Hypnotherapy And The Treatment Of Chronic Pain
by Dorothy C. Hayden, LCSW
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What kind of therapy is suitable for treating chronic pain?
Psychological pain management is a combination of approaches that include cognitive/behavioral therapy to change negative thinking and self-defeating behavior, as well as hypnotherapy to decrease pain symptoms and to change the attitudes and belief systems that may be holding back your recovery.
In some cases, longer-term insight-oriented psychotherapy may be necessary.
Whichever methods are used, the overall goals for psychological pain management are to help you learn how to understand, predict and manage the pain cycle, how to increase your sense of control or self-efficacy, how to use coping skills to minimize pain, and how to maximize active involvement in positive life experiences in order to rebuild as satisfying a life as possible.
The role of hypnosis in chronic pain management
Both sensory pain and unpleasant emotions can be lessened with hypnosis. Reduced awareness of pain means less use of medication, or, in the case of people who choose not to use painkillers, the complete discontinuation of potentially habit-forming and mind-numbing drugs.
Hypnotic suggestions can reduce pain by actually retraining the nervous system to prevent the transmission of pain information to the brain.
Relaxation is the opposite of discomfort. Hypnotic relaxation techniques ease tension and frequently results in people being less bothered or pre-occupied by pain sensations.
Practicing self-hypnosis puts the person back in charge of his mental experience. It counteracts the tendency to feel victimized and usually helps with depression.
Hypnosis can help prepare people for chemotherapy and radiation and often reduces the noxious side effects of cancer treatment.
Hypnosis is used extensively to prepare patients for surgery, reducing the need for pre-procedure sedation, excessive anesthetic agents and post operative narcotics.
Practicing hypnosis can reduce emotional anguish and suffering. The emotional part of pain can be reframed to diminish the fear, anger, resentment, and stress often associated with chronic pain. The power of mind can make a tremendous difference in the amount of suffering experienced.
Dorothy Hayden, LCSW, is a New York-based psychotherapist who specializes in the scene, fetishes and sexual addiction. She received her M.S.W. from New York University and her psychoanalytic training at the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health. She can be reached at dhayden@nyc.rr.com
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