Pain Control & Management

Session Information | Requirements | Suggested Reading

Before going into hypnosis, the client is given guidance on how to evaluate his or her pain and is encouraged to investigate how he or she is actually coping with the pain. The client is then instructed how to induce self hypnosis with a variety of methods. Next, the individual is shown various modalities of coping with pain, such as deep relaxation, reframing, disputation, imagining other solutions, directing thoughts and actions through positive self-talk, practicing wellness behaviors, distraction exercises, experiencing pain sensations as something else, using dissociating techniques, and employing lots of suggestions dealing with various aspects of coping. The latter strategy works best when the suggestions for pain control are recorded on a CD and played back frequently.