From Research to Clinical Practice

ABSTRACT

This issue of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (IJCEH) includes two commentaries on an article that appeared in the April issue (Vol 70, Issue 2) entitled Guidelines for the Assessment of Efficacy of Clinical Hypnosis Applications. This issue provides critical commentary of the guidelines from the perspective of leading clinical researchers as well as practitioner perspective. These commentaries are followed by an informative protocol on delivery of group hypnosis for managing chronic pain. Another study in this issue of the IJCEH adds to the application of hypnosis with the combination of hypnosis and pain education to reduce chronic pain. Additional articles advance our knowledge of hypnotherapy in the treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum, irritable bowel syndrome, and exercise. Also, the personality styles of dentists who practice hypnosis are examined. Taken together, this issue of the IJCEH advances our knowledge of the relationship of research to clinical practice across a range of contexts.

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Correction

The first two articles of this issue of the IJCEH are expert commentaries on the Guidelines for the Assessment of Efficacy of Clinical Hypnosis Applications (Kekecs et al., 2022). The Guidelines for the Assessment of Efficacy of Clinical Hypnosis Applications was published open access in Vol. 70(2) of the IJCEH and provided a report from an international Task Force for Establishing Efficacy Standards for Clinical Hypnosis. The Task Force took on the challenging but important goal of providing guidelines for evaluating evidence for efficacy of clinical hypnosis interventions. The lead article in this issue is by Guy Montgomery and Irving Kirsch (Montgomery & Kirsch, 2022) and recognizes the importance of dissemination of clinical hypnosis research, while also identifying some of the limitations of the proposed guidelines which may be considered in conducting clinical trials and evaluating efficacy. This is followed by a thoughtful commentary by Yapko (2022) that identifies the importance (and challenges) of defining hypnosis and hypnosis interventions (Elkins et al., 2015). Dr. Yapko notes that the divergent ways hypnosis is applied in clinical practice must be considered in interpreting and the practical application efficacy studies in real world clinical practice.

The commentaries are followed by an impressive study (McKernan et al., 2022) that reports on an 8-week group delivered hypnosis protocol for managing chronic pain. The findings provide preliminary evidence that the intervention is feasible and provides compelling data that a future fully powered, randomized clinical trial is clearly warranted.

Additional research on hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain is provided (Pulling et al., 2022). This pilot feasibility study demonstrates the potential for hypnotically delivered pain science education for patients suffering from chronic low back pain. The intervention was rated as acceptable by patients and the research points to additional protocol modifications that may improve the delivery and effects.

A publication in this issue of the IJCEH addresses adjuvant hypnotherapy for Hyperemesis Gravidarum (Ozgunay et al., 2022). Hyperemesis Gravidarum is a serious medical condition that is characterized by severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Patients may require hospitalization and can negatively affect pregnancy to full-term. In this study, patients were randomized to either conventional therapy alone or conventional therapy plus hypnotherapy. Results indicated that patients who received adjunctive hypnotherapy experienced significantly reduced nausea and vomiting in comparison to conventional therapy alone. These findings are encouraging and point to the need for more access to hypnotherapy in OB/GYN clinics.

Also, in this issue is a narrative review of the literature regarding hypnotherapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) (De Benedittis, 2022). This article provides groundbreaking theoretical foundations that the gut-brain-axis may be impacted by hypnosis via neural and immunoendocrine pathways. This may lead to new innovations in hypnotherapy interventions for IBS and related gastrointestinal disorders.

There has been increasing interest in active-alert hypnosis (AAH) and its potential applications. A retrospective study (Kasos et al., 2022) is presented which examined states of consciousness and during exercise. The results suggested that exercise may lead to states of consciousness similar to AAH and potentially increase responsiveness to training suggestions. These findings have implications for sports psychology as well as exercise-based interventions. Certainly, more research is needed regarding AAH.

Health-care professionals seeking training in clinical and experimental hypnosis may be influenced by a number of factors such as availability of training, relevance to individuals’ health-care specialty, and personal interest. An article by Peter and Wolf (2022) provides a brief report on the potential role of personality styles of dentists who report seeking training and utilizing hypnotherapy in their clinical practice. Taken together, the articles in this issue of the IJCEH provide new insights into the potential efficacy of hypnotherapy in a range of medical problems and some of the factors that may influence the transition of hypnosis research to clinical practice.