Hypnosis a Powerful Tool in Complementary Cancer Care

Hypnosis a Powerful Tool in Complementary Cancer Care

By, Jack Bleeker

February 9, 2010

Complementary therapies, while not given the attention that more traditional cancer therapies may receive, are perhaps equally important while undergoing treatment for certain types of cancer. Patients diagnosed with
difficult to treat malignancies will often use these types of therapies in
conjunction with traditional surgical, chemotherapeutic, or radiology
techniques to form a more comprehensive and effective treatment regimen. Among
the most important and effective alternative therapies utilized by those
diagnosed with cancer is hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapy has been used for many years in clinical settings. Hypnotherapy’s role in cancer management however, is relatively new and indications are that its utilization has not been fully maximized yet.
Effective cancer treatment often depends on the patient’s ability to not only
defeat the cancer through treatments but also to maintain their health and
mental spirit throughout the painful side effects of cancer treatments such as
chemotherapy and radiation.

Often, the symptoms and effects of the cancer itself on the body are negligible compared to the pain and other side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. This is where acupuncture has been said to be most effective.
Cancers such as mesothelioma, which
are often unable to be removed by surgical means, are often treated with some
combination of chemotherapy and radiation. While these potent therapies can be
effective in eliminating some of the tumor mass and growth, they also
profoundly affect the health of the surrounding tissue. Symptoms of these
effects including fever, nausea, and general pain have been dramatically
reduced through the utilization of hypnosis. Patients, who are able to
withstand these symptoms and recover quickly, will often be able to be more
aggressively treated, increasing the efficacy of the treatment regimen as a
whole. Some specific hypnotherapy techniques utilized in pain management
include altering the neurophysical configuration of pain, control of
anticipatory anxiety, and targeted imagery.

Hypnotherapy techniques may not be appropriate for all patient’s pain and individual symptoms but it’s certainly worth exploring as it can do very little harm in experimenting with integrative therapies. The goal
with alternative therapies, as with traditional therapies, is always to
increase the effectiveness of treatment as a whole. If hypnotherapy can assist
in any way in helping patients recover or manage symptoms of chemotherapy or
radiation, then it will have contributed to the treatment regimens overall
efficacy and should certainly be utilized.

References

Erickson MH: Hypnosis in painful terminal illness, in Haley J (ed): Advanced Techniques of Hypnosis and Therapy: Selected Papers of Milton Erickson, MD.
New York, Crune & Stratton, 1967.

Sunnen, Gerard M.D. , Hypnotic Approaches in the Cancer Patient Ozonics International, LLC