I am pleased to share select abstracts from articles to be published in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. I also encourage you to access the journal through your ASCH account and portal.
Ericksonian Hypnotherapy Versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial Integrating Clinical, Neurocognitive, and Autonomic Outcomes
Metin Çınaroğlu, Selami Varol Ülker, Eda Yılmazer, Esra Noyan Ahlatcıoğlu, and Gökben Hızlı Sayar
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by persistent psychological distress and heightened neurophysiological reactivity. While trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an established treatment, Ericksonian Hypnotherapy (EH) may offer comparable benefits via different therapeutic mechanisms. In this randomized clinical trial, 63 adults meeting DSM-5 criteria for PTSD were allocated (1:1:1) to EH, CBT, or a waitlist control; 54 participants completed post-treatment assessments. Both active interventions consisted of 12 weekly individual sessions. Outcomes included PTSD symptom severity (PCL-5), depression (BDI-II), anxiety (BAI), EEG markers (N2, P3, frontal alpha asymmetry), and autonomic reactivity (galvanic skin response, heart rate). Group × Time effects were analyzed using mixed-effects models. Treatment fidelity was independently evaluated. Both EH and CBT produced large and significant reductions in PTSD symptoms compared with waitlist, with no significant difference between the two therapies in total PCL-5 improvement. Depression and anxiety symptoms also decreased substantially in both active groups. Subscale analyses suggested slightly greater reductions in intrusion, hyperarousal, and somatic anxiety symptoms in EH, whereas CBT showed modestly greater improvement in cognitive depressive symptoms. Neurophysiological findings demonstrated parallel treatment-related changes across therapies, including normalization of ERP components, shifts toward left-frontal alpha activity, and reduced autonomic reactivity to trauma cues. No serious adverse events were observed. Ericksonian Hypnotherapy is as effective as trauma-focused CBT for reducing PTSD symptoms and associated psychological and physiological dysregulation, supporting EH as a viable alternative intervention for PTSD.
Relational Hypnotherapy, Lucid Dreaming, and Sleep Paralysis: A Case Study
Carlos A. Ramos
Sleep paralysis (SP) is understood as a form of temporary muscle paralysis that occurs during the transition between wakefulness and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. SP is normally associated with vivid, fear-provoking hallucinations such as being threatened or attacked by home invaders and paranormal encounters like alien abductions. SP affects about 20% of the population, and it is a common symptom of narcolepsy, a disorder that disrupts regular sleep cycles and causes sleep deprivation. This article is intended to illuminate the use of relational hypnotherapy in conjunction with lucid dreaming suggestions with a 62-year-old white male suffering with SP in the form of re-occurring, waking nightmares that affected his overall mental health. Although clinical hypnosis has been used to treat SP, little to no research has explored the connection between hypnosis and lucid dreaming as a means of altering SP. Lucid dreaming, an individual’s ability to realize they are dreaming, has been shown to reduce nightmares, distress, and improve sleep quality. This article will demonstrate how lucid dreaming interventions can be included with hypnotherapy and discuss how a lucid dreaming experience can transform waking nightmares to preferred dream experiences.
Existential Hypnotherapy for ADHD: A Novel Approach to Authenticity-Based Treatment
James Alfred Podhorodecki
This paper introduces existential hypnotherapy as a novel approach for treating ADHD, integrating evidence-based hypnotherapeutic techniques with existential principles. Emerging research highlights environmental factors as major contributors to ADHD symptom expression, supporting the need for interventions that address both neurobiological and meaning-oriented dimensions. Hypnotherapy has shown moderate efficacy for attention regulation (d = 0.63), with improved long-term outcomes compared to some other psychological treatments. However, conventional approaches often overlook existential concerns such as authenticity, responsibility, and meaning, which frequently arise for individuals with ADHD. This paper proposes a clinical protocol incorporating techniques like phenomenological reframing, present-centered awareness induction, future self-integration, authenticity anchoring, and body scan hypnosis. Sessions are extended to accommodate attentional variability while addressing both symptoms and deeper existential themes. While empirical testing of this integration is needed, its theoretical and clinical foundations offer hypnotherapists a meaningful framework. By reframing attention differences as context-dependent modes of being, this model encourages greater client engagement and acknowledges both the challenges and adaptive potentials of ADHD.
Towards Precision Psychiatry: The Relationship between Hypnotic Ideomotor Phenomena and Psychopathology
Antonella Ciaramella, Melania Boni, Luisa Fanciullacci, and Federico Marcucci
The relationship between increased psychopathology and hypnotisability has been a topic debated since the time of Charcot. The primary aim of this study was to investigate this relationship using the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale Type A and the major dimensions of psychopathology on the Symptom Check List 90 Revised (SCL-90-R); the secondary objective was to highlight any relationship between responses to induced individual ideomotor phenomena and the severity of psychopathological features. This study highlights the absence of a relationship between increased psychopathology, hypnotisability, and response to formally induced ideomotor suggestions. However, it found that subjects who responded to the suggestion of lowering the left hand (item 3) had lower scores for SCL-90-R Obsession-Compulsion and Depression. A neurobiological hypothesis is put forward that could explain the precise mechanisms of action of ideomotor suggestions in depressive and obsessive manifestations.
In closing, and as a reminder: The AJCH publishes original scientific articles and clinical case reports on hypnosis, as well as book reviews and abstracts of the current hypnosis literature. The purview of AJCH articles includes multiple and single case studies, empirical research studies, models of treatment, theories of hypnosis, and occasional special articles pertaining to hypnosis.
Topics and “keywords” can include: hypnosis, hypnotizability, hypnotic applications, psychiatry, psychology, dentistry, nursing, general medicine, pain management, wellness, stress management, hypnosis inclusion with other treatment modalities/interventions (e.g., mindfulness, CBT, ACT, DBT, etc.).
We welcome your submissions and look forward to future collaborations that advance the application and promotion of clinical hypnosis. You can find instructions for authors here.
