How can hypnosis be integrated into traditional medicine?

How can hypnosis be integrated into traditional medicine?

John McGrail, C.Ht. (Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist) gives expert video advice on: Do medical health care professionals commonly use hypnosis?; How can hypnosis help me during a routine doctor visit?; How can hypnosis help me handle pain? and more...

Hypnosis or hypnotherapy can be a very, very powerful tool in helping people cope with, and sometimes relieve the symptoms of, a large variety of medical conditions. It is vitally important that everyone knows this: hypnosis must be used in conjunction with and under the referral of a licensed medical professional. Now every state has their own law as to what governs the scope and nature of hypnotherapy. In the state of California for instance, hypnotherapists are only allowed to work on vocational and/or avocational self-improvement, which is a huge spectrum of behaviours, emotions, and issues. However, if someone comes in with a specific medical issue like chronic pain, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, or cancer, or is facing surgery, a lay hypnotherapist is not trained to diagnose or treat those issues. However, the state of California, for instance, will allow a hypnotherapist to work in conjunction with a medical professional like a physician, a dentist, a psychiatrist, or psychotherapist. In fact it's required. When you do work together the results can be astounding. I've worked with AIDS patients, I've worked with cancer patients, I've worked with people with irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia; all these little diseases that don't really fit well into the Western medical model, and hypnosis has been really amazing. It's the same thing with pain relief. Hypnosis can actually help people go through surgeries without chemical anaesthesia. Now, not everybody can do that, but some can, and it is always analgesic in some way. So, to answer the question succinctly, yes; hypnosis is a very powerful tool in the adjunctive treatment of a wide variety of medical conditions. It must be used in conjunction with, and under the referral of, a licensed medical professional, and only that. If you go to a hypnotherapist and they do not demand that consultation and referral, do not go.