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How hypnosis is clinically utilized to address the spectrum of cancer's physical and psychological dimensions
By Gérard V. Sunnen, M.D.
Introduction
Medical hypnosis is a science increasingly recognized for its therapeutic applications. Applied to the comprehensive treatment of cancer, medical hypnosis offers unique possibilities due to its capacities for enhancing mind to body communication. This article describes how hypnosis is clinically utilized to address the spectrum of cancer's physical and psychological dimensions.
Abstract
Adjunctive hypnotic therapy in cancer may be directed to many levels of its manifestations. Physical symptoms of cancer, the most common of which are pain and fatigue, and the physical effects of its treatment may be alleviated to enhance quality of life. Hypnotherapy can significantly help patients through medical procedures and operations. Hypnosis may also be woven into psychotherapy to assist the uniquely personal adjustments facing each individual. Self hypnosis allows patients to actively contribute to their treatment. Finally, hypnosis and self-hypnosis may be recruited to stimulate healing spiritual discoveries.
Hypnotic and Self-Hypnotic Approaches to Comprehensive Cancer Care
Cancer is a multisystem condition, involving all levels of the organism, from the cellular to the psychological. While the baffling manifestations of its varieties continue to be elucidated, there is an ever-growing awareness of its complex psychological dimensions (Benjenke, 2000; Steggles, 1997). Of most humane concern are the intense travail and the spectrum of adjustments cancer patients are likely to face — adjustments to the condition itself, to its treatments, and to the poignant intrapsychic, family, and social changes it may induce (Kubler-Ross, 1969).
In hypnosis, an individual is guided from their usual state of consciousness to an experience marked by multi-level relaxation. In this special state of consciousness, novel perceptions may be experienced, such as feelings of enhanced communication with one's body, of the slowing down of the passage of time, and of shifts from analytic to synesthetic thinking, thus allowing the mind greater interaction with sensations and feelings (Sunnen, 1999).
In self-hypnosis the individual acts both as a guide and an experiencer. Through the use of self-oriented directives, progressive relaxation can bring about states of mind and body where, within the background of profound repose, mental images, healing emotions, and therapeutic affirmations can exert beneficent actions (Fromm and Kahn, 1990).
Hypnosis and self-hypnosis find applications at several levels of cancer care. Firstly, it is useful as a means of dealing directly with the symptoms of the condition: pain and symptoms referable to specific organ systems, and nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, malaise, and insomnia. Secondly, hypnosis is useful in the management of the side effects of cancer treatments. Thirdly, cancer patients are faced with major psychological adjustments. Many pair their diagnosis with existential demands for the reframing of life priorities. Lastly, and somewhat controversially, hypnosis has been aimed at modifying the course of the disease process itself through the use of imagery, and via the therapeutic potential of special states of mind, which may be called meditative or transcendental.
Hypnosis in Management of Cancer Symptoms
Symptoms attributable to cancer vary according to its etiology. Pain is the most common symptom aside from fatigue. Hypnosis has been amply documented to be a potent pain modulator (Chaves, 1994; Hilgard and Hilgard, 1994; Holroyd, 1996; Lynch, 1999; Peter, 1996; Schafer, 1996). There is a synergistic relationship between pain and anxiety, and pain and depression. The following case history demonstrates the role of hypnotherapy in modifying symptoms associated with cancer.
A stockbroker with a diagnosis of colon carcinoma established two years previously was referred by his oncologist for hypnotic treatment of pelvic pain. A recent examination revealed metastatic liver nodules, and a solitary lesion in the pelvic bone. Ambivalent about plans for chemotherapy and radiation, he opted for more time to make a decision about these matters.
He achieved a hypnotic trance with an arm levitation technique. This technique, like many others, recruits the ability of the mind to experience imagined sensations. He raised his arm in front of him in the image of a piece of wood floating on a lake. Eyes closed he could imagine lightness and buoyancy filling his arm, as would a light gas lifting a balloon. "Let those buoyant feelings move your arm upward and gently toward your face." His hand gently touched his face, then rested on his thigh. In the same way that he was able to imagine lightness, he could conjure feelings of numbness in his hand. "Imagine a cold breeze from a snow-capped mountain coursing through your hand." A pinch of a thenar skinfold was eventually perceived by him as a faraway flicker of touch. "The numbness in your hand can travel into your thigh, as if touching the smooth surface of a pond; you may be able to visualize the concentric rings of numbness spreading within your body in all directions. This ability now becomes your own, and you will be able to use it in self-hypnosis."
The relief he obtained was incontrovertible. Sometimes he could banish the pain completely and could walk comfortably for an hour or so. At other times, especially when his mood was low, he could gain only partial relief. He felt significantly more relaxed, reported more energy, and clearly enjoyed his heightened capacity for pain-free activity.
States of mind reached in hypnosis often have the property of ushering a propitious milieu for experiencing insights. "Eyes closed, your body can contact its deepest rhythms and your mind can drift into the endless expanse of relaxation. Opening doors to the vast knowledge within you, you can let your unconscious mind offer you insights about how best to proceed with your medical treatment."
Through this exercise, he gained clear perception to undertake chemotherapy. He successfully applied self-hypnosis to modulate its side effects. He also recruited self-hypnosis to heighten energizing feelings of optimism and self-esteem, which robustly assisted him in his medical trajectory. read more›
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