Title : Taming Chronic Pain with Self-Hypnosis
Abstract:
In 1982 I suffered a permanent back injury, and doctors told me that I would need daily pain medication for the rest of my life. Hypnosis and self-hypnosis helped me tame the pain to a tolerable level, motivating me to become a certified hypnotherapist in 1983. I will share techniques that have helped me personally, as well as techniques that I taught hospice patients during the years I worked part-time as a comfort therapist for the Franciscan Hospice. Since stress increases pain awareness, learning self-hypnosis to manage stress is a key ingredient in taming chronic pain. I have taught self-hypnosis for stress management to tens of thousands of clients during my career. Occasionally hypnotherapy clients have seen me specifically for pain management. However, since pain is a warning that something is wrong with the body, I recommend they have a licensed physician diagnose the cause of the pain before using hypnosis or self-hypnosis to reduce it in order to reduce the risk of further injury. For example, if I used self-hypnosis to completely eliminate all of my back pain, I could cause further damage to my old back injury. Several proven imagery techniques will be described, such as object projection, pain dial, healing waters, and more. Time permitting, I will include one or more case summaries. Hypnosis also helped me permanently overcome migraine headaches after suffering them frequently since age six. My published books include one on self-hypnosis and one on taming chronic pain. The former is Mastering the Power of Self-Hypnosis (2nd Ed., 2010, Crown House Publishing), and the latter one is Taming Chronic Pain: a mindful approach for pain relief (2020, self-published) co-authored with Bruce Eimer, PhD, who is a retired pain psychologist. Dr. Eimer currently has a psychology practice and hypnotherapy practice in Florida.
