f

effects of hypnotheEpy and reportedthattheyfound it effect ve in relievinSpain, prccurinS sleep and atleviatinSother ailments, such as anx ety disotder.More recently, there have been anumber of tt als that have shown it tobe effective and the body of rcsearchcontinues to 8row.

Allthat may be very interesting, buthow do€s lt help people with cancer?

Thefirst thinS to realise is that nohypnotheapist w ll suSgest that they

60 H"*t"riqht Cancer AUTUMN 2ot

s far back as 1892 theBritish Medi.al Associationcommlssioned a t€am ofdoctoB to €valuate the

expe.t to.ure your cancet However,what hypnotherapy can do is helpirnprove a cancer patient3 quality oflife, and there is plenty ofevidence tosuSSest that itdoesthis very effectivelyin a nlmber of ways.

Belinda Hulstrom is a practcinghypnotheraplst and president ofthe Australian Association of ClinicalHypnotherapy & Psychotherapy andhas seen the power of hypnotherapyin her work.

"We tend to thlnk of the mind andbody as thou8h they w€re separatethinSs but I use a lotof bio feedback inmy workand am able to demonstrate topeople that theirthought processes canaffect thelr physioloSy,' she erplained.

.While its quite riShtto saythat noresporsible hypnotherapist will ever tellsomeone they can curc the r cancer.hypnotherapy ln thB contert i5about

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MIND POWER

There's a lot of misconception abouthypnotherapy, despite the fact that it'sbeen accepted as a valid treatment formore than ,l00 years.

freeinS the person from any limitinSbeliefs they have about their pro8nosis '

studies of hypnotherapy havefound that it works wellwlth othertreatmentsfor cancer so t wontinterfere with conventlonal theraples.wh Le hypnotheapy is Senerallya safe treatment, it may lnvolve risksfor some peopLe wlth mental llnessessuch as schizophr€n a or dementa.

Naus€a and vomiunS are commonslde effects ofchemotherapy. What

is perhaps less commonly known isthatarolnd a quarter of patientsrecelving chemotherapy will developantic patory nausea and vomitinS(ANV)by the time they have recevedthr€e treatments. Thls means thatthey begin to fe€lilleven beforethechemo s administered. Unfortunately.antiemetc druSs do not seem tohelp ANV on.e it has developed bLithypnotherapy has been found to be

ln a systematic rev€w ofhypnotherapy and reLaxation therap esspeclficdlly for cancer patientspLbLished n 1999 it was concluded

Benefits ofhypnotherapy forcancer patientsSt!dies exist to support theeffectiveness of hypnotherapy inthe fottowing areas:' R€duction in side-effectsl

hVpnotherapy has been shownto reduce the incidence of side-effects 0f cancer treatment suchas nausea and vomiting.. Reduction in pain:hypnotherapy can be usefutinreducing pain from both cancertreatment and cancer itsetf.

' Retief of stre's and anxiety:anxietyis common in cancetpatients and hypnotherapy hasbeen shown to help.

AUrIMN2or2 B"*r"neht Cancel 6T

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that there is strong ev dence fromrandom sed fiials ofthe eff€.tvenessof hypfos s aFd reLaxation for c.n.erreLated afx ety. Pa n nalsea andvom t n8.

A f!rthe. review n 20llfo!nd thatn e tht stud es a s 8f icant redlctonof na!s€. was a.hiev€d. a redlctonn €m€s s (vomit i8)wa5loufd n

'Lxand n ive stld es antiemet c Lrse was

Ih.re is aLso pLenty of ev den.e tosLrppo.t the use of hypnother.py intreat nE Pa n in pat ents w th.an.erA numb€r ofslLrdes have shown a

siSn 6.ant reduct on in Pa n amongprt enrs treatec w rh hypnoth€rapyand a lurth.r number have shown a

reductron n pa n-rel.ted anxietY.Be nda H!Lstrom.Sreed that P. n

re1 ef s delrn tely ach evabLe throLrEhhypnotherapy and.ited a successfuL

\!

bexample of ts use n a surs.aLcontext

'n 2005 th€ ABC broadcdst afep sode of Cdrdtsr on the s!blect ofhypnos s n thal they ncludcd th€ storyofa solth AustraLan lvoman who hadaLmo5t d ed be.ause ora rea.t cn togeneraL anaesthet . when !ndcrtoinEsLrgery

'n the past. UnfortLrnat.ly she

now needed malor abdom nal'!r8erYbLrt she was able to ind a GP who

'./asa qualied hypnotherap st and he wasabie to Lr!,. hls,[ Lis to 8ei her thro!8h

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the whole operation pain-frce, withoutany other anaesthetic. lf hyPnotherapycan do that, it can definitely helP Peopledealwith cancer palnl

FINDINC APRACTITIONERlf you dec de that hypnotheapy couldhelpyou, findinS a practitioner is thenext step. Belinda suSSested thatprospective cllents begin by lookinS fora hypnothenpist who belonSs toa profess onal association.

''People who are members ofanassociation have to demonstratethatthey've had prcper training andeducation, they haveto do onSoinSCPE GontinuinS professional education).they have to do what! calledprofessional superv slon or clinicalsupeNis on - in other wod5 th€Y'reaccountableto a suPervisor and arcconstantly debriefrnS - and they haveto abide by afairly strinSent code of€thics; explained Belinda.

''The second thinS is, speaktothehypnotheapist before you see them.Get a feel for whether this peuon is

Soinsto be somebody you can workwith. The most importantthin8 inhypnotherapy lsthe ability to have arapport. lf you dont feel comfortablewith the petson,ltb going to be veryhard for you to let Eo of that morevlSilant, criticalfaculty and it! 8oin8 tobe harderfor you to allow youEelfto80 into hypnosisl said Belinda.

lfyou are contactinS a theraPistwho is part of a larger practice youmayfind it! a receptionGt who answersthe phone to makethe appointment,but Belinda su8Sests you stilLtry totalk to the hypnotheBpist before you

A good plac€ to startyour search fora hypnotheraplst ls at the AustralianAssociation of clinlcal Hypnotherapy& Psychotherapy website, where theyljst accredited practitioners. Visit www..schp,.ony'fi nd.prrctitioncr.

WHAT TO EXPECTOnce youve folnd a therapist you llwantto know what to expect.

THE COST OF A HYPNOTHERAPIST wil.tvary dependingon where you are and there i5 no generaI rute ofthumb. Betinda guggesti that onae you've found ahypnotherapist you thinkyou want to 5ee, do a bitofresearch and find a few othe6 in your area 50 you cancompare. "Ring and a5k how much they (harge 5o youcan geta bit ofa feeL lt's quite variabte, butyou couldexpectto pay somewhere between 51oo to S15o perhour, more for tonger sessions," she said.

Atso, do rememberthat many private heatth fundsoffer rebates for hypnotherapy, so be sure to find out ifyou6 offers any refunds on this kind oftreatment.

"There are as many variations onwhat to expect at a session as there arehypnotherap sts, explained Belinda, "lusually suSSest that clients send me anemailbeforc our irst session tellinS meanlthinS and everythinS that they thinkL need to b€ aware of. Lcan 8et anythinSfrorn five linesto 6ve pa8es ln response,but its allreally helpful. ln treatinSsorneone, need to 8et to know themreally quickly because L need todetermine what kind of approachIm going to takel'

When you look atthe research youhave to acknowledgethat what we thinkis pretty important.

'At an init alsession there lltypicallybe afolm to frlljn and then yourtherapist will discuss with you whatSon the form. With my cllents, we miShttalk a little aboutthem and how they'refeellnS, what kind of treatment they veaLready done and what they foundhelpfulor unhelpful. Then l'lltalk tothenr about what hypnosis is. Somepeople mlSht be a httle bit wary or

anxious but dependingon how theyfeellwould hope wed be ableto 8etworkinS with some actuaLtherapy underhypnosis in the areawherethey want tocreate positive chan8e:

The number ofsessions required toachieve the best outcome willdependvery much on the individualand there!no way to determine that before yo!start. Very rar€ly, Sellnda has had cllentswho see results afterjust one sessionbut its usualto need morc-

Belndas finaLadvice isthat people doas much investiSation as possible.

.You've 8ot to take responslblLity

for indinS olt as much as you can tofeel comfortable and informed andperhaps even a little excited aboutthepossibilities, sheexplain€d.

"when you look at the research that s

beinS done into the way the mind andbody are communi.atinS you ve 8otto acknowledSe that what we thinkand believe is pretty lmportantl saidBelinda. Hypnosis is about creating anenvironment where the mind can seefightinS cancer as a real possibillty.

"l m not saying we shouldnt belisteninSto the doctorsrwe should beworkinSwith them. But we should alsobe brcadeninS the scope of what wedoto include the possibilfty that we canmake changes and lmprovem€nts. Thatmindset ls crucial rFc

awMN2or Hdtorisht Cancer 63