Psychological shocks and creative moments in psychotherapy.

Milton H. Erickson's use of psychological shock is illustrated with five of his case histories with and without the use of hypnosis. The author outlines a number of principles for the safe and successful use of such shock therapy. Erickson's concept of psychological shock is then integrated with the author's views on the facilitating of creative moments as the essence of psychotherapy. A basic theoretical issue is discussed: Is hypnotherapy (and psychotherapy in general) to be concerned with the actual synthesis of new psychic structures or does it deal primarily with the creative reutilization of previous learnings?

The future orientation of constructive memory: An evolutionary perspective on therapeutic hypnosis and brief psychotherapy.

We explore a new distinction between the future, prospective memory system being investigated in current neuroscience and the past, retrospective memory system, which was the original theoretical foundation of therapeutic hypnosis, classical psychoanalysis, and psychotherapy. We then generalize a current evolutionary theory of sleep and dreaming, which focuses on the future, prospective memory system, to conceptualize a new evolutionary perspective on therapeutic hypnosis and brief psychotherapy. The implication of current neuroscience research is that activity-dependent gene expression and brain plasticity are the psychobiological basis of adaptive behavior, consciousness, and creativity in everyday life as well as psychotherapy. We summarize a case illustrating how this evolutionary perspective can be used to quickly resolve problems with past obstructive procrastination in school to facilitate current and future academic success.

Electrodynamics of clinical hypnosis.

This paper reconstructs and attempts to verify hypotheses made by Leonard Ravitz, Ernest L. Rossi, and Milton H. Erickson, during their research on the influence of hypnosis on the human electromagnetic field. Original charts measured electrodynamic voltage differences of 44 subjects. These voltage differences from Ravitz, Erickson and Rossi's research were digitalized and analyzed with statistical software to check the significance of four hypotheses about ways hypnosis influences the individual's electrodynamic recording. The results of this analysis of the magnitude of the subject's electrodynamic tracing were: (1) there was a statistically significant difference between the prehypnotic condition and hypnosis; (2) there was a statistically significant difference between hypnosis and posthypnotic condition; (3) there was no significant difference between posthypnotic and prehypnotic condition; and (4) there was a statistically significant correlation between an induction of catalepsy and alterations in the electrodynamic tracing. The significance of these findings is discussed with applications to Rossi's 4-Stage Creative Cycle.

Hypnosis as Sole Anesthesia for Dental Removal in a Patient with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Despite a number of studies on hypnosis as analgesia and anesthesia in several medical conditions, case studies on patients with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are still relatively few. This case study is about a female patient with MCS who underwent dental removal using hypnosis as the sole anesthesia. The paradigm in which we work is psychosocial genomics of clinical hypnosis. We used the mind-body transformations therapy, one of the clinical methods of the psychosocial genomics paradigm. In order to induce not only effective analgesia and anesthesia but also a condition of well-being, problem-solving, effective coping and self-empowerment in our patient, 3 different hypnotic protocols were used in a multidimensional approach. Although further research is needed, our work might open up new scenarios for the application of hypnosis as sole anesthesia in conditions such as MCS.

Therapeutic hypnosis, psychotherapy, and the digital humanities: the narratives and culturomics of hypnosis, 1800-2008.

Culturomics is a new scientific discipline of the digital humanities-the use of computer algorithms to search for meaning in large databases of text and media. This new digital discipline is used to explore 200 years of the history of hypnosis and psychotherapy in over five million digitized books from more than 40 university libraries around the world. It graphically compares the frequencies of English words about hypnosis, hypnotherapy, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and their founders from 1800 to 2008. This new perspective explore issues such as: Who were the major innovators in the history of therapeutic hypnosis, psychoanalysis, and psychotherapy? How well does this new digital approach to the humanities correspond to traditional histories of hypnosis and psychotherapy?

A brief protocol for the Creative Psychosocial Genomic Healing Experience: the 4-Stage Creative Process in therapeutic hypnosis and brief psychotherapy.

The authors present empirical data on therapeutic hypnosis and brief psychotherapy as a 4-Stage Creative Process of focused attention and positive expectancy in professional training workshops of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, the National Institute for the Clinical Applications of Behavioral Medicine, and the Milton H. Erickson Foundation. The authors developed a brief protocol for assessing the 4-Stage Creative Process, which is the core dynamic of the Creative Psychosocial Genomic Healing Experience. They report that the 4-Stage Creative Process for resolving many psychological problems and symptomatic behavior in a satisfactory manner can be learned within 3 trials during 2-day professional workshops. The theory, research, and practice of private problem solving, stress reduction, and mind-body symptom resolution in professional and public settings is discussed. Immediate knowledge of results, positive peer support, and the development of new psychosocial skills in learning how to appropriately communicate live here-and-now novel and numinous experiences is an exhilarating exercise in creating new consciousness that facilitates the confidence and maturation of psychotherapists.

A new bioinformatics paradigm for the theory, research, and practice of therapeutic hypnosis.

In a 2008 pilot study we used DNA microarrays to explore the historical ideo-plastic faculty of therapeutic hypnosis. We documented how to measure changes in activity or experience-dependent gene expression over relatively brief time periods (1 hour and 24 hours) following a single intervention of therapeutic hypnosis (about 1 hour). In the present paper we utilize bioinformatic software to explore the possible meaning and significance of this ideo-plastic faculty of therapeutic hypnosis. Indications suggest that the ideo-plastic process of therapeutic hypnosis may be associated with (1) the heightening of a molecular-genomic signature for the up-regulation (heightened activity) of genes characteristic of stem cell growth, (2) a reduction in cellular oxidative stress, and (3) a reduction in chronic inflammation. We identify these three empirical associations as an initial beta version of the molecular-genomic signature of the ideo-plastic process of therapeutic hypnosis, which can serve as a theoretical and practical guide for clinical excellence by beginners as well as senior professionals. We propose this molecular-genomic level of discourse as a supplement to the traditional cognitive-behavioral description of therapeutic suggestion, hypnosis, and psychotherapy that is consistent with "translational research" currently funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

The psychosocial genomics of therapeutic hypnosis, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation.

This paean composed on the occasion of the inaugural Bernauer W. Newton Trust presentation celebrates the personal and professional culture of 50 years of mentorship, teaching, and research by the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH). This review of current neuroscience concepts of therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy is made possible by the cooperation and dedication of all members of our society. Emerging pathways of psychosocial genomic research, which will lead to new directions for our society, are highlighted for their impact on our professional practice in the present and future.

Novel activity-dependent approaches to therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy: the general waking trance.

This paper presents a highly edited version of a videotape made in 1980 by Marion Moore, M.D., showing Milton H. Erickson and Moore demonstrating novel, activity-dependent approaches to hand-levitation and therapeutic hypnosis on their subject, Ernest Rossi. Erickson's naturalistic and utilization approach is described in his very direct and surprising induction in a trance challenged patient. These novel, and surprising inductions are examples of how Erickson was prescient in developing activity-dependent approaches to therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy several generations before modern neuroscience documented the activity-dependent molecular-genomic mechanisms of memory, learning, and behavior change. Erickson describes a case where he utilized what he called, "The General Waking Trance" when he "dared" not use an obvious hypnotic induction. It is proposed that the states of intense mental absorption and response attentiveness that are facilitated by the general waking trance are functionally related to the three conditions neuroscientists have identified as novelty, enrichment, and exercise (both mental and physical), which can turn on activity-dependent gene expression and activity-dependent brain plasticity, that are the molecular-genomic and neural basis ofmemory, learning, consciousness, and behavior change. We recommend that the next step in investigating the efficacy of therapeutic hypnosis will be in partnering with neuroscientists to explore the possibilities and limitations of utilizing the activity-dependent approaches to hypnotic induction and the general waking trance in facilitating activity-dependent gene expression and brain plasticity.

The future orientation of constructive memory: an evolutionary perspective on therapeutic hypnosis and brief psychotherapy.

We explore a new distinction between the future, prospective memory system being investigated in current neuroscience and the past, retrospective memory system, which was the original theoretical foundation of therapeutic hypnosis, classical psychoanalysis, and psychotherapy. We then generalize a current evolutionary theory of sleep and dreaming, which focuses on the future, prospective memory system, to conceptualize a new evolutionary perspective on therapeutic hypnosis and brief psychotherapy. The implication of current neuroscience research is that activity-dependent gene expression and brain plasticity are the psychobiological basis of adaptive behavior, consciousness, and creativity in everyday life as well as psychotherapy. We summarize a case illustrating how this evolutionary perspective can be used to quickly resolve problems with past obstructive procrastination in school to facilitate current and future academic success.

What is a suggestion? The neuroscience of implicit processing heuristics in therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy.

Neuroscience and bioinformatics research on activity-dependent gene expression and brain plasticity in memory and learning are used to reconceptualize a fundamental question of therapeutic hypnosis, "What is a suggestion?" John Kihlstrom's cognitive-behavioral perspective of implicit (unconscious) and explicit (conscious) memory and Eric Kandel's Nobel Prize winning neurobiological research are integrated for a 30-year update of Milton H. Erickson's "neuro-psycho-physiology" of therapeutic hypnosis. Implicit processing heuristics are proposed as a more general framework for Erickson's concept of permissive indirect suggestions in therapeutic hypnosis and psychotherapy. These perspectives are illustrated by utilizing implicit processing heuristics to facilitate the four-stage creative process in converting implicit to explicit memory in a brain-damaged patient.

The neuroscience of observing consciousness & mirror neurons in therapeutic hypnosis.

Neuroscience documents the activity of "mirror neurons" in the human brain as a mechanism whereby we experience empathy and recognize the intentions of others by observing their behavior and automatically matching their brain activity. This neural basis of empathy finds support in research on dysfunctions in the mirror systems of humans with autism and fMRI research on normal subjects designed to assess intentionality, emotions, and complex cognition. Such empathy research now appears to be consistent with the historical and research literature on hypnotic induction, rapport, and many of the classical phenomena of suggestion. A preliminary outline of how mirror neurons may function as a rapport zone mediating between observing consciousness, the gene expression/protein synthesis cycle, and brain plasticity in therapeutic hypnosis and psychosomatic medicine is proposed. Brain plasticity is generalized in the theory, research, and practice of utilizing mirror neurons as an explanatory framework in developing and training new skill sets for facilitating an activity-dependent approach to creative problem solving, mind-body healing, and rehabilitation with therapeutic hypnosis.

Prospects for exploring the molecular-genomic foundations of therapeutic hypnosis with DNA microarrays.

A new perspective on how therapeutic hypnosis and neuroscience may be integrated on the molecular-genomic level is offered as a guide for basic research and clinical applications. An update of Watson and Crick's original formulation of molecular biology is proposed to illustrate how psychosocial experiences modulate gene expression, protein synthesis, and brain plasticity during memory trace reactivation for the reorganization of neural networks that encode fear, stress, and traumatic symptoms. Examples of the scientific literature on DNA microarrays are used to explore how this new technology could integrate therapeutic hypnosis, neuroscience, and psychosocial genomics as a new foundation for mind-body medicine. Researchers and clinicians in therapeutic hypnosis need to partner with colleagues in neuroscience and molecular biology that utilize DNA microarray technology. It is recommended that hypnotic susceptibility scales of the future incorporate gene expression data to include the concept of "embodied imagination" and the "ideo-plastic faculty" on a molecular-genomic level as well as the psychological and behavioral level of ideomotor and ideosensory responses that are currently assessed.

Stress-induced alternative gene splicing in mind-body medicine.

Recent research documents how psychosocial stress can alter the expression of the acetylcholinesterase gene to generate at least 3 alternative proteins that are implicated in a wide variety of normal mind-body functions, as well as pathologies. These range from early embryological development, plasticity of the brain in adulthood, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and stress-associated dysfunctions of the central nervous, endocrine, and immune systems, to age-related neuropathologies. Such stress-induced alternative gene splicing is proposed here as a major mind-body pathway of psychosocial genomics-the modulation of gene expression by creative psychological, social, and cultural processes. We explore the types of research that are now needed to investigate how stress-induced alternative splicing of the acetylcholinesterase gene may play a pivotal role in the deep psychobiology of psychotherapy, meditation, spiritual rituals, and the experiencing of positive humanistic values that have been associated with mind-body medicine, such as compassion, beneficence, serenity, forgiveness, and gratitude.

Gene expression and brain plasticity in stroke rehabilitation: a personal memoir of mind-body healing dreams.

In this personal memoir the author describes the progress of his rehabilitation from a stroke and the dream manifestations of his mind-body healing. He also shares his reminiscences about Erickson's physical difficulties as well as Erickson's naturalistic or activity-dependent approach to therapeutic hypnosis and rehabilitation and emphasizes what he considers the least understood and most under appreciated aspect of Erickson's hypnotherapy--the fact that his patients frequently experienced intense emotional experiences as they accessed and replayed their traumas in a therapeutic manner. He also speculates about the neural mechanisms of his healing from the standpoint of his new neuroscience theory which includes the novelty-numinosum-neurogenesis effect.

Gene expression, neurogenesis, and healing: psychosocial genomics of therapeutic hypnosis.

The historical lineage of therapeutic hypnosis in James Braid's "psychophysiology", Pierre Janet's "physiological modification", and Milton Erickson's "neuro-psycho-physiology" is extended to include current neuroscience research on activity-dependent gene expression, neurogenesis, and stem cells in memory, learning, behavior change, and healing. Three conditions that optimize gene expression and neurogenesis--novelty, environmental enrichment, and exercise--could integrate fundamentals of the theory, research, and practice of therapeutic hypnosis. Continuing research on immediate-early, activity-dependent, behavior state-related, and clock gene expression could enhance our understanding of how relaxation, sleep, dreaming, consciousness, arousal, stress and trauma are modulated by therapeutic hypnosis. It is speculated that therapeutic and post-hypnotic suggestion could be focused more precisely with the time parameters of gene expression and neurogenesis that range from minutes and hours for synthesizing new synapses to weeks and months for the generation and maturation of new, functioning neurons in the adult brain.

A conceptual review of the psychosocial genomics of expectancy and surprise: neuroscience perspectives about the deep psychobiology of therapeutic hypnosis.

This conceptual review explores some speculative associations between the neuroscience of expectancy and surprise during stress and therapeutic hypnosis. Current neuroscience is exploring how novel interactions between the organism and the environment initiate cascades of gene expression, protein synthesis, neurogenesis, and healing that operate via Darwinian principles of natural variation and selection on all levels from the molecular-genomic to the subjective states of consciousness. From a neuroscience perspective, the novel and surprising experiences of consciousness appear to have as important a role as expectancy in memory, learning and behavior change in the psychobiology of therapeutic hypnosis. This paper explores how we may integrate the psychosocial genomics of expectancy and surprise in therapeutic hypnosis as a complex system of creative adaptation on all levels of human experience from mind to gene expression.

Psychosocial genomics: gene expression, neurogenesis, and human experience in mind-body medicine.

This paper introduces the new scientific discipline of psychosocial genomics as an emerging area in the foundations of mind-body medicine. Psychosocial genomics brings together a variety of interdisciplinary fields ranging from studies of stress, psychosomatics, psychoimmunology, and psychoendocrinology to the deep psychobiology of creativity, optimal performance, dreaming, art, ritual, culture, and spiritual life. The focus of psychosocial genomics is on creating new models of how the levels of gene expression, neurogenesis, and healing are interrelated as a complex, adaptive system with the levels of human experiencing, behavior, and consciousness. Ongoing research in psychosocial genomics is presented to illustrate how this complex adaptive system operates in the theory and practice of alternative and complementary mind-body medicine and psychotherapy on all levels, from mind to gene.