Serious illness

When working with patients who have serious illness or chronic pain, I use a cognitive behavioural approach and hypnosis.

This aims to alter the way we think and deal with situations and life events.

Pain should never be treated for its own sake, but if the underlying cause is known and your doctor gives permission, hypnosis can be very effective in relieving pain.

Hypnotherapy is used in a variety of situations for treating pain including the following:-

  • Post-operative pain – where traditional painkillers aren’t appropriate, perhaps because the patient is afraid of needles or allergic to medication
  • Phantom limb pain – amputees sometimes experience pain from limbs which have been removed and research has shown that hypnosis can have impressive results in treating this kind of pain
  • Palliative care – the aim being to help manage the patients pain and improve their quality of life be reducing anxiety levels and helping them to relax
  • Arthritis
  • Hip pain
  • Knee pain
  • Back pain
  • Joint pain

Pain relief via hypnotherapy – how does it work?

During a hypnotic trance, complex changes occur along nerve pathways to and from the brain. These changes also occur in the body’s hormonal channels and enable the sensation of pain to become less severe in its nature. The awareness of unpleasant feelings such as nausea and indigestion can also be alleviated.