This book is about the use of hypnosis as a method of patient sedation during medical procedures without the use of medication. The lead author, Elvira Lang, MD, is an interventional radiologist with impeccable academic credentials (Associate Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School). The coauthor, Eleanor Laser, PhD, is a clinical psychologist. The book is published by print-on-demand technology.
The book is divided into three parts. In the first part, “Establishing Instant Rapport,” seven chapters cover different aspects of establishing rapport with patients using techniques such as accommodating to their personal space and sensory preferences and matching the rhythms of body position, movements, voice, and breathing. The second part, “Shaping the Patients’ Experience,” has three chapters that explain how negative suggestions (“This is going to hurt”) may become self-fulfilling, how small actions may provide patients with a sense of control in situations that are out of their control (getting a warm blanket when a patient complains of being cold), and how encouragement is better than praise (“You are helping us by keeping still” as opposed to “You are a good patient”). In the third part, “Guiding Patients in Self-Hypnotic Relaxation,” there are 12 chapters that explain, by pragmatic examples and by evidence-based principles, how hypnosis may help patients manage themselves in stressful situations. The authors address both the how and the why. Although the authors are obviously proponents of the use of hypnosis, the presentation is generally balanced and includes a discussion of the concurrent use of sedatives and narcotics. The book concludes with an appendix that collects all of the hypnosis scripts in one place, a list of references, and an index.
Each of the chapters begins with a brief case study that illustrates and introduces the material. The presentation and discussion of general principles is interleaved with scripts and journal entries. The scripts may be used verbatim with the techniques discussed. The journal entries are brief vignettes that illustrate and reinforce the material in the chapter. The chapters conclude with a few bulleted key points to remember and opportunities to practice.
The prose is clear and compelling. For example, in chapter 18, “Imagery,” the authors state, “Imagery replaces a person’s attention on the peripheral surroundings and concurrent reality with a focus on past, future, or imagined content. Remembering what you did yesterday, thinking about what you will do tomorrow, imagining a pink elephant, describing from memory how your meal tasted, humming a song you heard are all examples of imagery. When you use imagery to help patients through medical encounters, you want their focus on a pleasant scene in which they can become fully absorbed through all of their senses: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting.” The chapter then goes on to describe techniques for inviting and using imagery.
As a physician working in a technology-centered specialty with the occasional invasive procedure, by necessity, my interactions with patients tend to be brief, intense, and singular. This is an amazing book that I am sure will help me help my patients through procedures and improve my day-to-day interactions with other people.
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