June 2025 Issue, Volume 2
The latest issue of The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis is now available! As an ASCH member, you can access the entire issue and dive into the latest scientific articles, clinical case reports on hypnosis, and related books and abstracts of the current hypnosis literature. Don’t forget to log into your ASCH Member account to gain online access to all past issues of the journal!
Read on for select abstracts from the new AJCH Editor-in-Chief David Reid!
The role of hearing and listening in hypnotic responsiveness
David S. Alter
The hypnosis literature emphasizes features of suggestion, induction, and communication that are described as evoking heightened responsiveness on the part of the subject or client. This article explores what is often overlooked: to have an effect, the subject must not only hear the suggestion but listen to it. The process of listening is described across multiple levels ranging from the acoustic signal to its transduction into a meaning-filled and motivationally enriched message that spurs action. That journey traverses challenging terrain, with numerous obstacles that serve to maintain past habits and response patterns, despite a client’s stated desire for adaptive change. The article highlights those obstacles and then provides descriptions of five language structures that can reach the client consciously or non-consciously, but always in ways that increase the odds that the therapeutic messaging is packaged in a manner that optimizes it being “heard,” absorbed, and enacted. Applications of each language structure are provided using relevant clinical case examples.
Sleepiness may predict hypnotizability, while personality traits do not
Juliette Gelebarta, Sophie Schlatterb, Maxime Billotc, Ursula Debarnota, Claude Bernard
Sleepiness and personality traits have been controversially reported as associated to individual hypnotizability level i.e., receptiveness to hypnotic suggestions and behave accordingly. In this study, we further investigate the relationship between the level of general daytime sleepiness and personality traits with the level of hypnotizability. Seventy-eight healthy young volunteers (34 women) completed the fast assessment of general daytime sleepiness and personality with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the 10-item Big Five Inventory respectively and underwent hypnotic evaluation through the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility Form A (HGSHS:A). Main findings revealed a correlation between sleepiness and hypnotizability levels and no influence of personality traits. Interestingly, women exhibited higher levels of hypnotizability compared to men. Taken together, these results suggest that sleepiness assessment might be considered as a predictive tool to hypnotic suggestions, which would offer practical insight for enhancing hypnosis intervention efficacy.
Hypnosis facilitates psychosomatic improvement in a patient with treatment-resistant idiopathic tinnitus
Nathan Tran, Nahom Zewde, and David Spiegel
Chronic tinnitus, also known as phantom sound perception, is a pervasive and often debilitating condition, affecting 15 to 20% of the population. Due to its idiopathic and persistent nature, chronic tinnitus is frequently associated with co-occurring psychiatric
disorders as well as decreased sleep and quality of life. Additionally, heterogeneous presentations of tinnitus create challenges for treatment. In this paper, we present a case study of a 70-year-old female patient who presented with severe bilateral tinnitus over a period of 5 years. After failing multiple treatment trials such as transtympanic electric stimulation, acupuncture, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and medication, the patient found relief only through hypnotherapy. Results may be explained by alterations in interoceptive processing, increased cognitive flexibility, or somatosensory changes, with corresponding changes in functional neural structures. Given the results of this case study, we recommend hypnosis as an alternative or adjunct to current treatment modalities for tinnitus and further investigation in this area.
Exploring hypnotist trance: the experiences of skilled practitioners
Joseph Meyerson, Naftaly Edry, and Benni Feldman
Milton Erickson first conceptualized the hypnotist trance (HT) as a unique psychological state developed in clinicians during hypnosis sessions. This qualitative study aimed to investigates HT through the experiences of 12 skilled Clinician Hypnosis Specialists (CHS). Data were collected via semi-structured face-to-face interviews, exploring participants’ attitudes toward HT, its impact on their practice, and their strategies for developing and regulating it. Thematic analysis revealed that most CHS view HT as enhancing empathy, communication, and therapeutic effectiveness. However, challenges such as time distortion, hypnotic regression, and countertransference issues were also noted. The study highlights HT’s dual nature — offering significant therapeutic benefits while presenting challenges that need careful management. These findings emphasize the importance of comprehensive HT training in hypnotherapy education and advocate for further research to explore HT across diverse contexts and expertise levels to deepen understanding of this complex phenomenon.
A case study of hypnosis for tongue thrusting: confusion of tongues
Eric J. Proescher
In this case study, the author reviews the benefits of hypnosis for a middle-aged female suffering from an unwanted habit of rubbing her tongue against her teeth, also known as tongue thrusting. At the time of the initial consultation, she had already undergone several months of physical therapy for a lifetime habit of tongue thrusting. During the consultation, she expressed complaints of pain and chronic irritation, along with feelings of distraction and hopelessness regarding treatment. Treatment included one session after initial consultation and hypnotizability testing, at which time patient scored low on Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS). She reported to her psychiatrist the unwanted habit ceased following one follow-up hypnosis interventions. She retained habit change for at least 1-year following hypnosis treatment.
