Review of international literature

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis,  Jan 2003  by Hammond, D Corydon

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Barilan, Y. M. (2002). Microhypnosis: A preliminary name for introducing elements from hypnosis into doctor-patient interaction. Hypnos, 29(3), 112-118, 123. The author elaborates elements of conversation and body gestures he utilizes in an Ericksonian fashion in daily interactions with patients to enhance their encounters. Address for reprints: Y Michael Barilan, M.D., 16 Mendele St., Tel Aviv 63563, Israel. Email: bentovia@shani.net.

Bongartz, W., Flammer, E., & Schwonke, R. (2002). Efficiency of hypnosis: A metaanalytic study. Psychotherapeutica, 47(2), 67-76. This paper, in German, examined 193 studies (that were published up to 1998) examining the efficacy of hypnosis, from which 43 randomized clinical studies were selected that compared a patient group treated solely with hypnosis with an untreated control group or group receiving conventional medical treatment. A meta-analysis was done on these 43 studies, which yielded a weighted average post-treatment effect size of .60 (medium effect size) for hypnotic treatment of ICD- 10 disorders (24 studies; average length of treatment 5.1 weeks). An effect size of .38 (small effect) was obtained from 19 studies where hypnosis was used as an adjunct in support of medical procedures. To obtain an estimate of the degree to which non-clinical variables (e.g., quality of design, method of comparing dependent variables) had an influence on the effect sizes, effect sizes were calculated for all studies of the original 193 that reported the necessary statistical information. From those studies with an average effect size of .80, a massive influence was demonstrated from nonclinical factors with a range from .51 for randomized studies with group comparisons to 2.0 for non-randomized studies using pre-post comparisons. Address for reprints: Walter Bongartz, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.

Brown, D. C., & Bobart, V. (2002). Medical obstetrical hypnosis and apgar scores and the use of anaesthesia and analgesia during labor and delivery. Hypnos, 29(3), 132139. The objective of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in Apgar scores of babies born to mothers who received hypnotic childbirth training compared with matched controls who delivered the same day without hypnosis training. Thirty-six individuals were in each group, and each delivered one baby. The hypnosis group infants had significantly better Apgar scores than the non-hypnosis newborns. Thirty-five of the control patients (97%) received regional anesthesia for delivery compared to 38% (14/36) women in the hypnosis group. Only 5.5% of the hypnosis group required analgesia compared to 75% of the control group who required premeditation. Hypnosis was successful as the sole anesthetic in 61% of deliveries, while only 2.7% of the control group did not require any anesthetic or premeditation. The hypnosis group also had a significantly shorter hospital stay (4.39 days compared with 5.17 days; p = .007). Address for reprints: Dr. Donald C. Brown, Halifax Professional Building, Suite 345, 5991 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 1Y6, Canada. Email: debrown@is.dal.ca.

Buckwalter, J. G., & Simpson, S. W. (2002). Psychological factors in the etiology and treatment of severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 185(5), 5210-214. It is often assumed that women with severe hyperemesis gravidarum are transforming psychological distress into physical symptoms. Psychoanalytic theory in this regard is reviewed, along with the few methodologically flawed empirical studies. There is little support for hyperemesis gravidarum being a conversion disorder, but there are suggestions that psychological responses to the physiologic conditions underlying this problem may become conditioned. The authors imply that this is the reason that hypnosis can be effective and that such psychological treatments need further exploration. Address for reprints: J. G. Buckwalter, Department of Research and Evaluation, Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA.

Corrigan, F. M. (2002). Mindfulness, dissociation, EMDR, and the anterior cingulate cortex: A hypothesis. Contemporary Hypnosis, 19(1), 8-17. The author presents hypotheses about the neurobiology of a mindfulness-dissociation continuum. Central in his theorizing are observations of a reciprocal interaction between the cognitive and affective subdivisions of the anterior cingulate cortex and the unilateral activation of right anterior cingulate in hypnotic dissociation and in PTSD. He proposes that the unilateral activation can cause a loss of the reciprocal relationship between the subdivisions and that in the case of peri-traumatic dissociation, the subsequent syndrome responds to EMDR through restoration of the bilateral activation and reinstatement of the reciprocal relationship between the subdivisions. Bilateral activation of the cognitive subdivisions is proposed to underlie the attentional state of concentration mindfulness in which affect is well regulated. Address for reprints: Dr. F. M. Corrigan, Consultant Psychiatrist, Lomond and Argyll Primary Care NHS Trust, Argyll and Bute Hospital, Lochgiphead, Argyll PA31 8LD, United Kingdom. E-mail: frank.corrigan@aanbd.scot.nhs.uk.