Hypnosis and Mind/Body Healing
It is not news any more that hypnosis, employed in such systems as my own Force
of Habit, is successful in eliminating subconscious mind "habits" like anxiety,
sleep problems, anger issues, unresolved grieving and the many effects of trauma.
It is also no longer news that hypnotic processes are effective in speeding up wound
healing (1), clearing up headaches, many pain conditions and any number of stress-related
digestive disorders, and that hypnosis is fast becoming the treatment of choice
for relieving the symptoms of such medically incurable disorders as Irritable Bowel
Syndrome (2). And now, in a climate where researchers are demonstrating that gene
expression is triggered by mental processes (3) (4), there is room for growing conviction
about the potential for mind/body healing of increasingly serious physical and medical
conditions. The Simontons have for decades documented the healing effects of creative
visualization with cancer patients (5). In The Biology of Belief (op. cit., 108-9)
Bruce Lipton reports on a Baylor School of Medicine study in which an orthopedic
knee condition is being treated just as successfully by the placebo effect as by
orthopedic surgery. Is the sky the limit?
Resistance, Beliefs and Mind/Body Healing
I suspect that the possibility of successful treatment of any given somatic condition-not
unlike any psychological, mental or emotional condition-is determined fundamentally
by the limitations in the client's beliefs about what is possible. Traditionally,
resistance in treatment is the client's inability to believe that change is possible.
In Force of Habit terms the definition of resistance is the therapist's failure
to convince the client that he will not die if he gives up his symptom. Any therapeutic
change, at the point of the sword of resistance, hinges on the therapist's ability
to create new possibility in the mind and belief systems of the client. That possibility
includes not only that the client will not die if she relinquishes her symptom,
but that she will be healthier, happier and more whole. My hypothesis is that there
may be no somatic condition that is untreatable using sufficiently complete mind/body
treatments such as hypnosis. Therefore, given that the healer has sufficient training
and skill in mind/body healing, then whatever treatment outcome is possible is limited
by three things: the client's beliefs about what is possible, the therapist's conviction
about what is possible, and the understanding that every person's entire genetic
blueprint is contained in every cell of their body.
Others (6) have already used the word "miracle" to describe logic-defying healing
results. Therefore, in accord with my hypothesis, let me suggest that a miracle
will be defined as an event for which there is as yet no logical or empirical explanation.
The history of scientific discovery is full of examples (7).
Force of Habit and Avascular Necrosis
of a Hip
An increasing number of clients are turning up in my practice with physical/medical
conditions as the focus of treatment, issues such as IBS, asthma, allergies, and
even orthopedic conditions. Each of these conditions appears to be clearing up in
the same manner as any of the psychological "habits" that I treat by the same means
(for background on Force of Habit see the first two Institute Journal Articles).
A recent case that I am still treating is an excellent example. All of the conditions
described in this example are medically documented and are as much as three decades
old. As with a number of other complex treatment situations, the healing in this
example is proceeding in steps, or stages.
A woman of nearly fifty came to see me for relationship issues. Several years after
a bad marriage ended she found herself unable to date, though she very much wanted
to, due to her fear of men. In one session it came up that she had developed a condition
in one of her hips that was going to require hip replacement surgery in the very
near future. As a young teenager she had been told by a family doctor that there
was a slight difference in the length of her legs, but that there was nothing to
worry about and no treatment for it. When she was a twenty one year old college
student and walking home one night she was struck by a truck that ran a red light
at 30 MPH. She surprised everyone by surviving, and she recovered fully. She continued
to participate aggressively in a number of competitive sports, as she had in high
school, without pain or any other symptoms.
In March 2005 she experienced hip pain after moving herself into her own house.
The pain never went away, so in the summer of 2007 she consulted an orthopedic surgeon
who, via X-ray, diagnosed her hip with avascular necrosis, meaning that the bone
tissue was badly deteriorated and that it was rapidly dying and breaking down due
to a lack of blood circulation. The doctor said that there is no cure for the condition.
He said that the only treatment was surgical replacement of the hip, which should
be done very soon. She scheduled the surgery. In July 2007 she brought up this issue
during a session and we discussed the possibility that the hip problem is caused
by a psychological/emotional imbalance. The woman's beliefs are consistent with
principles of holistic healing, inasmuch as she believes, as I do, that unresolved
psychic issues and imbalance can cause physical and medical problems (8). Put another
way, physical/somatic problems form in the human energy systems before they manifest
on the physical level (9). We agreed to make her hip problem the focus of treatment
for the session in which it came up.
Balance: Healing the Hip
The first session that focused on her hip took two hours. We soon formulated a metaphorical
connection between the hip-which carries and balances the body's weight-and her
overdeveloped (out of balance) sense of responsibility. The concept of "balance"
became a central theme of treatment: her ultimate goal was to be who she is naturally
in a balanced and healthy way. The client felt compelled to take on tasks that her
colleagues-and other people-ignored or neglected.
Two weeks later she kept her surgical planning meeting with her orthopedic surgeon.
The surgeon expected her to schedule the hip replacement surgery within a month's
time. He described her case as "classic" for hip replacement due to avascular necrosis.
The MRI he administered at the appointment indicated that the hip was now healing
and that there was no longer any sign of avascular necrosis. The doctor was dumbfounded;
he double checked to make sure that he was looking at the right patient file; he
was. To be certain in his assessment he took the unusual step of administering a
second MRI to detect whether or not a dyed isotope would be absorbed into the bone;
when the second MRI was completed it showed that the dye was indeed being absorbed
into the bone tissue. The doctor concluded that the bone was healing and he told
my client that whatever she was doing was working and that surgery no longer appeared
to be required.
In the session she visualized and imagined her usual experiences with work-related
tasks; she was able to keenly feel the pain and discomfort she often experienced
in the hip. We established a conscious communication with the pain in the hip. She
immediately got the mental image-and feeling-of a donkey that was "overburdened
to the sky" with heavy leather saddlebags. Then we developed the idea of a more
balanced approach to her work tasks and colleagues. When she imagined that-with
the accompanying emotions and feelings-the hip responded with feelings of comfort
and warmth. Along with these positive feelings she got the mental image of saddlebags
lifting off the donkey. With each bag that seemed to appear before her a personal
issue would come to mind and be dissolved. As each bag was consciously released
she experienced a release of energy in the hip followed soon afterwards by a rush
of energy to the area. Whether this rush was energy, blood circulation, the sense
of balance she ardently desired-or all three-didn't matter. It appeared that a freer
more balanced mental and emotional life corresponded with an improvement in her
experience of the symptoms-and of the hip itself. It came to her that she had been
confusing "caring" with "carrying." Family issues around parents who were unable
to show caring came to mind. Having established the desirability of a change in
mental and physical orientation, we installed the desired change in attitude, which
included clearing up at least one associated childhood memory. She left the session
confident that the problem had been resolved.
No Avascular Necrosis, No Hip Replacement
Two weeks later she kept her surgical planning meeting with her orthopedic surgeon.
The surgeon expected her to schedule the hip replacement surgery within a month's
time. He described her case as "classic" for hip replacement due to avascular necrosis.
The MRI he administered at the appointment indicated that the hip was now healing
and that there was no longer any sign of avascular necrosis. The doctor was dumbfounded;
he double checked to make sure that he was looking at the right patient file; he
was. To be certain in his assessment he took the unusual step of administering a
second MRI to detect whether or not a dyed isotope would be absorbed into the bone;
when the second MRI was completed it showed that the dye was indeed being absorbed
into the bone tissue. The doctor concluded that the bone was healing and he told
my client that whatever she was doing was working and that surgery no longer appeared
to be required.
The second step in the healing of this hip involves either hip dysplasia (10), which
is a misalignment of the hip joint that is medically unexplained, or arthritis.
The treatment of this stage of the hip problem is in progress; it has involved dealing
with both metaphysical and psychological issues.
Author of Force of Habit: Get Well and Stay Well by Clearing up Your Negative Habits
of Mind, Body and Spirit www.DavidKohlhagen.com
References:
(1) Carol Ginandes, Patricia Brooks, William Sando, Christopher Jones, John Aker
(2003). Can medical hypnosis accelerate post-surgical wound healing? Results of
a clinical trial. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 45(4), 333-351.
(2) Olafur S. Palsson, Psy.D. (2009). Hypnotherapy for functional gastrointestinal
disorders: a review. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.
Jul;57(3), 279-92.
(3) Rossi, Iannotti, Cozzolino, Castiglione, Cicatelli, and Rossi (2008). A Pilot
study of positive expectations and focused attention via a new protocol for optimizing
therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy assessed with DNA microarrays: the creative
psychosocial genomic healing experience. Sleep and Hypnosis, 10:2, 39-44.
(4) Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. (2009). The Biology of Belief. New York: Hay House.
(5) O. Carl Simonton, MD, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton, James L. Creighton (1992).
Getting Well Again. New York: Bantam.
(6) Bernie Siegel, MD (1990). Love, Medicine and Miracles. New York: Harper Paperbacks.
(7) Steven Dutch (2008). Why Science Can't Accept Miracles (Even if They Really
Exist). Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green
Bay. http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/PSEUDOSC/WhyNoMiracles.HTM.
(8) Louise L. Hay (1984). You Can Heal Your Life. New York: Hay House.
(9) James L Oschman (2008). Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis. New York: Churchill
Livingstone.
(10) Sarah Court and Lauren Giovonnoni (2009). How Stuff Works:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/hip-dysplasia.htm.
Published 10-27-09 by the International Hypnosis Research Institute
 | THINK RESPONSIBLY! |
|