50 years of hypnosis in medicine and clinical health psychology: a synthesis of cultural crosscurrents.
Mark B Weisberg
American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis July 1, 2008 DOI: 10.1080/00029157.2008.10401639 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Hypnosis |
| Keywords | Humans Complementary therapies Hypnosis Culture History, 20th century History, 21st century United states |
| Key points | Argues that hypnosis is increasingly integrated into hospital, clinic, and psychotherapy care, and that its practice was shaped by technological medicine in the 1950s, the AIDS epidemic and psychoneuroimmunology, genetics and neuroimaging advances, and the move from alternative to integrative medicine. The authors contend hypnosis can reduce anxiety and alter physiological parameters in these populations. |
Abstract
In 2008, the 50th anniversary of ASCH, hypnosis is used increasingly for healthcare applications in hospitals, clinics, and psychotherapy practice. A substantial body of research demonstrates the efficacy of hypnosis as part of the integrative treatment of many conditions that traditional medicine has found difficult to treat (e.g., Pinnell & Covino, 2000; Elkins, Jensen, & Patterson, 2007). The practice of hypnosis in healthcare has been altered and centrally influenced by the rapid growth of technological medicine in the 1950's, the AIDS epidemic and development of psychoneuroimmunology, revolutionary developments in genetics and neuroimaging technology, and the progression from alternative to integrative medicine. We have come to develop more detailed expectations about the beneficial effects of hypnotic interventions for health problems. We have also come to know that in these populations hypnosis can lead not only to reduced anxiety but also specifically altered physiological parameters.