A Pilot Investigation of Guided Self-Hypnosis in the Treatment of Hot Flashes Among Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that a hypnotic intervention can reduce hot flashes, a significant problem for some women. Based on the authors' previous research, the present study was developed to evaluate the feasibility of a guided self-hypnosis intervention for hot flashes. Thirteen postmenopausal women received 5 sessions of guided self-hypnosis in which all hypnotic inductions were recordings. Guidance regarding symptom monitoring, individualization of mental imagery, and practice of self-hypnosis were provided. Hot flashes were determined through diaries. Results indicated average frequency of hot flashes decreased by 72% (p < .001) and hot-flash scores decreased by 76% (p < .001) on average. Guided self-hypnosis reduced perceived hot flashes in the pilot study with postmenopausal women supporting the possible feasibility and potential benefit of the intervention.

Clinical applications of self-hypnosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

“…Studies have reported encouraging signs for the clinical applications of self-hypnosis. For example, research suggests that self-hypnosis can be effective in overcoming a habit cough (Anbar & Hall, 2004), treating hemophilia (LaBaw, 1975), reducing tics in Tourette’s syndrome (Lazarus & Klein, 2010), decreasing emotional distress in breast cancer patients (Bragard et al, 2017) and hot flashes among postmenopausal women (Elkins, Johnson, Fisher, Sliwinski, & Keith, 2013), enhancing a therapeutic education program for children with chronic pain (Delivet, Dugue, Ferrari, Postone, & Dahmani, 2018), advancing quality of life following coronary artery bypass surgery (Ashton et al, 1995), managing pain in female patients with multiple sclerosis (Hosseinzadegan, Radfar, Shafiee-Kandjani, & Sheikh, 2017), raising pain threshold (Wolf et al 2016), reducing stress (Johansson, Benny, Uneståhl, & Lars-Eric, 2006), influencing immune functioning (Gruzelier, Smith, Nagy, & Henderson, 2001; Gruzelier, Levy, Williams, & Henderson, 2001), treating depression in primary care (Dobbin, Maxwell, & Elton, 2009), and improving reading comprehension and learning(Cooper, 1990; Wark, 1996, Wark & La Plant, 1991). However, when examining the literature on the efficacy of any clinical intervention, the randomized controlled trial (RCT) is considered the gold standard of scientific evidence.…”

Hypnosis Intervention Effects on Sleep Outcomes: A Systematic Review

“…26 The mean overall SASQI-CAM score 18 of the included studies was 10 out of 20 possible (standard deviation = 4.3) and the range was 3 to 17. The most commonly missed quality items were SASQI-CAM item 6, related to assessing subject's expectations of benefits from the intervention, with only one publication 33 explicitly describing this, and item 10, which focused on monitoring and reporting side effects and adverse events; this information was included in only 2 publications. 33,39 More recently published work received higher methodological quality scores compared to earlier research (Table 2).…”

“…8,64 Hypnosis can be provided by any clinician (physician, nurse, psychologist) trained in hypnotherapy, and diverse patient populations can be trained to induce beneficial changes in health using self-hypnosis without the presence of a clinician as demonstrated in previous research assessing hypnosis for other health issues. 33,[65][66][67][68][69] Further, hypnosis is extremely flexible and can be performed in different settings (not just as individual, group, or on-line sessions similar to CBT-I but also as audio recorded sessions); the studies included in this review indicate that a beneficial effect can be obtained in four or fewer sessions with hypnosis; however, the optimal number of sessions for best results is yet to be determined. To date, the rigorous research directly comparing efficacy and cost-effectiveness of CBT-I and hypnotherapy for sleep is scarce.…”

Directed Imagination: A Procedure for Improving Self-concept in Persons with Leprosy

“…The directed imagination technique used in the present study has its origin in the simulation modeling technique first proposed by Cautela [1] and then taken up again by different research groups for the development of assertive responses and favorable conduct when facing situations of physical and emotional stress, such as alcoholism and obsessive-compulsive behavior [3], child integration in school activities and phobias caused by odontological treatments [5,4], hot flashes in postmenopausal women [10], the fear of falling in older adults [9], the distress prior to childbirth in primiparas [8], and the anxiety during dermatologic procedures [30]. Favorable results were reported in these studies.…”