If Hypnotherapy is so good why are the doctors not using it?
In 1953, a British Medical Association Committee reported that hypnotism is a proper subject for enquiry by the tried methods of medical research and that it should be taught far more widely than it is. David Waxman in his book Hartlands Medical and Dental Hypnosis, illustrates in his book many incidents where he uses hypnosis for a variety of successful treatments. On April 24th 1988, the New York Times asserted that the survival rates for cancer sufferers had not markedly improved for 40 years. In certain areas there have been small improvements but nothing significant. These improvements have reduced side effects of radiation treatment and have led to better pain control.
Yet most Doctors now agree that the mind has a major effect upon a persons sense of self esteem and well being. Susan Seliger in her book Stop Killing Yourself tells us about a ten year old boy with an inoperable brain tumour. Radiation treatment did not halt the growth of the tumour. Death was his only option. Yet, at the Menninger Clinic in Kansas USA, he was taught to use his imagination and see himself as an air force ace that attacks the planetoid (tumour) with torpedoes, each night. Apparently, eight months later, two months beyond what he would have been expected to live, improvements in his motor control were observed. One evening, he searched for his planetoid but he could not find it. He commented to his father, There are only some funny white spots where the planetoid is supposed to be. A CAT scan then revealed a cluster of bony white chips, small calcium deposits. In 1984 was still alive thats when Susan Seliger wrote her book.
Seliger points out in her book that today more and more of us are aware of the effects of our moods, personalities and attitudes on diseases. This study of the interplay of the mind, the nervous system and the immune system is known as psychoneuroimmunology.
Psychotherapy can boost the immune system and can include meditation, guided imagery, counselling and hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy, with the use of self hypnosis, is able to maximise the healing powers of the mind, nervous system and immune system . A neuropsychologist, Nicholas Hall, at the George Washington University Medical Centre, discovered that the use of guided imagery could help to increase the number of circulating blood cells and increase the level of the hormone thymosinalpha-1, this is useful in preventing illness.
Research has not proven conclusively that hypnosis is a cure for cancer. However, regular self-hypnosis and guided imagery can improve the length and the quality of your life.
