Healthcare Hypnosis
The 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…
Read MoreThe Needle-Fearing Patient Who Finally Completed Her Treatment
How Hypnotic Techniques Can Help Reduce Procedural Anxiety Sophia was 15 when a routine vaccination turned into something her mind would not let go. The injection itself was not especially painful. In fact, she handled it fairly well. The problem came afterward. As she left the room, Sophia noticed several other children becoming upset about…
Read MoreWhen Every Medical Test Was Normal but the Pain Was Real
Exploring Hypnosis for Persistent Symptoms That Resist Easy Explanations During the Civil War, physician Silas Weir Mitchell began seeing soldiers with a strange and disturbing complaint. Some had lost an arm or leg, yet they still felt pain, itching, cramping, or pressure in the missing limb. The limb was gone. The pain was not. At…
Read MoreThe Patient Who Felt Calm Before the Operating Room Doors Opened
How Pre-Surgical Hypnosis May Reduce Anxiety and Improve the Recovery Experience In 2006, researchers at Yale University observed something unexpected outside an operating room. Seventy-six adults awaiting outpatient surgery were divided into three groups. One group received standard care. Another received supportive attention. The third participated in a brief hypnosis session focused on comfort and well-being.…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreRewriting Childhood Trauma Through Hypnosis: A survivor found healing without reliving the pain.
Many people have never heard of the silent files stored in the brain. In the 1990s, a neurologist working with trauma survivors noticed something unusual. Some patients could describe painful childhood experiences in vivid detail yet showed no physiological distress, spike in heart rate, sweating, or visible anxiety. It was as if the memory had…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreWhat Happens When You Stop Sleeping? The Terrifying Truth Revealed
Something did not add up. In 1987, a middle-aged man came in for an assessment visit, describing what sounded like classic insomnia. He was experiencing difficulty falling asleep, restless nights, and that quiet frustration of not getting enough rest. On the surface, it fit the pattern many of us hear every day. But as I…
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