Complementary
Medical Hypnotism

"Helping People With
Life-Changing Medical Conditions"

Howard Batie, Consulting Hypnotherapist

Complementary Medical Hypnotism is the use of hypnosis to address certain medical or emotional conditions that may be negatively affecting a person's overall health and well being.  

When properly referred by your physician, dentist, or psychologist, we are able to help you address and manage specific traumatic and chronic disease symptoms, reduce stress and anxiety associated with medical or emotional conditions, and also provide improved pre-surgical preparation and post-operative recovery.  Complementary Medical Hypnotism is an adjunctive procedure that is used in conjunction with the medical treatments provided by your physician, and is often helpful in situations where the patient has not responded to medical treatments.

Howard Batie has received a Specialty Certification in Complementary Medical Hypnotism from the National Guild of Hypnotists, and is a Registered Hypnotherapist with the Washington State Department of Health.  When appropriately referred by your physician, he uses Complementary Medical Hypnotism to provide the services identified below.  He has also received specialized certification in Pain Control techniques and in Painless Childbirth (hypnobirthing) techniques.  

Assistance is available for obtaining the required medical referral from your physician, and a free one-hour consultation is available to each new client at Evergreen Healing Arts Center.  During the consultation we will construct a mutually agreeable hypnosis plan that meets your individual needs and that is in consonance with the referring physician's instructions.

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Pain Management
Pre- & Post-Surgery
 Painless Childbirth
Symptom Management
Stress & Anxiety Release

Pain Management
Use of Hypnosis is a very effective technique to control pain and discomfort during the healing process.  When you are in pain, you cannot relax completely and allow the innate intelligence of the human body to invoke its own natural healing processes.  Usually pain will force you into a state of anxiety, stress, and "mental tightness" that is often associated with the Fight or Flight Syndrome -- your muscles are tightened because of the feelings of the pain, and this lack of relaxation counteracts not only the healing process, but also the release of pain.  It's a never-ending, vicious cycle where the pain causes contraction and tightness in the muscles, and this tightness actually increases the amount of pain you feel. 

Release of pain through hypnosis breaks this cycle, and allows you to relax your muscles.  In addition, in the hypnotized state, carefully worded suggestions by the therapist can instantly remove the sensations associated with pain and discomfort.  Hypnosis does not release or cure the pain, it merely releases the sensations that you feel as pain and discomfort.  It allows you to enter a deeply relaxed state where healing can be accelerated, once your own healing processes are allowed to function naturally, as they are intended to.

The use of hypnosis to relieve the pain and discomfort is powerfully effective, regardless of the source of pain.  The pain sensations may be caused by a traumatic injury such as a cut, bruise, pulled muscle, torn ligament, broken bone, or surgical procedure; the pain may also originate as a symptom of a chronic disease or condition such as arthritis, cancer, fibromyalgia, migraine headache, asthma and other pulmonary diseases, immune system disorders, and many more.

Traumatic Pain.  Physical pain due to traumatic injury can be effectively alleviated by hypnotic suggestion, and one can also learn self-hypnosis techniques that can be used to bring analgesia or anesthesia to a specific part of the body.  These are normally of a few hours' duration, and are used to reduce pain to tolerable levels while seeking proper medical attention for the injury.  Self-hypnosis techniques can also be readily used to prevent anticipated pain, such as just prior to visiting the dentist, or receiving sutures to close an open wound.  Using self-hypnosis, the suggestion of analgesia or anesthesia can just as easily be removed when the painful procedure is completed.

Chronic Pain.  Intractable pain associated with chronic medical conditions and diseases such as cancer, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic neuropathy of the extremities, fibromyalgia, and others can also be successfully addressed through hypnotic pain management techniques.  As with traumatic pain, the client can be taught more deeply relaxing self-hypnosis techniques that can be used whenever required to alleviate painful sensations associated with chronic and terminal conditions.

Self-Treatment.  Usually our clients will require immediate and effective pain relief at times when they cannot conveniently come to us for treatment.  Therefore, at Evergreen Healing Arts Center, our emphasis is on providing instruction and practice using powerful self-hypnosis suggestions that they can invoke themselves whenever required.  This is very empowering since it provides tools that they can immediately use themselves to take control of their situation while seeking  proper medical attention.

Pre- & Post-Surgery
Pre-Surgical Preparation. The time just before surgery is typically one of apprehension and anxiety about the upcoming procedures, and hypnosis is one of the most effective drugless calming techniques one can take advantage of  at this special and sometimes vulnerable time.  Gentle, calming relaxation procedures can be taught to the patient so they can enter a calm and peaceful state of relaxation just prior to surgery.  If the patient has several days before being scheduled for surgery, they can also be taught how to enter this relaxed state by themselves any time they wish.  

During Surgery.  The pre-surgical hypnosis preparations include suggestions for a routine and very successful surgery.  Therefore, the surgical team and the anesthetist or anesthesiologist should be made aware that during the surgery, the patient will usually be more relaxed.   This often allows the use of less chemical anesthesia during the surgery.  It is also becoming more widely accepted that while under general anesthesia, the patient is still subconsciously hearing all conversations in the operating theater, and in some cases is able to recall these conversations under later hypnosis.  Therefore, the pre-surgical hypnotic preparations may also include appropriate instructions to both the patient and the surgical staff to ensure the greatest possibility of successful surgical outcome and rapid recovery.

Post-Surgical Recovery.  Additional post-surgical hypnosis sessions may be offered to reinforce the previous suggestions for successful surgical outcome and rapid recovery, as well as for subsequent pain management.  Often, reduced pain medications are required, and acceleration of the patient's own healing responses are usually observed.  Surgical incisions normally heal quicker with less scarring, and a more rapid return to normal mobility and functioning are often noticed.  This may permit the patient to return home or to an interim transitional care setting sooner than might otherwise be expected.

Painless Childbirth
One of the most priceless gifts a woman can give herself is the unique and wonderful experience of a drugless, natural childbirth without any pain or discomfort.  This very special event can be one of joy, happiness and absence of pain and absence of drugs through a three-pronged approach: (1)carefully developing a birthing plan to be followed in the absence of any medical emergency; (2) instructing the mother-to-be in powerfully effective self-hypnosis techniques that allow her to remain completely alert and pain-free without the use of an epidural or other drugs; and (3) if they're planning on being present during the birth, instructing the father or other birthing partner in special relaxation cues they can administer to the mother if needed.

Assistance is provided in developing a birthing plan that reflects the desires of the parents to maximize the use of natural childbirth techniques and minimize the use of drugs, consistent with safe medical practices.  The physician delivering the baby will need to know that the mother will normally be arriving at the hospital in a state of hypnotically-induced general analgesia where she will be aware of physical body sensations such as pressure, movements, and contractions, but will feel very little or no discomfort in her entire body.  The attending physician will remain in charge during the entire birthing process, and hypnosis is intended to complement these medical techniques, not replace them.

By preparing herself for a natural childbirth using hypnosis, the mother will typically experience a much shorter contraction period (labor) of about an hour or two, and a very easy and relaxed birth of her baby.  The key is for the mother to remain relaxed during the entire contraction period and birthing process.  Without the anticipation of pain, relaxation is automatic and easily accomplished, and her body can do what it naturally knows how to do.  With proper hypnotic preparation, birth trauma is minimized for both the baby and the mother, and an episiotomy is usually not required.

Ideally, five weekly sessions of about one and a half hours to two hours each are held beginning in the first half of the 7th month of pregnancy.  Familiarization with hypnosis is provided during the first session, and instruction and practice in attaining deeply relaxed states is provided in Sessions 2-5.  A special Deepening CD is provided for practice at home after Session 2, and another CD containing deepening, birthing, and (if appropriate) nursing hypnotic suggestions are provided for use at home after Session 5.  

Content of each session is:

    Session 1 - Intake interview; introduction to hypnosis (what it is and what it isn't) and how it works; experiencing light and medium and deeper states of hypnosis
    Session 2 - Reaching a very deep state of self-induced hypnosis (+CD)
    Session 3 - Learn self-hypnotic techniques for local pain management
    Session 4 - Eyes-Open Self-Hypnosis (Waking Hypnosis); powerful hypnobirthing suggestions and training
    Session 5 - (For the mother): Reinforcement of hypnobirthing suggestions, and
                      (For the father): Techniques to help deepen the hypnotic state of the mother (+CD)

Symptom Management
Medical Conditions.   Many traumatic and chronic physical conditions and symptoms may be successfully addressed using hypnosis.  Among these are pain management (discussed above), immune system functioning, dermatological conditions and reactions such as psoriasis and acne, pulmonary conditions such as asthma, conditions resulting from improper organ function such as diabetes and goiter, as well as others.  Several abnormal physiological and metabolic functions can be regulated or enhanced by the subconscious mind, such as wide excursions of blood glucose levels in a diabetic patient or hypo/hypertension.  There is wide variability in the nature and degree of responses to hypnosis between patients; however, while nearly all individuals tend to respond with a noticeable movement toward greater homeostasis and improved metabolic functioning, there are a few for whom hypnosis is not effective.

Contributing Emotional Conditions.  It is a well established fact that a person's emotional state may have a dramatic impact on their physical well being and even on their presenting symptoms.  For instance, a person who retains anger inside for an extended period may be prone to develop stomach ulcers.  Stress and anxiety are also recognized as major contributing factors to many conditions such as migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, and many others.  Hypnosis that addresses the causative or contributing factors of such conditions and disorders is usually very effective in relieving many physical symptoms and bringing about an improved state of overall health and well being.

Stress & Anxiety Release
General Relaxation & Stress Release.  Stress is defined by Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as a "...physical, chemical or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation."  Everyone deals with stress every day, and as you know, some days are much more stressful than others.  Some situations we find ourselves in require decisions and actions that may in themselves create additional stress.  But the important thing is how we tolerate and handle that stress, and there may be large variations in the ability of one person over another to handle the stress of the same situation.  If the stress is not handled or resolved satisfactorily, anxiety begins to build and, if not checked or somehow released, can escalate into fear that limits our behaviors and sense of overall wellness.  Hypnosis is particularly effective in breaking this destructive cycle by providing self-help tools and procedures that can allow us to better handle small stresses before they become large anxieties or fears, to release the feelings of anxiety or fear that may already exist, and to move into a feeling of peace and calmness whenever desired.

Improving Sleep Patterns.  It is particularly important that the day's tensions and stress be released at bedtime.  Extended worry over things done or not done, or things said or not said, can rob you of needed deep, natural sleep.  When that "busy mind" may just be too upset or anxious to naturally relax and drift off into peaceful sleep, we are taught that we must take some sort of sleeping pill or other chemical that will knock us out for a while.  But a much better and healthier way is to relax naturally.  Post-hypnotic suggestions and self-hypnosis techniques can rapidly allow you to reach a deeply relaxed state from which you can naturally and easily drift off to sleep. 

Page last updated October 1, 2007