The Many Uses of Clinical Hypnosis
*This post is Part 2 of 3-part series: You can review Part 1, and Part 3 (coming soon)!
Let's discuss clinical hypnosis some more. It's such a wonderfully useful healing tool - there's so much to say!
In part 1 of our discussion on this subject, we covered some key clinical hypnosis background material: common misconceptions, key definitions including for trance and suggestion, how clinical hypnosis works from a neuroscience standpoint, Ayurvedic underpinnings, and more.
In this installment, we'll talk more about some of applications for hypnotherapy in our practice setting (and other practice settings). We'll also cover what hypnosis cannot be safely or reliably used for, and also how we integrate hypnotherapy with the other modalities used at The Buddha's Medicine.
One important note up front: going forward, I will be referring to clinical hypnosis both as "clinical hypnosis" and "hypnotherapy" interchangeably - just so there's no confusion!
What Do We Use Hypnotherapy For?
So glad you asked!
Here's an incomplete list of medical and medical-adjacent issues and concerns we use hypnotherapy to support. Bear in mind, hypnotherapy is not a cure-all/panacea; it is meant to be used alongside other appropriate therapies. And heads-up - this is a long list, and it's not even complete!:
Addictions and alcohol use
Allergies
Anesthesia for surgery
Anger
Anorexia
Anxiety
Arthritis
Asthma
Autoimmune conditions
Biofeedback
Bladder irritability
Bleeding control
Blushing
Bulimia
Burn healing
Cancer care
Cardiovascular disorders
Cerebral palsy
Colitis/gut infections
Concentration
Constipation
Cough (chronic)
Crohn's disease/ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel disease)
Depression
Diabetes
Diarrhea (chronic)
Dietary/nutritional issues (including challenges with lifestyle changes)
Dyslexia
Eczema and other forms of dermatitis
Ego-strengthening (which applies in most situations)
Enuresis (bed-wetting)
Epilepsy (seizure disorders)
Family therapy
Fugue states
Genitourinary disorders (including sexual issues like erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, lack of sexual interest, and pain with intercourse)
Geriatric issues
Headaches
Herpes
Hiccups
Hyperemesis (recurrent vomiting)
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Hyper/hypothyroidism
Hyperventilation (nervous/anxious)
Hypochondria
Infections
Infertility
Insomnia
Irritable bowel syndrome
Learning disorders
Menopausal/perimenopausal symptoms
Menstrual disorders
Metabolic disease
Migraines
Nail biting
Nausea
Obsessive-compulsive disorders
Obstetrics, childbirth, and high-risk pregnancy
Ophthalmologic/eye issues
Pain (chronic and post-operative)
Performance anxiety
Phantom limb syndrome
Phobias
Physical rehabilitation processes (including after stroke)
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Premenstrual syndrome
Pruritus (itching)
Psoriasis
Raynaud's disease
Sleep disorders
Smoking cessation
Social skills issues
Speech disorders
Surgical preparation
Thumb sucking
Tics
Tinnitus
Torticollis
Tourette syndrome
Trichotillomania
Vasectomy preparation
Warts
Wound healing
And more!
Whew. I did say it would be a long list!
How Does Clinical Hypnosis Work with Other Care Modalities?
Very well, as a matter of fact!
For instance, patients who are working with me in a manual medicine capacity (marma chikitsa/Ayurvedic acupressure, counterstrain) benefit from the integration of conversational hypnotherapy into the work. The more they focus on the somatic healing that they are actively, the more powerful the hands-on work is! There is extensive scientific precedent for the process of enhanced physical healing using hypnosis - for example, this clinical trial demonstrating improved healing after surgery and this single blind study on accelerated burn healing.
Cool, huh?
At The Buddha's Medicine, at the center of our therapeutic approach is personalized, medicinal lifestyle - and that necessarily involves everyone we work with making some lifestyle changes. Change is a process, and it commonly involves running into some obstacle or another. Hypnotherapy is fantastic in helping folks work through those obstacles.
There is very nice synergy there.
Then there's the all-pervading doshic piece; hypnotherapy is a brilliant tool for bringing out constitutional strengths and navigating constitutional challenges. It works as a means for grounding and stabilizing vata while enhancing natural creativity. It's fantastic for cooling and soothing pitta while balancing ambition and promote innate intellect. It's lovely for activating and motivating kapha while encouraging the loving patience that makes kapha so special.
And finally, hypnosis works beautifully for promoting a sense of general relaxation and ease. My belief is that we can all use a bit more of that.
When Don't We Use Hypnosis?
Again - glad you asked!
We cannot and do not use hypnotherapy as a tool for recovering memories, traumatic or fractured or otherwise. Memory factually cannot simply be recovered, because the neurological process of memory-making is reconstructive, and not recollective. Or, put another way, memory is the result of interpretation and meaning-making. Memory is not a photographic process; we cannot take snapshots or film footage with our brains. That simply is not how they work - so the next time someone tells you they have a photographic memory, you can politely point to an extensive body of literature on this very matter. And on that note, hypnosis does not work like some kind of magical truth serum with respect to past events. It is for these reasons that anything that might come up during hypnotherapeutic work cannot be admitted as valid testimony or evidence in a court of law.
And then there are particular conditions of note. Dissociative identity disorders, psychotic disorders, sociopathy, and personality disorders are also not particularly safe cases for outpatient clinical hypnosis at The Buddha's Medicine. Hypnotherapy can sometimes be helpful in those conditions when administered alongside other appropriate therapies by a team of dedicated psychological professionals. There is a level of acuity to those cases that exceeds our ability to provide safe care with clinical hypnosis at our practice. We refer folks out if they are navigating those conditions and want to explore the potential of hypnotherapy as part of their care.
There's still more to say on this subject, but we'll leave that for a part 3. In the meantime, if you're curious about whether hypnotherapy might be beneficial to you and your health, be in touch. If you're considering becoming a patient, I encourage you to take advantage of a completely free 15-minute consultation - that's an opportunity to meet, share a bit of your story, and ask any questions you might have. If you're an existing patient, you know how to get ahold of me, so don't hesitate!
Dr. Matt Van Auken, MD, MPH
Dr. Matt is an Ayurveda-trained, triple board-certified physician.
