In this study, the use of hypnosis in the treatment of chronic low back pain is described in terms of Ecosystemic thinking, as opposed to traditional conceptualisations of hypnosis. Six case studies were used. Each is described in detail, as well as the therapeutic rationale behind each case, in order to present the reader with an understanding of the thinking behind using Ecosystemic hypnotherapy. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

In this study an ecosystemic approach to self-hypnosis was utilised as a tool to explore and describe the healing of sport injuries. Four injured Subjects, from four different sporting activities participated in the study. Self-hypnosis/hypnosis was used as a linguistic means to perturb the problem-defining ideas within which the sport injury was embedded. Problem dis-solution involved a process of reframing each Subject's current reality through dialogue, and a new reality for each respective Subject was co-constructed through consequent linguistic differentiation. The hypnotist, participating in the linguistic domain as an equal participant, looked for intended meanings in each respective conversational exchange with the athletes, and synthesised information creatively. This process and the thinking behind each case study is described in detail in this dissertation. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The word "cancer" has different meanings for different people. In general, it is synonymous with fatality, either imminent or in the forseeable future. How each person perceives and attributes meaning to this personal experience, varies according to idiosyncratic factors. These factors are constituted by each individual's unique internal make up and by external influences and it is the combination of the multiplicity of factors that bring about the personal attributions of meaning for each individual. The thesis examines the attributions of meaning of a sample of 42 women with breast cancer, through administration of a semi-structured interview and questionnaire, with follow up interviews. The theoretical concepts which are explored, examine the shift away from the traditional, Newtonian, linear-causal, neutral observer model (as in the traditional medical model), towards an ecosystemic, a-causal, contextual, holistic stance. Ecosystemic thinking is utilised in this research work, and this way of thinking is applied to the findings. In addition, a qualitative, descriptive approach is adopted, so that an in depth emphasis rather than a quantitative, empirical view of the patients in the sample, is undertaken. The applied questionaire focuses on the patient's experience of cancer diagnosis, with more specific reference to the side effects of the chemotherapy. The emphasis is towards the issue of anticipatory nausea and emesis and the possible use of hypnosis in relation to these effects. Each patient's attribution of meaning to these aspects forms the core of the thesis. The study discloses the wide variety of attributions of meaning held by different women in a similar predicament towards different aspects of that predicament. Concomitantly, the study highlights the limitations of the traditional, medical model which contribute to diminishing the personal understanding of each patient, and the impact of this on both treatment and outcome for each patient. / Psychology / D.Phil. (Psychology)

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / This study aims to explore the utilisation of hypnosis and hypnotherapy in providing therapeutic support to two primary school children who experience emotional difficulties. The purpose of this study is to ascertain what the emotional experiences of children are during the process of Ericksonian hypnosis and hypnotherapy. I attempted to utilise an Interpretive/Constructive paradigm, as it acknowledges that individuals construct their own realities based on their personal experiences and perceptions. In line with this perspective, the Ericksonian approach accepts and utilises whatever individuals bring with them into therapy in a respectful and gentle manner. The research design consisted of two case studies. I requested that parents of both participants complete a background questionnaire. This was followed by an unstructured interview with the parents and class teachers. Another unstructured interview was warranted in both cases. I utilised the assessment criteria according to Geary's Process model to identify the various hypnotic phenomena in each case. I used the hypnotic phenomena to assist with structuring therapeutic goals. The symptom behaviours and beliefs also impacted on other aspects of the participants' lives. Various themes emerged and linked with the therapeutic use of these phenomena, I attempted to address the problems by utilising the process model of Ericksonian hypnosis. The themes that emerged during data analysis were verified and categorised during data production. A variety of hypnotherapeutic techniques was utilised to help participants gain mastery and control of their respective realities. The Ericksonian Diamond model was utilised to tailor all interventions to the unique needs and developmental level of each participant. The findings of this study indicate that Ericksonian hypnosis and hypnotherapy is a powerful intervention strategy that yields positive results in a relatively short period of time with young children. It was found that this therapeutic strategy could be utilised as a main course or an adjunct to other therapeutic interventions. My study concludes by acknowledging the limitations and provides recommendations for future research.

The sense of agency is the experience of being the initiator of our intentional actions and their outcomes. According to higher order thought theory, a representation becomes conscious when there is a higher order state about it. Thus conscious experience, including that of intentions, is metacognitive. The experience of involuntariness characteristic of hypnotic responding may be attributable to the formation and maintenance of inaccurate metacognitive higher order states of intending. Conversely, the practice of Buddhist mindfulness meditation may develop accurate metacognition, including higher order states of intending. Highly hypnotisable people and mindfulness meditators may therefore occupy two ends of a spectrum of metacognitive ability with regard to unconscious intentions. The presented research investigated predicted trait differences in cognitive tasks which directly or indirectly reflect metacognition of intentions: the timing of an experience of an intention to move and the compressed time interval between a voluntary action and its outcome, known as intentional binding. As an implicit measure of sense of agency, intentional binding was also employed to investigate the veridicality of reports of the experience of involuntariness in hypnotic responding. Additionally, while hypnosis presents a unique opportunity to investigate reliable changes in agentic experience, existing hypnosis screening instruments are time consuming and present a barrier to wider adoption of hypnosis as an instrument for studying consciousness. Here a revised, time-efficient hypnosis screening procedure (the SWASH) is presented. Consistent with predictions, highly hypnotisable groups reported later awareness of motor intentions than less hypnotisable groups and meditators earlier awareness than non-meditators. In an intentional binding task, high hypnotisables showed less binding of an action-outcome toward an action (outcome binding) than low hypnotisables and meditators more outcome binding than non-meditators. Outcome binding was reduced in post-hypnotic involuntary action compared to voluntary action. It is proposed that intentional binding is driven by a cue combination mechanism and that these differences reflect varying precision of motor intention related information in reported timing judgements. The SWASH was found to be a reliable hypnosis screening instrument.

Two key questions underpin the research presented here. Firstly, how does altered higher order awareness contribute to hypnotic experience? Secondly, how do meditation and hypnosis differ in terms of the role of higher order awareness? These questions are addressed here in the form of four papers. In the first paper I review the literatures of hypnosis and meditation in order to consider the similarities and differences between meditation and hypnosis in terms of the role of attentional skill and the neural underpinnings of each. I then draw conclusions regarding the contrasting role of higher order awareness and metacognition in meditation and hypnosis. Paper two explores higher order awareness in hypnosis by comparing the effects of alcohol, compared to placebo, on hypnotisability and associated frontal lobe executive functioning. Paper three compares meditation and hypnosis by investigating differences in higher order thoughts, mindfulness, absorption and perceptual encoding style as revealed by self-report measures. The final paper takes a broader look at higher order awareness and its relation to the experience of agency and involuntariness in hypnotic suggestion using a Libet type paradigm.

In this study an ecosystemic approach to self-hypnosis was utilised as a tool to explore and describe the healing of sport injuries. Four injured Subjects, from four different sporting activities participated in the study. Self-hypnosis/hypnosis was used as a linguistic means to perturb the problem-defining ideas within which the sport injury was embedded. Problem dis-solution involved a process of reframing each Subject's current reality through dialogue, and a new reality for each respective Subject was co-constructed through consequent linguistic differentiation. The hypnotist, participating in the linguistic domain as an equal participant, looked for intended meanings in each respective conversational exchange with the athletes, and synthesised information creatively. This process and the thinking behind each case study is described in detail in this dissertation. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The word "cancer" has different meanings for different people. In general, it is synonymous with fatality, either imminent or in the forseeable future. How each person perceives and attributes meaning to this personal experience, varies according to idiosyncratic factors. These factors are constituted by each individual's unique internal make up and by external influences and it is the combination of the multiplicity of factors that bring about the personal attributions of meaning for each individual. The thesis examines the attributions of meaning of a sample of 42 women with breast cancer, through administration of a semi-structured interview and questionnaire, with follow up interviews. The theoretical concepts which are explored, examine the shift away from the traditional, Newtonian, linear-causal, neutral observer model (as in the traditional medical model), towards an ecosystemic, a-causal, contextual, holistic stance. Ecosystemic thinking is utilised in this research work, and this way of thinking is applied to the findings. In addition, a qualitative, descriptive approach is adopted, so that an in depth emphasis rather than a quantitative, empirical view of the patients in the sample, is undertaken. The applied questionaire focuses on the patient's experience of cancer diagnosis, with more specific reference to the side effects of the chemotherapy. The emphasis is towards the issue of anticipatory nausea and emesis and the possible use of hypnosis in relation to these effects. Each patient's attribution of meaning to these aspects forms the core of the thesis. The study discloses the wide variety of attributions of meaning held by different women in a similar predicament towards different aspects of that predicament. Concomitantly, the study highlights the limitations of the traditional, medical model which contribute to diminishing the personal understanding of each patient, and the impact of this on both treatment and outcome for each patient. / Psychology / D.Phil. (Psychology)

De nombreuses études (De Soir, Rivolier, Babin, Violanti, …) ont non seulement mis en évidence le stress vécu par les policiers dans l’exercice de leur fonction mais également démontré l’intérêt de modules de formation à la gestion du stress opérationnel à destination des acteurs de l’urgence dont les policiers. Il n’existe cependant pas de recherches ayant investigué les corrélats psycho-biologiques des bénéfices liés à l’acquisition d’une technique de préparation à la tâche recourant à l’hypnose et l’autohypnose chez les aspirants policiers. Les techniques d’hypnose ont par contre, fait l’objet de multiples recherches mettant en évidence son efficacité dans des affections et situations très diversifiées (Salem, Edgette, Fromm,….). L’existence de travaux récents (Kirschbaum et al, Meyerhoff et al, Dinsdale et al, Fontaine et al, Hurwitz et al, Sanders et al, …) indiquant que des facteurs de stress peuvent entraîner une sécrétion augmentée d’hormones de stress (dont le cortisol), une réactivité cardiovasculaire secondaire à certains facteurs de stress et une modulation des réponses immunitaires permettent de poser l’hypothèse que le fait d’intervenir dans un contexte hautement émotionnel (vidéo-tir reprenant des situations d’intervention avec utilisation possible de l’arme à feu) sera également associé à de telles constatations ainsi qu’à l’accentuation des réactions psychologiques.<p>L’acquisition d’une technique de préparation à la tâche recourant à l’hypnose et à l’autohypnose, permettrait donc une meilleure gestion du stress et réussite de cette tâche, pouvant ainsi réduire l’amplitude des réactions psychologiques et physiologiques secondaires au stress psychologique associé à la situation présentée sur vidéo-tir.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences Psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

In this study, the use of hypnosis in the treatment of chronic low back pain is described in terms of Ecosystemic thinking, as opposed to traditional conceptualisations of hypnosis. Six case studies were used. Each is described in detail, as well as the therapeutic rationale behind each case, in order to present the reader with an understanding of the thinking behind using Ecosystemic hypnotherapy. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)