Posts by Steve Cohen
When Fear Turns Up the Pain: How Hypnosis May Help
Before the surgeon made an incision, researchers tried something you might not expect: 15 minutes of hypnosis. In a little-known 2007 clinical trial at Mount Sinai, 200 women preparing for a breast biopsy or lumpectomy received either a brief hypnosis session or a session of supportive listening. At discharge, the hypnosis group reported less pain,…
Read MoreHypnosis and Positive Change: Learning a Better Response
Look closely at the photograph. A man rests comfortably in a recliner. His eyes are closed, his breathing appears calm, and his hands rest naturally across his body. Beside him, a Healthcare professional speaks quietly and deliberately. Nothing dramatic is happening. No swinging watch. No loss of control. No mysterious trance. The photograph captures something…
Read MoreHypnosis and the Mind Body Connection: When the Body Remembers What the Mind Wants to Forget
Understanding Stress-Related Physical Symptoms Through the Mind-Body Connection In 1886, Baltimore physician John Noland Mackenzie placed an exquisitely crafted artificial rose near a woman who experienced severe reactions around real roses. Almost immediately, her throat began to itch. Her breathing became difficult. Her body reacted as though it had encountered the very substance it feared.…
Read MoreWhen the Caregiver Never Clocks Out: How Hypnosis May Help
The Patient Behind the Patient In 2015, researchers in Italy worked with 15 people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—ALS. But behind every patient stood another person carrying a weight that rarely appeared on a medical chart. Twelve were spouses. Three were daughters. The patients received four weekly hypnosis sessions and learned self-hypnosis. Their caregivers did…
Read MoreThe Night Before Surgery: A Hypnosis Approach to Anticipatory Anxiety and Insomnia
In 2018, a patient identified in the medical literature as Mr. LC agreed to something most people would find difficult to imagine: brain surgery during which he would need to be awake and responsive for part of the procedure. At Pierre Wertheimer Neurological Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon, in France, his anesthesiologist used medical hypnosis…
Read MoreShe Was Afraid of the MRI Until She Found an Escape Route
How Hypnosis May Help With Claustrophobia During Medical Imaging Let me tell you about a 35-year-old woman in Batavia, IL She needed an MRI, but her claustrophobia was intense. Not the “I feel a little uncomfortable in small spaces” kind of fear. Her score on a standardized claustrophobia questionnaire showed that her anxiety was significant.…
Read MoreThe Man Who Learned to Turn Down His Pain Like a Volume Dial
How Hypnosis Can Change the Brain’s Interpretation of Chronic Pain Years ago, a young man had surgery at Delnor Hospital for a shoulder that kept dislocating. Nothing unusual about that. What happened afterward was. Instead of depending heavily on pain medication after surgery, he came to our office to learn how to use self-hypnosis. Later, because…
Read MoreThe Child Who Turned Chemotherapy Into a Space Mission
Cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux (USA Today) What therapeutic imagination can teach about fear, treatment, and the mind Hayley Arceneaux was only ten years old when she found out she had bone cancer. Think about being ten. At that age, your biggest concern should be school, friends, riding your bike, or figuring out what you…
Read MoreThe Alopecia Patients Whose Hair Began Returning
Twenty-one people with severe alopecia areata entered a small hypnosis study after other treatments had failed. For many of them, the hair loss was extensive. Some had lost nearly all the hair on their scalps. Others had lost hair all over their bodies. They had already tried medical treatments. Nothing had worked the way they had hoped.…
Read MoreThe Eleven-Year-Old Girl With 43 Warts
An eleven-year-old girl was brought into her doctor’s office with 43 warts covering her hands, feet, face, and other areas of her body. Not eight. Forty-three. Twelve of them were on her face. The warts had been there for more than a year, and the usual treatments had not worked. Her doctors were dealing with…
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