Medical and Dental Hypnosis

MILTON H. ERICKSON, M.D. SEYMOUR HERSHMAN, M.D. IRVING I. SECTER, D.D.S. The Practical Application Of MEDICAL AND DENTAL HYPNOSIS General Medicine and Dentistry, Psychiatry, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Anesthesiology, Pediatrics A unified Guide and Textbook presenting: MODERN HYPNOTIC INDUCTION TECHNIQUES – THE THERAPEUTIC UTILIZATION OF HYPNOSIS – and – THE THEORY AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOSIS, as directly-related to the therapeutic goals of practice and research. This volume has been specifically designed for professionals in all areas of medicine and dentistry to help achieve maximum operational results and the further implementation of competence. © 2005 OTC Publishing Corp www.ericksonianhypnosis.com A statement by Milton H. Erickson, M. D. (1901-1980) Former Chairman, Board of Governors Seminars on Hypnosis Foundation (Predecessor of ASCH.ERF) and Past President and Co-Founder of ASCH. "During the past several years there have been ever increasing numbers of physicians, dentists, and psychologists interested in hypnosis, both therapeutic and investigative. Reliable sources of clinical information and instruction were practically non-existent except for a few scattered individuals. To meet this need, to interest universities, and to stimulate medical and dental schools to an awareness of the importance of teaching clinical hypnosis, a group of experienced clinicians competent in teaching was formed. Throughout the United States, tinder the auspices of various professional societies and universities, this group conducted seminars on hypnosis. "This book is compiled from the tape recordings of dozens of those seminars, arid thus it contains the material as it was presented, with all the simplicity, directness and effectiveness of the classroom presentation. "It is no more, no less, than a comprehensive presentation of the material upon which thousands of clinicians throughout the United States have based the initiation and development of their successful clinical use of hypnosis." The Practical Application of Medical and Dental HYPNOSIS Milton H. Erickson, M.D. Seymour Hershman, M.D. Irving I. Secter, D.D.S. Preface The material in this book has been adapted from that presented in seminars throughout the country during the past several years. These seminars arc conducted at the postdoctoral level, for physicians, dentists, and psychologists. 'To avoid the verbosity of the spoken word, some revisions have been made. For inductions and other techniques, the full flow of conversation has been preserved as transcribed from tapes, so that the reader may capture the entire sequence and interplay of events. Each of the co-authors is engaged in the active practice of his specialty. This fact is important because of the assurance it gives that cases presented, techniques demonstrated, and theoretical discussions are all based on day-to-day experience rather than on any purely academic approach to topics or secondhand access to clinical material and problems. It is impossible to put into book form the full give and take that exists in an actual teaching situation. A good many of the considerations that will occur to the reader have been taken into account, however, in the various question and answer periods, which have served as a basis for supplementing the individual approaches of the co-authors. There is no adequate substitute for actual participation in an active interpersonal training situation. This book is not intended as a substitute and it will have limited usefulness when employed alone. As a supplement to and preparation for actual training, it does serve important needs, not the least of which is that students can be relieved of the need for taking notes, and feel free to participate fully and actively in the training situation. Seminars and texts can serve only as beginnings in the training of individuals for the employment of hypnosis in their specialties. Beyond that point, it is essential for each student to practice, analyze, discuss with others, and gain as extensive and intensive experience as possible. Where two or more students are close enough to meet occasionally, the interaction of experiences and outlooks will help to provide continuing training and advice, either formally or through informal groups. Clearly, no seminar or single text can provide basic training for the internist, obstetrician, gynecologist, anesthesiologist, dentist, oral surgeon, psychologist, or psychiatrist. It is necessary to assume that each specialist has his basic training and then to demonstrate methods and approaches by which he can apply his special training to the areas benefited by the employment of hypnosis. Inevitably, the various discussions of problems in any given specialty have overtones that also apply to others. Each specialist who seeks to employ hypnosis is dealing with people and with the problems of human nature. Regardless of the specialty involved, people are people and certain general lessons are applicable in many fields. Since hypnosis is a psychologic technique, the more experience and knowledge its practitioners have of human nature and the psychodynamics of human behavior, the more effectively they will use it. A good deal of attention has therefore been paid to the nuances of psychodynamic interaction. In the long run, everyone using hypnosis in the healing arts will find that lie needs to gain a good deal of familiarity and facility in this area. If he observes the psychologic processes that are activated when lie employs hypnosis, he will achieve definite gains on that basis alone. How much further he can go depends on personal incentives and supplementary study of psychologic and psychiatric literature. Contents 1 Outline of History and Theory of Hypnotism 2 Suggestion and Hypnotizability 3 The Phenomena of Hypnosis 4 Induction Techniques 5 Clinical Applications of Surgical Anesthesia 6 Hypnosis in Obstetrics 7 Hypnosis in Children 8 Clinical Applications of Hypnosis to General Medicine 9 Clinical Applications of Hypnosis to Psychiatry 10 Hypnosis in Dentistry 11 Hypnosis in Psychology References of Interest Index 1 Outline of History and Theories of Hypnosi s Hypnotism is as old as time and probably originated when man first crawled out of the primeval mud. It has been employed for centuries in one form or another in all parts of the world. Primitive societies still use the "beat-beat-beat of the torn-torn" and ritualistic dances and tribal rites to induce a trancelike state similar to hypnosis. There are even several hundred references to the apparent use of hypnotic-like methods in the Bible. For instance, the laying on of hands to obtain cures was well known during the time of Christ. The king's "royal touch" or divine healing during the Middle Ages is another form of hypnosis. Receptive and suggestible individuals eagerly sought to have the godlike figure touch them and the hypnotic state was induced in a matter of seconds. In the Orient, yoga is still another form of hypnosis. Yoga uses breathing and postural exercises to effect physiologic responses in the body. The Greek and Egyptian priests used hypnosis over two thousand years ago in the treatment of various ailments. Modern history The modern history of hypnosis began with Franz Mesmer in 1773. Mesmer worked with the Jesuit priest, Maximilian Hell, who was the royal astronomer in Vienna. They used magnets in the treatment of several cases of hysteria. Hell thought that the magnet cured because of its physical properties, while Mesmer believed that the cures were produced by a redistribution of some sort of fluid, which he called animal magnetism to distinguish it from mineral magnetism, Later he abandoned the use of magnets, since his doctrine was continually misunderstood. Many people thought that he attributed his cures to mineral magnetism. Mesmer later observed Father Gassner obtain cures by the laying on of hands and by making passes over the subject's body. In 1775, Mesmer expressed the opinion that Gassner was using animal magnetism without knowing it. Gassner's bishop soon forbade any further manipulation of this kind. Mesmer then elaborated on Gassner's technique. He postulated that a fluid circulating in the body was influenced by the magnetic forces originating from astral bodies. The theory sounded scientific at the time. It coincided with the discovery of electricity and advances in astronomy. Mesmer later contended that he, himself, had this force and that patients could be cured when the magnetic rays flowed from his fingers. Public pressure forced him to leave Vienna, and he moved to Paris in about 1778. There, he developed a bath-like structure, or "bacquet," lined with iron filings and magnets. When a patient entered the bath, he "recovered" from his ailment. Neurotics, neglected by their well-meaning physicians, flocked to Mesmer's salon from all over Europe. He developed a large following with a very high percentage of cures. He also established a tremendous reputation that incurred the animosity of his colleagues. In 1784, the French Academy appointed a committee consisting of Benjamin Franklin, Lavoisier the chemist, Dr. Guillotin, the inventor of the guillotine, and others to investigate Mesmer. The commission found that certain persons, supposedly very sensitive to animal magnetism and capable of experiencing convulsive reactions when they touched trees that had been magnetized by stroking, could not tell which trees in an orchard had been magnetized unless they saw the magnetizing performed. If they were told that a tree had been magnetized, they could have convulsions when they touched it. The commission declared that the effects attributed to animal magnetism were the results of imagination and denounced Mesmer as a fraud. He subsequently fell into disrepute. These scientists failed to recognize, however, that suggestion resulting in strong rapport was actually responsible for the so-called cures. Though Mesmer was discredited, he actually laid the foundation for modern dynamic psychiatry. His investigations led to a better understanding of the relationship of suggestion to psychotherapy. Interest in Mesmerism was revived by Dr.

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