion of pain. There was a gradual increase in temperature (1.08 degrees Fahrenheit). In the four eczema patients with long-lasting cutaneous analgesia treated equally, the thermal reaction of the skin was similar to that described above although no subjective feeling of pain was reported. These subjects reported feeling only that their skin was getting warmer at the specified place.
Miller, Scott D.; Triggiano, Patrick J. (1992). The psychophysiological investigation of multiple personality disorder: Review and update. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 35, 47-61.
NOTES
A review and methodological critique. Updates Putnam, 1984. Currently, psychophysiologic differences reported in the literature include changes in cerebral electrical activity, cerebral blood flow, galvanic skin response, skin temperature, event- related potentials, neuroendocrine profiles, thyroid function, response to medication, perception, visual functioning, visual evoked potentials, and in voice, posture, and motor behavior. Reviews the new research on the psychophysiological investigation of MPD from published, unpublished, and ongoing studies, and attempts to place current findings into a conceptual framework. Authors note results from unpublished and ongoing studies and include a critical analysis of current research methodology as well as suggestions for future research.
Mittleman, K. D.; Doubt, T. J.; Gravitz, Melvin A. (1992). Influence of self-induced hypnosis on thermal responses during immersion in 25 degrees C water. Aviation, Space & Environmental Medicine, 63, 689-695.
The efficacy of self-induced posthypnotic suggestion to improve thermogenic responses to head-out immersion in 25 degrees C water was evaluated in 12 males. An online computerized system permitted the change in body heat storage to be used as the independent variable and immersion time as the dependent variable. Two one- hour hypnotic training sessions were used. There were no differences in rates of heat production, heat loss, mean skin temperature, or rectal temperature between control and hypnotic immersions. Individual hypnotic susceptibility scores did not correlation with changes in thermal status. Ratings of perceived exertion during exercise were similar for both immersions, but perceived sensation of cold was lower during the second rest period of the hypnotic immersion. Three subjects used images of warm environments during their hypnotic immersion and lost heat at a faster rate than during control immersions. These results indicate that brief hypnotic training did not enhance the thermogenic response to cool water immersion.
Wallace, Benjamin; Kokoszka, Andrzej (1992). Experience of peripheral temperature change during hypnotic analgesia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 40, 180-193.
Many Subjects who experience hypnotic analgesia in a portion of their body often report that it is accompanied by sensations of coldness in the affected area. Experiments were conducted to determine if such reports are the result of a physical change in peripheral temperature or are due to psychological factors. When analgesia was induced in a limb or in the back of the neck, a concomitant physical change in temperature was not observed. Subjects did report experiencing coldness, however, in the affected body part. Such experiences were attributed to associations that Subjects developed between numbness or analgesia and a drop in peripheral temperature. As a result, coldness as an associate of hypnotic analgesia is suggested as a manipulation check for the presence of such sensation reduction.
NOTES
When a limb feels numb, there also appears to be degradation of proprioceptive abilities (Wallace & Garrett, 1973, 1975; Wallace & Hoyenga, 1980). When Ss are asked to touch their nose with finger, either subjects miss the nose or they take longer to do the task. This kind of proprioceptive decrement has also been reported by Spanos, Gorassini, and Petrusic (1981) and Welch (1978, p. 27).
This study used highly hypnotizable Ss (10-12 on Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) and low hypnotizables (0-2) in Experiment 1 which established temperature variability in an arm and sites for measuring temperature during hypnotic analgesia.
In Experiment 2, 40 subjects (20 highs and 20 lows by above standards, with group assignment confirmed by Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C, on which highs M = 10.4, lows M = 1.2) were given relaxation imagery (e.g. to imagine a white, fluffy cloud gently moving across a deep, blue sky during a count of 20, while at the same time, listening only to the voice of E describing the scene to them.
The analgesia suggestion was that “their right arm had been injected with massive doses of Novocain, that Novocain had been injected in their shoulder, in their elbow, in their forearm, in their hand, and in their fingers … their arm would become progressively more and more numb as E counted backward from 20 to 1” (p. 185; for more details see Wallace & Hoyenga, 1981). They were asked to perform the nose touch test as confirmation of the analgesia suggestion response.
Highs and lows who served as control subjects had the same treatment except instead of analgesia instructions they were told their arm would become progressively more and more relaxed as E counted backwards from 20 to 1.
The peripheral skin temperature was monitored during the procedures, and following the experimental manipulation Ss completed a questionnaire on their experience of numbness, heaviness, changes in limb temperature (very warm to very cold), and changes in mobility.
Analyses of variance were used to analyze the results. Although there were no objective skin temperature changes, there was a significant interaction effect for pointing error. Highs who received analgesia suggestions were off 4.35 cm; the other 3 groups had mean error of .45 cm or less. There was also an interaction effect for latency of response: highs with analgesia instructions took 3.05 seconds longer than in relaxation condition, while other three groups only took .27 sec longer, on average. Additionally, there was a correlation between receiving analgesia instructions and feeling limb heaviness for the high hypnotizables (r = .68) but not for lows or for any Ss asked to relax their arm during the procedures.
The sensation of coldness was reported by the majority of highs receiving analgesia suggestions (7 of 10), but 2 Ss scoring 12 on the SHSS:C did not report coldness. Cold sensation was not reported by any S in any of the three other groups. The correlations between cold sensation and heaviness (r = .65, p<.05) and cold sensation and immobility (r = .79, p<.05) were found only in the High hypnotizable, analgesia suggestion group.
The authors performed a third experiment to determine whether temperature change could be used to confirm analgesia. This would be useful when one cannot confirm with inability to move the body part, e.g. when the analgesia is being developed in a part of the body that usually doesn't move. The design for Experiment 3 was the same as for Experiment 2.
Analgesia rated on a 7-point scale was reported as 6.1 by high hypnotizables and 1.2 by low hypnotizables. "Reports of a temperature change during the induction were also related to hypnotic analgesia and being classified as high in hypnotizability. Such a relationship was only significant, however, for a feeling of coldness (r = .63, p <.05), and 7 of the 10 high hypnotizable Subjects assigned to the analgesia group reported the aforementioned sensation. A significant experiencing of a temperature change (cold or warm) was not reported by the other three groups of Subjects" (p. 189).
In their Discussion, the authors suggest that expectancy might account for the results, since during post-experiment interviews many Ss said that they expected their arm would become cold when it was numb. That was based on their previous experience, e.g. in placing ice on the skin. Notable, people did not exhibit this association if they were not able to develop the analgesia in response to suggestion.
The authors also take note of the fact that none of the Subjects reported associating cold with pain, though cold and pain often are concurrently experienced. This might be because only extreme cold is painful, and coolness might actually be perceived as pleasant.
1988
Wakeman, R. J. (1988). Hypnotic desensitization of job-related heat intolerance in recovered burn victims. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 31, 28-32.
The thermally injured patient who suffers extensive third-degree burns usually finds the adaptation to high temperature environments quite difficult. A 7-year study of 50 thermally injured patients with greater than 45% total body surface second- and third-degree burns was conducted to assess the usefulness of hypnosis for improved heat adaptation at the work site. There were 25 subjects in the experimental group who received hypnotic training and 25 in a matched control group. The experimental group achieved a mean of 6.25 hours worked over 16 weeks and 63.5 days worked out of 80. They worked 4.5 to 6.5 hours per day for an average of 221 days per year for up to 3 years from baseline. The control group achieved a mean of 4.5 hours worked over 16 weeks and 54.33 days worked out of 80. The efficacy of hypnosis in heat desensitization is discussed.
NOTES
Mean age was 38 for the hypnosis group, 33 for the control group; both groups had mean educational level of 8 grades. Mean percentage of total body surface burn was 50% for hypnosis and 54% for control groups.
Each patient was seen for 16 weeks, for 2 hours/week. The hypnosis group received hypnosis, were taught self hypnosis, and were given cassette tapes for use at home. The hypnosis training included a variety of techniques (e.g. progressive deep muscle relaxation, eye-fixation, eye-roll, and visual imagery techniques). They were given suggestions for lower skin temperature, lower 'inner body' temperature, less itching, gradual improvement of time spent on the job, as well as ego strengthening suggestions. The control patients received supportive psychotherapy, family consultation, and cognitive behavior therapy for the same amount of contact time with the same therapist.
The hypnosis group was to do self hypnosis every two hours at the worksite, in addition to home practice. Visual imagery suggestions were things like imagery of a cool waterfall flowing over the skin, having a tall cold glass of beer or soft drink, etc. They also had biofeedback of skin temperature during office visits, to reinforce decreases in skin temperature near the burned sites. They had exposure to heat (in a 95 degree sauna) for in gradually increased periods of time (15 to 120 minutes) before returning to the worksite.
Three years after treatment 20 of 25 control patients had quit their jobs or transferred to a cooler worksite, and all 25 had resigned from their original jobs or applied for further disability benefits. In contrast, only 2 of 25 experimental Ss were working in controlled-temperature settings, and none had applied for permanent disability benefits.
The authors note that family support was essential for the hypnosis patients to carry out their treatment program, and family consultations were essential for every patient. They also found the 'fade-in' technique using the sauna in the hospital occupational therapy area very useful for bridging the gap between practice in the office and going back to the work setting. "This procedure enabled the subject to practice self- hypnosis under controlled physical conditions while performing a work task that was more realistic than 'imagined heat' in the office setting" (p. 31).
1987
Price, Donald D.; Barber, Joseph (1987). An analysis of factors that contribute to the efficacy of hypnotic analgesia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 46-51.
An analysis was made of factors that contribute to the magnitude of hypnotic analgesia produced by indirect hypnotic suggestions. Two groups of human volunteers made _sensory_ and _affective_ visual analogue scale (VAS) responses to nociceptive temperatures (44.5-51.5C) before and after hypnotic suggestions were given for analgesia. Group 1 was given suggestions for developing a hypnotic state only once just before analgesic testing and did not have significantly reduced VAS responses to experimental pain after hypnosis. Group 2 was continuously given cues for maintaining a hypnotic state during their analgesia testing session and had large reductions in both VAS- sensory and, especially, VAS-affective responses to pain. A small but statistically reliable correlation was found between hypnotic susceptibility and overall magnitude of reduction in VAS-sensory responses (R = .4). The correlations were much larger for intense stimuli compared to those near threshold. Reductions in VAS-affective pain responses were not correlated with hypnotic susceptibility.
1986
Pereira, Robert Peter (1986, July). The role of organismic involvement in hypnotic emotional behavior (Dissertation, Wayne State University). Dissertation Abstracts International, 47 (1), 385-B. (Order No. DA8605027)
"Two hundred college undergraduates were pretested via the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A. Fifty subjects scoring in the range 7-12 were designated as Reals, while 25 subjects scoring in the range 0-4 were designated as Simulators. Reals and Simulators were given differential instructions before the administration of a second hypnotic induction procedure, which was accompanied by a task in which subjects were asked to relive each of three emotional experiences, i.e., fear, anger, and happiness. Reals were given instructions encouraging cooperation, while Simulators were instructed to try to convince a group of experienced hypnotists that they were deeply hypnotized, when, in fact, they would not be. "Physiological, overt-behavioral, and cognitive measures taken either during or following the relived-emotions task served as indices of Sarbin's organismic involvement construct. A post-experimental measure of the realness of subjects' relived emotional experience was regressed on these organismic indices in order to test Sarbin's assumption of a positive linear relationship between organismic involvement and belief-in imaginings, using data from the Real group only. Results indicated that, across all three emotions, the linear composite of organismic indices shared statistically significant amounts of variance with the criterion of experiential realness. Obtained amounts of shared variance ranged from 22% (during anger) to 55% (during happiness). These findings were interpreted as offering clear and robust support for Sarbin's theory of hypnosis. Suggestions for further research were offered. "The question of Real-Simulator differences was explored through several multivariate analyses of variance and covariance, using the organismic indices as dependent variables. These analyses were performed on the original sample of Reals and Simulators, and on two subsamples of Reals/Highs and Simulators/Lows which were created through the use of pre- and/or post-experimental exclusion criteria. Reals/Highs showed statistically higher levels of effort than did Simulators/Lows during all three emotions, as well as higher levels of skin conductance and finger temperature during anger. These findings were interpreted as being of theoretical and practical significance. Multiple replications of the physiological findings were recommended in order to assess the extent to which the skin conductance and finger temperature variables might be used in practical, i.e., forensic contexts" (p. 385-B).
Sargent, Joseph; Solbach, Patricia; Coyne, Lolafaye; Spohn, Herbert; Segerson, John (1986). Results of a controlled, experimental, outcome study of nondrug treatments for the control of migraine headaches. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 9, 291-323.
Headache variables were examined for 136 subjects who participated for 36 weeks in one of four groups: No Treatment, Autogenic Phrases, EMG Biofeedback, Thermal Biofeedback. All subjects kept daily records of headache activity and medication usage and participated in 22 laboratory sessions during which frontalis EMG and hand temperature measurements were taken; those in the 3 treatment groups practiced at home. There was a substantial reduction in headache variables in all groups. The No- Treatment Group differed significantly from the treatment groups combined, with the least reduction in headache variables. The thermal biofeedback group vs EMG biofeedback and autogenic phrases groups showed a suggestive trend toward improvement in the frequency and intensity of total headache.
Williams, David A.; Thorn, Beverly E. (1986). Can research methodology affect treatment outcome? A comparison of two cold pressor test paradigms. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 10 (5), 539-545.
Examined the effect of fixed or open latency instructions on subjective pain report for the cold pressor test using a single cognitive training strategy with 80 undergraduates. The fixed latency paradigm instructed Ss to leave their hand in the cold water for a fixed amount of time (e.g., 3 min), whereas the tolerance paradigm asked Ss to endure pain for as long as possible. Results suggest that the fixed latency paradigm is associated with lower subjective pain ratings especially when a cognitive strategy is used. The tolerance groups failed to decrease their subjective perception of pain but evidenced longer latencies when a cognitive strategy was used. It is concluded that while other research has used these paradigms interchangeably to assess efficacy, these 2 paradigms apparently pose different challenges to Ss. (15 ref).
1985
Schlesinger, Jay Lawrence (1985). Hypnotizability in relation to success in learning biofeedback training: Attentional involvement (Dissertation, Adelphi University). Dissertation Abstracts International, 45 (n8-B), 2701. (Order No. DA 8424937)
NOTES
"This study investigated the role of attentional focus in the relationship between hypnotizability and success in learning two types of biofeedback training. 40 female college students, aged 18-25, were measured for hypnotic responsiveness, and given one session of EMG biofeedback and one session of temperature biofeedback. For the biofeedback training, 20 Ss received written instructions designed to establish a passive, non-volitional attentional focus on the feedback signal, and 20 received written instructions intended to establish an active, volitional attentional focus on the feedback signal.
"It was hypothesized that level of hypnotizability would be positively related to success in learning EMG and temperature biofeedback training for the Ss given passive, non-volitional attentional instructions, while level of hypnotizability would be negatively related to success in learning biofeedback training for the Ss given active, volitional attentional instructions. It was also hypothesized that higher hypnotizables would perform better with temperature biofeedback than with EMG biofeedback, and that lower hypnotizables would perform better with EMG biofeedback than with temperature biofeedback.
"The hypotheses were not supported, nor was any overall relationship between level of hypnotizability and success in learning biofeedback demonstrated. There was support to suggest that an active, volitional attentional focus on the biofeedback signal was most adequately maintained by the 20 Ss given the active volitional instructions. Clinical implications of these findings and directions for future research were discussed" (p. 2701).
1984
Holmes, David S. (1984). Meditation and somatic arousal evidence. American Psychologist, 39 (1), 1-10.
The conceptual and methodological issues associated with research on the effects of meditation are reviewed. A summary of the research in which the somatic arousal of meditating subjects was compared to the somatic arousal of resting subjects did not reveal any consistent differences between meditating and resting subjects on measures of heart rate, electrodermal activity, respiration rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, skin temperature, oxygen consumption, EMG activity, blood flow, or various biochemical factors. Similarly, a review of the research on the effects of meditation in controlling arousal in threatening situations did not reveal any consistent differences between meditating and nonmeditating (no-treatment, antimeditation, or relaxation) subjects. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.
Raynaud, Jeanne; Michaux, Didier; Bleirad, Guilhem; Capderou, Andre; Bordachar, Janine; Durand, Jacques (1984). Changes in rectal and mean skin temperature in response to suggested heat during hypnosis in man. Physiology and Behavior, 33, 221-226.
Rectal temperature, mean skin temperature and heart rate were recorded in 7 subjects during hypnosis, induced either alone or while sensations of heat were suggested. During hypnosis alone, a fall in the heart rate of about 10 beat-min-1 was the only autonomic response observed; body temperatures were unaltered. In contrast, during hypnosis with suggestion of heat, the following changes occurred: (1) Mean rectal temperature decreased 0-.20 degrees C. (p<.05) within 50 min. Its mean time course differed significantly from that for hypnosis alone (p<0.001). (2) Comparison of individual rectal temperature time sequences showed that in fact this temperature only declined in 4 subjects out of 7, and tended to form a plateau located 0.35 degrees C below the value of the preceding waking state. Despite reinforcement of heat suggestion, the plateau continued until the end of the hypnotic trance. (3) Mean skin temperature tended to rise. (4) When hypnosis with suggestion ceased, both rectal and skin temperatures very slowly returned to their levels during the preceding waking state.
1983
Borgeat, Francois; Goulet, Jean (1983). Psychophysiological changes following auditory subliminal suggestions for activation and deactivation. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 56, 759-766.
This study was to measure eventual psychophysiological changes resulting from auditory subliminal activation or deactivation suggestions. 18 subjects were alternately exposed to a control situation and to 25-dB activating and deactivating suggestions masked by a 40-dB white noise. Physiological measures (EMG, heart rate, skin-conductance levels and responses, and skin temperature) were recorded while subjects listened passively to the suggestions, during a stressing task that followed and after that task. Multi-variate analysis of variance showed a significant effect of the activation subliminal suggestions during and following the stressing task. This result is discussed as indicating effects of consciously unrecognized perceptions on psycho- physiological responses.
1982
Barabasz, Arreed F. (1982). Restricted environmental stimulation and the enhancement of hypnotizability: Pain, EEG alpha, skin conductance and temperature responses. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 30, 147-166.
Restricted environmental stimulation procedures were used with 10 Ss. The Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale: Adult, modified to include a posthypnotic suggestion for an analgesic reaction, and pain threshold and tolerance tests were administered prior to restricted environmental stimulation technique (REST), immediately after REST, and 10-14 days later. Occipital EEG alpha, skin conductance, and peripheral, core, and chamber temperature data were collected prior to, during, and after REST. A control group of 10 Ss was used to assess the effects of repeated hypnosis upon susceptibility scores and demand characteristics of the experiment. Multivariate analysis of variance results showed SHCS and pain tolerance scores to be significantly enhanced for Ss exposed to REST immediately after and 10-14 days later. Orne's (1959) postexperimental inquiry technique did not reveal experimental demand characteristics which might account for the results. EEG alpha density increased significantly in REST, but the increase was not progressive during the REST period. The maintenance of hypnotizability and pain tolerance at follow-up failed to support Reyher's (1965) theory of brain function and behavioral regulation. E. R. Hilgard's (1977) neodissociation interpretation combined with J. R. Hilgard's (1974, 1979) imaginative involvement findings is viewed as a possible explanation.
Credidio, Steven G. (1982). Comparative effectiveness of patterned biofeedback vs meditation training on EMG and skin temperature changes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 20, 233-241.
Examined whether a low arousal, relaxation pattern of frontalis EMG decreases and peripheral skin temperature increases could be attained more effectively through biofeedback or meditation training. 30 21-59 yr old females were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: patterned biofeedback, clinically standardized meditation, or control. Prior to training, Ss were administered the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Each S was seen weekly for 7 sessions. Subjective experiences and time spent practicing at home were also recorded. Results indicate that the meditation group showed significantly lower EMG levels at the end of treatment than did the control group. The biofeedback group had difficulty in patterning the 2 feedback signals simultaneously. Extraverts in the control group had the highest EMG levels. The most positive subjective reports came from Ss in the meditation group. It is suggested that meditation offers a viable alternative as a relaxation procedure, requiring little time to learn and devoid of any performance criteria levels.
Spanos, Nicholas P.; McNeil, Conrad; Stam, Henderikus J. (1982). Hypnotically 'reliving' a prior burn: Effects on blister formation and localized skin temperature. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91 (4), 303-305.
60 Ss who had previously been burned were "hypnotically age regressed" and given both suggestions to "relive" the burn experience and suggestions that a blister was forming. Although 17 Ss reported vividly imagining the burn events, none showed localized skin-coloration changes or evidence of blister formation. Moreover, skin temperature measured before, during, and after age regression indicated no overall suggestion effects. Nevertheless, 1 S did show differential skin-temperature response to the suggestion. This S had showed only moderate hypnotic susceptibility on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. (10 ref)
NOTES
The male subject who appeared to show changes in response to the suggestion increased temperature differences between the burn site and the contralateral site from .3 degrees C before the imagining period to a maximum of 2.7 degrees C during the imagining period and decreased to 0 degrees C after the imagining period. However, temperature differences between the adjacent sites remained very small (never more than .1 degree C) throughout the session. This subject answered "no" to all seven items on the skin-sensitivity questionnaire. He testified postexperimentally to being only "slightly hypnotized" (score 1), "not at all age regressed" (score 0), and to have experienced imagery that was only 50% as vivid as the real experience. (His HGSHS:A score was 8.)
1981
Claghorn, James L.; Mathew, Roy J.; Largen, John W.; Meyer, John S. (1981). Directional effects of skin temperature self-regulation on regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects and migraine patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 1182-1187.
Vascular headache of the migraine type is associated with vasomotor changes in cerebral arteries. The authors studied whether skin temperature training (biofeedback) reduced the frequency, severity, and duration of these headaches by measuring the regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in 11 female migraine patients (27-52 years) and 9 female volunteers (22-37 years), using the noninvasive 133 Xe inhalation technique. Half of each group was randomly assigned to a hand-warming or a hand- cooling group. CBF increased in several regions of the left hemisphere to a significant degree only for the migraineurs who were in the hand-warming group. The pattern of vasomotor regulation apparently differed between migraine and normal Ss. The migraineurs'' headache symptoms were affected by both warming and cooling, but warming produced more salutary effects.
Piedmont, Ralph L. (1981). Effects of hypnosis and biofeedback upon the regulation of peripheral skin treatment. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 53, 855-862.
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of hypnosis on the regulation of peripheral skin temperature. The independent variables were the presence of a hypnotic trance during the session on thermal regulation and the number of trials received. A two-factor mixed-design analysis of variance with repeated measures on one factor showed a significant main effect for trials and a significant interaction between hypnosis and trials. it may be concluded that hypnosis, in conjunction with thermal regulation techniques, exerts a significant influence over performance. The cognitive characteristics influenced by hypnosis may account for this finding.
1980
Crosson, B. (1980). Control of skin temperature through biofeedback and suggestion with hypnotized college women. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 28 (1), 75-87.
4 groups of 9 college women attempted to raise finger temperature relative to forehead temperature during hypnosis. After a hypnotic induction, each group of Ss received 1 of the following treatments for temperature control: (a) biofeedback, (b) suggestion and imagery, (c) biofeedback plus suggestion and imagery, and (d) a relaxation, false-feedback control. Groups were initially balanced for hypnotic susceptibility. Between-subject differences in baseline temperatures were statistically controlled. After 4 training sessions, only Ss in the groups receiving biofeedback and biofeedback plus suggestion and imagry demonstrated evidence of learned temperature contol, and only Ss in the biofeedback group demonstrated a significantly greater ability to control skin temperature than Ss in the control group. Changes in temperature during hypnotic induction did not appear to affect changes during the subsequent treatment. There was no significant correlation between hypnotic susceptibility and temperature control for Ss in any group, contrary to popular assumption. Future research should attempt to ascertain if combined use of biofeedback and hypnosis offers any advantages to the use of biofeedback alone.
1978
Parwatikar, Sadashiv D.; Brown, Marjorie S.; Stern, John A.; Ulett, George A.; Sletten, Ivan S. (1978). Acupuncture, hypnosis and experimental pain - I. Study with volunteers. Acupuncture and Electro-Therapeutic Research: International Journal, 3, 161-190.
An experiment was designed to evaluate the protective effects of different agents - acupuncture, hypnosis, Morphine, aspirin, Diazepam and placebo - upon experimentally-induced pain in humans. Twenty normal, healthy volunteers were subjected to cold water and tourniquet- induced pain and the protective effects of 35 minutes of hypnotic suggestion, electro- stimulation of both acupuncture points and non-acupuncture points, 10 mg/kg of Morphine, 5 grains of aspirin, 10 mg of Diazepam and a mild sugar placebo were evaluated. Data was collected on subjective evaluation of pain, EKG, EEG, respiration, skin temperature, peripheral vascular activity and EMG. A special study was also done to evaluate the effects of all the above agents on the somatosensory evoked potentials and EEG. The data were further analyzed on the basis of hypnotic susceptibility of the volunteers. The results indicated: 1) Hypnosis, acupuncture at specific sites with electrical stimulation and Morphine Sulphate had about the same reduction in experimental pain. 2) Hypnosis produced different effects from those resulting from acupuncture stimulation on EEG. 3) Acupuncture stimulation in specific loci resulted in a latency increase in the early secondary response on somatosensory evoked potential. 4) Cold water pain was remarkably reduced after true acupuncture point stimulation. 5) Tourniquet (ischemic) pain was reduced by both hypnosis and true acupuncture site stimulation. 6) Skin temperature was significantly reduced on the side of acupuncture points (true) stimulation.
1977