Researchers from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom reviewed the literature, looking at the effects of hypnotherapy on functional gastro-intestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, and non-cardiac chest pain – conditions which create severe symptoms and erode quality of life.  

Because these conditions are notoriously hard to treat, often impervious to a wide variety of conventional medicines, there has been an unusual openness to exploring hypnosis as a treatment option.

This review concludes that hypnotherapy relieves symptoms and also appears to restore many of the supposed psychological and physiological “abnormalities” that, for better or worse, become  associated with these conditions.  The authors recommend that hypnosis be integrated into the ongoing medical care that patients suffering from these functional gastro-intestinal conditions are receiving.

Citation:  Miller V, Whorwell PJ.  Hypnotherapy for functional gastrointestinal disorders: a review.  International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2009 July; 57 (3): pages 279-92.

Researchers from the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Cincinnati’s Academic Medical Center looked at the impact of “mental practice” (the imaginal rehearsal of physical movements) on affected arm movements in stroke patients, as well as changes in cortical mapping in the brain.

Mental practice (MP) is a noninvasive, inexpensive method of enabling repetitive, task-specific practice (RTP) which has been shown in past studies to increase affected arm use and function significantly more than just RTP alone. 

As a next step, this 10-subject case series examined the possibility that cortical plasticity is a mechanism underlying the positive treatment effect from mental practice (MP) when combined with RTP (repetitive task-specific practice). Ten chronic stroke patients (mean = 36.7 months) exhibiting stable, moderate motor deficits, received 30-minute therapy sessions for their affected arms 3 days/week for 10 weeks, emphasizing valued activities of daily living (ADLs).

Australia, with its vast distances between urban centers and medical help, has always been a world leader in developing mental health services over the internet, and do a tremendous amount of research in this area.  

So it’s no surprise to see that most recently, investigators from St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, ran a study with 45 depressed subjects, randomly assigning them to either an internet-based, clinician-assisted, computerized, cognitive behavioral treatment (CaCCBT) program for depression (called the Sadness Programme) or to a waitlist control group.

In the Sadness Programme, participants completed six online lessons, weekly homework assignments, receive weekly email contact from a clinical psychologist, and contribute to a moderated online discussion forum with other participants.

Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Vermont in Burlington looked at the recurrence of SAD (seasonal affective disorder or depression) in the fall/winter, one year after receiving cognitive behavioral treatment.

The investigators had previously developed a group cognitive-behavioral therapy approach (CBT) specifically targeted for SAD and tested its efficacy in 2 pilot studies that compared outcomes with light therapy.

This study examines impact during the subsequent winter season (approximately 1 year after acute treatment), following participants randomized to CBT, light therapy, and a combination of both treatments.  (N=69).

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill developed and tested a user-friendly, inexpensive, home-based, guided imagery audio protocol for children with functional abdominal pain and found it much more effective than treatment as usual.

Thirty-four children, 6 to 15 years of age, with a physician diagnosis of functional abdominal pain, were assigned randomly to receive 2 months of standard medical care with or without home-based, guided imagery treatment.

Children who received only standard medical care initially received guided imagery treatment after 2 months. Children were monitored for 6 months after completion of guided imagery treatment.

Subjects found the treatment materials self-explanatory, enjoyable, and easy to understand and use. The compliance rate was high at 98.5%.

Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle randomly assigned 37 adults with spinal-cord injury and chronic pain to receive 10 sessions of self-hypnosis (HYP) or EMG biofeedback relaxation (BIO) training for pain management. Participants in both treatment conditions reported substantial, but similar, decreases in pain intensity from before to after the treatment sessions.

Hot damn, I knew this was true.  My guess is, it’s even more true for women in childbirth.  But I digress.  Researchers from Women's & Children's Hospital in Adelaide, Australia investigated whether there was a difference in hypnotizability between pregnant and nonpregnant women.  (Hypnosis during pregnancy and childbirth has been shown to reduce the use of pain medication during labor and other medical interventions.)

Study participants had hypnotizability measured by the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) in the third trimester of pregnancy and subsequently between 14 and 28 months postpartum and again, further beyond that.

Researchers from the Department of Neurology at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel examined whether a Parkinson’s Disease (PD) tremor, known to worsen with stress, could improve with what they refer to as “relaxation guided imagery” (RGI) and calming music.

Twenty PD patients with moderate to severe tremor participated in sessions where relaxation techniques were implemented. Tremor was objectively monitored using an accelerometer.

All 20 subjects in the imagery condition (RGI) had dramatically decreased  tremor (baseline 270.38 +/- 85.82 vs. RGI 35.57 +/- 43.90 movements per minute P < 0.0001).  Additionally, in 15 patients, the tremor was completely gone for 1-13 min.

Researchers from the University of Göttingen in Germany sought to validate claims from small, insufficiently controlled studies that neurofeedback (NF) reduces inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In a multi-site, randomized, controlled study using a computerized attention skills training protocol for the control condition, 102 children with ADHD, aged 8 to 12 years, were included in the study.

Children were randomized to the intervention - 36 sessions of NF training - or the control condition – 36 sessions of computerized attention skills training - within two blocks of about four weeks each. 

Researchers from the University of Bielefeld in Germany compared the efficacy of two different treatments for children in a refugee camp in Sri Lanka with severe PTSD, in the acute aftermath of the Tsunami of 2004.

Thirty-one children were randomly assigned to one of two pragmatic, short-term interventions, delivered by trained local counselors: either 6 sessions of Narrative Exposure Therapy for children (KIDNET) or six sessions of meditation-relaxation (MED-RELAX).