Hypnosis, NLP and Guided Imagery to Improve General Health
Hypnosis, NLP and guided imagery can be helpful tools for improving general health. Hypnosis is extremely helpful for treating certain chronic illnesses that interfere with quality of life. For example, a recent study at the University of Edinburgh which monitored 75 patients with irritable bowel syndrome who were received a series of hypnosis treatments over three months reported a variety of benefits from the treatments. These patients felt their quality of life improved by 30%, their energy level by 25%, mental health by 21%, sleep by 18%, strength by 16%, diet by 14%, and social interactions by 20%. They also reported that hypnosis helped their anxiety decrease by 12% and depression by 4%. (Smith, 2006)
Since stress is a known trigger of irritable bowel syndrome, it makes sense that hypnosis would be an effect method for combating it, but hypnosis has also been proven effective in treating some ailments you would think are purely physical. For example, skin diseases like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and warts were shown to be effectively treated with hypnosis in a study performed at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. According to this study, hypnosis can improve symptoms and even "lead to the resolution of some skin diseases, including verruca vulgaris." This study speculates that the healthful benefits of hypnosis are due to the fact that "hypnosis can regulate blood flow and other autonomic functions that are not usually under conscious control. The relaxation response that occurs with hypnosis also affects the neurohormonal that regulate many body functions." (Shenefelt, 2007)
In fact, Stanford University has devoted an entire department to the study of the relationship between stress and health and the head of the department, Dr. David Siegel, has presided over 400 scientific journal articles recommending the use of hypnosis to improve general health, according to the department"s website. (
www.stresshealthcenter.stanford.edu)
For example, one such study at Stanford was performed on children with a particular anomaly in their urinary tracts and sought to find out if hypnosis could help reduce agony from a necessary but extremely painful annual exam they need to undergo. Forty-four children were studied, each of which had been through the procedure at least once previously and thus knew how painful it would be. Half of the children received training in self-hypnosis while the other half only received the standard preparation for the exam, recreational therapy. Researchers found that in the children who performed self-hypnosis, the length of the procedure was shortened from an average of 50 minutes to an average of 35. (Stanford University Medical Center Press Release, 2005)
NLP, or neuro-linguistic programming, a method of psychotherapy founded on linguistics research that is usually used to treat emotional issues, has nevertheless been found to be useful in improving health as well. A study performed at the University of Montana indicated that reframing, a central tenet of the NLP technique, had significant positive effects for chronic headache sufferers. (Bacon, 1984)
A dissertation from the Union Institute also concluded that NLP was an effective component in holistic medicine for the treatment of acute pain due to a variety of illnesses and injuries. (Bowers, 1996)
Finally, guided imagery is an extremely effective tool in preventative medicine, an important component of any wellness program. According to the non-profit organization Breastcancer.org"s website, guided imagery helps the immune system and relieves moodiness, depression and anxiety. They cite a study from the Oregon Health and Science University in 2002 that showed breast cancer patients who received guided imagery training boosted their natural killer cell count (a function of the immune system) and also experienced decreased depression. (
www.breastcancer.org)
