How can Hypnotherapy help with Cancer?

Hypnotherapy is well established as a supportive therapy for people with cancer, with organisations such as Macmillan, Cancer Research UK, NHS and Paul’s Cancer Support Centre offering it to people. Some hospitals even have in-house hypnotherapists.

Although hypnosis isn’t a cure it helps people to be able to deal with the physical and psychological symptoms. There have even been cases of people using the power of visualization to reduce the size of the tumor.

The power of the mind is unquestionable; we all know how powerful we can be if we focus our minds. When we choose to focus on the negatives all of a sudden we can be in a downward spiral of negativity, but when we focus on the positives the world becomes a better place and good things start happing.

This idea is the same basis for how hypnosis can help people to deal with the side effects of cancer, giving clients a chance to come out of their treatment plan still being themselves, and not allowing the cancer to become all-controlling, so they can still enjoy life.

It can also help the people’s families to be able to release their stress and tensions, allowing them to be supportive without ending up becoming ill themselves with stress and worry.

Hypnosis should be a core therapy in the treatment of cancer, according to leading psychologist Phyllis Alden. Phyllis Alden, consultant psychologist in the department of clinical oncology at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, believes hypnosis can not only help ease the anxiety of being treated for cancer, but can reduce its symptoms. "Psychology is becoming a key part of cancer services," she said in an interview with the BBC.

She added that research was increasingly showing that hypnosis could improve cancer results. Full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/325928.stm

Hypnotherapy can help people to feel more comfortable and in control, able to cope better with symptoms and treatments, helping them to remain positive. It can help people with sickness and pain, releasing anxiety and stress that can be harmful to their recovery.

Studies into how hypnotherapy can help are ongoing. One organization conducting studies is CAMEOL, a joint project between the Research Council for Complementary Medicine (RCCM), University of Westminster and University of Plymouth. One CAMEOL study looked at hypnotherapy to deal with feeling or being sick from chemotherapy. Overall the study showed that hypnotherapy might be able to help with chemotherapy sickness, although more research needs to be done.

You can look at both the studies on the CAMEOL website; click on the link and then search hypnotherapy to get to the list of studies.

Another study in 2007 in America gave hypnotherapy to a group of women before breast surgery. The researchers found that hypnotherapy lowered the amount of pain, sickness, tiredness and upset that the women had after surgery. Yet another American study in 2006 found that hypnotherapy helped to lower anxiety and pain during a biopsy for suspected breast cancer.

Hypnotherapy helps you have the tools to remain in control of your feelings, allowing yourself the ability to look at the cancer and the treatment in a different way.

Hypnotherapy is safe to be used alongside conventional treatments.