Subscribe Feed (RSS)Hypnosis With Cancer Patients - Preparing For Surgery
December 13th, 2008 by admin | Filed under Uncategorized.More and more is being learned (or “re-learned”) each day about the mind-body connection. The relatively new field of psychoneuroimmunology is exploding with new discoveries about how thoughts and emotions affect the body’s immune and other systems, to create or reverse dis-ease.
Hypnosis is a very effective mind-body-spirit technique for producing change. In many cases, the most viable option for ridding cancer from the body is surgery; therefore, hypnosis is often used at this juncture.
Whether major or minor, surgery can be frightening. Hypnosis can help address and allay whatever fears a person may have regarding upcoming surgery–whether they be of the surgery itself, the effects on lifestyle afterwards, or even residual fears they may have from previous surgical procedures they or someone they know has had.
One example of this is a friend of mine who was diagnosed with breast cancer. One of her main “hidden” fears we uncovered in our consultation was that she would not survive the surgery. In talking with her further, it was discovered that when she was younger her father had died during the surgery to remove his cancer. She was carrying this fear that the same thing would happen to her. This was addressed in her hypnosis session and she said that afterwards, she was no longer carrying the anxiety that this would be her fate as well.
By using hypnosis techniques and suggestions, you are able to allow your body to relax and allay fears surrounding the surgery, thus helping you to feel calm in the weeks, days, and hours before the surgery. This can not only help you heal faster, it can also make you feel more comfortable and in control of your healing at a time when you can often feel helpless and vulnerable.
Other benefits of utilizing pre-surgical hypnosis can be:
–Need for less anesthesia during surgery (indeed, some surgeries have even been performed with no chemical anesthesia simply by utilizing deep hypnotic techniques to produce a natural anesthesia).
–Reduced pain after surgery, which has the added result of needing less post-operative pain medication.
–Shortened recovery time (by strengthening the immune system and visualizing post-operative healing goals).
–Reduced medical bills (with less anesthesia, pain medication, and time spent in the hospital and/or in rehab, your medical costs will be greatly reduced).
A study conducted by the Department of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, through McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, showed the hypnosis group’s objectively observed wound healing on women undergoing mammaplasty surgery to be significantly greater than the other two groups through 7 postoperative weeks. In addition, at both the 1-week and 7-week post-surgical observation intervals, one-way analyses showed the hypnosis group to be significantly more healed than the usual care controls.
Similar results were found with subjective assessments of postoperative pain, incision healing, and functional recovery. In her book, Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster, Peggy Huddleston recounts even more impressive results of various studies and non-clinical experiments conducted around the world which showed the positive effects of preparing a patient positively before surgery and using healing visualizations and/or statements before and during surgeries.
Some of my most rewarding sessions have been working with cancer patients to prepare them physically, emotionally, and even spiritually for what lies ahead in their healing and improve their chances of recovery. If you or someone you know is currently dealing with this issue, read some of my cancer clients’ testimonials on my website at hypnocoachlisa.com/Testimonials.html” target=”_blank hypnocoachlisa.com/Testimonials.html and contact me for a free consultation.
Lisa Smith is a Certified Master Hypnotherapist, Wellness Coach, and NeuroLinguistic Programming Practitioner in the Virginia Beach area. She is a sought-after speaker, workshop presenter, and group coaching facilitator for creating health and self-fulfillment.
Her private practice, Life by Design Coaching and Hypnotherapy, offers coaching, hypnosis, NLP, and other options for health and self-improvement. In her 11 years as a hypnotherapist, she has conducted over 8,000 hypnosis sessions with children and adults for weight loss, addictions; stress and anxiety; phobias; childbirth; surgery preparation, cancer, pain management, and other mind-body healing. Sessions can be conducted in person or by phone.
Visit her website at hypnocoachlisa.com hypnocoachlisa.com for contact and other information.
Tags: breast cancer, cancer patient, healingRelated posts
Tags: breast cancer, cancer patient, healing
