The Patient Who Entered Surgery Calm Instead of Terrified

How Preoperative Hypnosis May Reduce Anxiety, Pain, and the Emotional Stress Surrounding a Medical Procedure On April 12, 1829, a 64-year-old woman known as Madame Plantin entered a surgical room in Paris. She had advanced cancer in her right breast. This was before modern anesthesia, sophisticated monitoring equipment, and the pain management methods available today. Historical…

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The Elderly Man Who Reclaimed His Memory

How Hypnosis Helped an Aging Brain Find Its Way Back In 1991, I met with a gentleman named Ben, a retired accountant in his late seventies who had become increasingly frustrated by his declining memory. He wasn’t suffering from advanced dementia. He was able to recognize family members. But he was trapped in a frustrating…

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The Mental Block That Prevents Home Organization Success

In 1947, the Collyer brothers in Harlem were found in their home surrounded by over 100 tons of collected items. Newspapers, books, furniture, and even dismantled machinery filled every room. What began as an intention slowly became entrapment. Their story remains one of the most extreme and least understood examples of hoarding behavior. But most cases…

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How One Widow’s Journey Back to Life Changed Everything

Medvesta Hypnosis Healthcare How Medical Hypnosis Helped a Woman Reclaim Her Life In 1846, during one of the earliest public demonstrations of surgical anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital, a lesser-known parallel story unfolded. Physicians sometimes relied on focused suggestion and guided attention to reduce surgical pain. Patients were coached into narrowed awareness, their breathing slowed,…

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How This Amazing 65-Year-Old Quit Smoking in Just 20 Minutes

How Medical Hypnosis Helped a Lifelong Smoker Walk Out Free of Cravings In 1986, I  began using hypnosis for smoking cessation in the hospital setting. This past weekend, I found one case which involved a man in his mid-60s who had smoked since adolescence, for over 50 years. He agreed to hypnosis only because surgery…

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How a Woman Left an Abusive Relationship Using Hypnosis

How trauma-informed hypnosis helped a survivor reclaim agency, safety, and self-trust In 1987, a clinical case circulated among trauma researchers in my town; it was not in the headlines, nor in textbooks. A woman in her early 30s had returned to the same abusive partner seven times. Each time, she could clearly explain why she…

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The Singer Who Lost Her Voice And Found It Again

The surprising way hypnosis helped a performer overcome a mental block In February 2023, a 25-year-old singer came into our office with a problem that sounds simple until it steals your identity: her voice kept going hoarse, sometimes disappearing, right when she needed it most. Not at home. Not chatting with friends. On stage. For…

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