Hypnotherapy and Cancer Surgery
I often discuss with students and clients subjects of what hypnotherapy can and cannot do. One of the the things which I emphasise is that hypnotherapy cannot be used to treat cancer. Yes, it can help with certain lifestyle issues with cancer. Like improve motivation and energy after radiotherapy and appetite after chemotherapy. These are not attempts to cure cancer in any way, but to help sufferers with their day to day lives.
In a recent presentation to the 2018 Euroanaesthesia conference in Copenhagen, a research team presented an evaluation of 150 surgeries performed on cancer patients between 2011 and 2017. These surgeries relied on hypnosis as part of the anaesthetic regimen. In 99% of cases, the researchers concluded that the using hypnosis was perfectly fine for use. The analysis showed that two patients experienced discomfort at the beginning of surgery, however the doctors involved were able to convert to general anaesthesia in less than three minutes.
This is further evidence that hypnosis is not some sort of parlour trick, but actually has genuine clinical applications which can really be a benefit to people in physical as well as psychological distress. Obviously, a hypnotherapist would need special training in order to utilise this approach to clinical hypnosis. More doctors should be trained in the clinical use of hypnosis.
