LAUSR

This well-controlled study gave a one-day training course to nurses on hypnosis-derived communication, which uses the repetition, suggestion, and metaphors found in clinical hypnosis language patterns. Forty-nine (24 in the intervention group) patients undergoing chemotherapy agreed to participate in this study explained as examining nurses’ different communication approaches on wellbeing. The nurses administered the script (adapted from Elvira Lang, 2006) at the start of a chemotherapy treatment. It involved having patients redirect their attention, use their imagination to enter a state of physical relaxation, focus on their breathing, and imagine themselves floating. A significant reduction in physical symptoms and global discomfort was found in the group receiving the intervention compared to usual care. Eighty-three percent of the patients reported that the intervention helped them relax. Two thirds also reported the procedure produced a more connected feeling with the administering nurse. This study demon-strates the benefits and achievability of using a hypnosis-like script to help patients with symptom management during outpatient chemotherapy. E-Mail caroline. The authors present the results of a prospective study conducted in Spain on the effects of hypnosis versus distraction to help children undergoing dermatological procedures with their pain and distress. A total of 65 child patients were included in the study with 33 patients receiving hypnosis administered during the procedure by a member of the medical team. The children in the hypnosis condition were found to require less anesthetic agent and other pain related medications, such as propofol and ibuprofen, both during the procedure and a day later. They also gave lower ratings of their pain and higher ratings of their satisfaction with the dermatological procedure than the children in the distraction group. The authors concluded that hypnosis was an effective way of not only reducing the anesthetic and analgesic medications required, but also for increasing the wellbeing and satisfaction of both the children undergoing the procedures and their caregivers. Address for reprints: Dr. Peláez The authors present a study reviewing some of the latest findings on the Thought Impact Scale, which Dr. Palsson and his colleagues have previously shown can be a good predictor of clients who might benefit from treatment with hypnosis. The authors obtained data from 1,500 research participants who were administered the Thought Impact Scale as well as a number of other instruments and items asking about their experiences with hypnosis and related phenomena. Eighty participants out of the original data set of 1,500 reported that they had previously utilized hypnosis for a clinical purpose. High scorers on the Thought Impact Scale were more likely to report having used hypnosis clinically than low scorers, which was consistent with previous research. However, there was no difference between high and low scoring participants on the Thought Impact Scale in terms of their self-reported benefit from using hypnosis, which had also been seen in previous research. The Thought Impact Scale was also reported as correlated with participants’ ratings of greater imagery vividness, the experience of automaticity and involun-tariness, as well as alterations in their somatic experiences and self-perception. Research into the Thought Impact Scale may one day lead to its adoption in psychology and medicine in selecting and screening clients and medical patients who can best benefit from treatment with hypnosis without needing to administer a standardized assessment instrument of hypnotic ability. The authors present a review of the empirical literature on the utility of various non-pharmacological methodsto help children suffering from headaches. The authors examine different non-pharmacological approaches to treating and preventing headaches in children, but focus mainly on the methods of hypnosis, relaxation skills training, mindfulness meditation, and yoga. They conclude that there is sufficient evidence for the safety and efficacy of these approaches to include them in the routine treatment of children suffering with headaches. The authors also point out that in many cases pharmacological interventions are not effective in helping these children. the effect of hypnosis on anxiety and pain rigid