Hypnosis and Cancer Care

Natural News tells the story of how one hypnotherapist worked with a doctor to help children suffering from cancer.

Often the anxiety and stress associated with the treatment of cancer can be worse than the cancer itself, and one particular young girl of just eight years old was struggling to cope with the stress leading up to her chemotherapy treatment.

Eight year old Holly was taught several self-hypnosis techniques to distract her from both the pain and the stress.

A 1991 study in the Oncology Nursing Forum showed that children have the ability to learn self-hypnosis much faster than adults, probably because they use their imagination more often and have not yet developed the analytical skills that can stand in an adult’s way.

In 1986, another study in Advances in Developmental and Behavioural Pediatrics, 45 cancer patients were split into two groups.  One group was given hypnosis and the other was given visual distraction and fear control methods.  Both groups felt less pain but only the hypnosis group said they felt less anxiety.

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