A lot has been said on the importance of setting goals, so it’s nothing new. However there’s a certain way to set goals. Goals get you thinking in the right...
A lot has been said on the importance of setting goals, so it’s nothing new. However there’s a certain way to set goals. Goals get you thinking in the right way to wealth, they focus your thoughts. There is a right way and a wrong way to set goals. Format them in the right way; keep your images and motivations consistent and not random.
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up exactly there (where?). If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. If you have no specific goals, you will get no specific results. Your thoughts and the images in your mind manifest into your reality. Your thoughts and images are the blueprint by which your world is designed and created by and for you. Goals are planned thoughts, directed thoughts. Without planned and directed thought, your life will be unplanned and undirected, seemingly haphazard and seemingly unreliable.
Know where you’re going, and know the answers as to how you'll get there will come to you on their own time. Don't worry about it. Simply believe that you'll get there. Your ideas, visions, and dreams, whatever they may be, are the prophecies of what you’ll one day become and achieve. You can predict your outer life tomorrow by looking at your inner self today. You can change your tomorrow by changing your inner self today.
Take goals seriously. One university in the USA traced the lives of one graduating class. Three percent of that class had their own written goals at the start of the study. By the end of the twenty years, that 3 percent who started with written goals and plans were worth more financially than the other 97 percent combined. They also reported more satisfaction and joy with their lives.
The visionaries and dreamers of the world are the saviors and driving force behind it. These are the inventors, artists, philosophers, educators, sages, business people, designers, scientists, leaders, and so on-anyone who dreams big and creates. The world is created for better or worse because of the dreamers and visionaries.
Have a vision, believe in that vision, and you will without fail realize it to the extent that you believe you will. Everything is in your favor. So dream very big! Dream very, very big! Conformity can be your worst enemy. If you do what the crowd does, you will get what the crowd gets. Every day, people get up in the morning; go to work like everyone else, and do things like everyone else. But ask them why they do it, and they just do not really know. They just work hard all day because everyone else does, and their reason for working is usually to pay their bills and provide for themselves and their family.
If you’re thirty years old, working hard like everyone else, like the rest of the crowd, and that is all you’re doing, you can easily tell, roughly, where you will be in life when you turn fifty by looking at the fifty-years-old crowd today. Are most fifty-year-olds today financially independent or wealthy? No, they’re not. The vast majority of people today are not wealthy or financially independent. But they could be. If only they just didn’t follow the crowd just because “it’s the way it is done.”
To get something better than the crowd gets you have to do one thing different: and that is to have specific goals, reasons, visions, and wealth consciousness. Realistically speaking, you can be self-made wealthy and financially independent even at eighteen years of age or less. It all depends on how early, strongly, accurately, and believingly you start your goal setting, envisioning, and wealth-consciousness building. Hard work alone is not the key to wealth. People have gotten wealthy with and without hard work. Wealth consciousness as a whole is the key. And goal setting in the right way is the map.
There is a mistake some people make when they achieve their goals. This mistake takes them back down. Let’s say that a person has a goal of having a million dollars in their bank account soon, and presently they have four thousand dollars in there. So they do all the right things, they set their goals, visualize, get certain, act, and do all that. They keep their vision of that million high, and they achieve it.
Then their account shows one million dollars, and they get happy, of course, then they start the mistake. And that mistake is that they now start looking at the bank account, trying to maintain their precious old goal, worrying when it drops below their goal level, and so on. They switch their sight from that of an unachieved higher goal, and they start looking at the achieved past goal. They start living in the past, trying to maintain the past. Then they start worrying, and it goes on like that until they lose that million. They stop doing what they were doing right in the first place to get to their goal, and they start living as they used to.
Set your goals higher than your present reality. This doesn’t mean that you're never to be satisfied with your achievements or that you should get greedy. On the contrary, it means you should enjoy every day without worry. You shouldn’t worry about losing what you’ve got. You shouldn’t worry about maintaining what you already have. Make your goal, achieve it, enjoy achieving it and reaching it, but when you do reach it, don’t switch to worrying about keeping it. Instead, set a new higher goal and keep your eyes and your mind focused on it; enjoy your old successes without worrying about maintaining them. In any case, it is folly to worry as the worry itself is what would bring you down. Wealth consciousness and all its activities are a lifestyle, not something you do occasionally. Your thoughts, your being, and your goals should always be on the next grander version of you, not the past version. Whatever you wish to achieve, hypnosis and hypnotherapy can help.
Rick Collingwood - Australia's Premiere Clinical Hypnotist and Hypnosis Trainer.
The information pack covers course outlines, the Sydney and Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2027 dates, fees and registration terms.
Accredited training in clinical hypnosis and mesmerism, in class over eight days or online as distance learning. Learn from one of the world's most experienced hypnotists and hypnosis trainers.
The in-class days are practical. Students practise inductions on each other under supervision, and competency is assessed live in the room. Classes are deliberately limited in size.
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We won't just fill your head with theory. You leave able to induce hypnosis safely and use it for therapy.
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Graduates practise in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Iceland, Fiji, South Africa, Holland and Costa Rica.
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Eight days inclusive. AUD $6,000. Online study begins the day you register, wherever you are in Australia.
Eight days inclusive. USD $4,500. Cambodia is one of the easiest places in the world to obtain a visa.
Course structure, class dates, assessment requirements, payment plan conditions and everything included with enrolment.
Eight days in class, USD $4,500. Cambodia is one of the easiest places in the world to obtain a visa.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is the Cambodian capital. It is a very safe attractive modern riverside city of broad boulevards fantastic local and international restaurants, and the Cambodian People are among the most friendly and hospitable people in the world.
Very good three-to-five-star accommodation is available in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with prices ranging from USD $35 to USD $150 a night. For accommodation we suggest you check out booking.com or agoda.com, and to ensure you are close to the training venue, you should seek a hotel or an apartment in the districts BKK 1, BKK 2, or BKK 3. Either of these areas will ensure that you are a $3 taxi ride from the venue
The primary currencies are the Cambodian Riel and the US dollar, and international credit and debit cards are widely accepted. Despite some negativity publicity and Cambodia recently, it is mostly nonsense and Phnom Penh, Cambodia is a completely safe and peaceful city not requiring any more caution than any other international city. Visas are very easily available for all international arrivals either pre organised online or at arrival at the new Techo airport
If you want the take an opportunity for an extended holiday, close by are the temples of Angkor Wat at Siem Reap, or the riverside town of Kampot. There are numerous sights to please any visitor, such as the Royal Palace and the National Museum of Cambodia, and of course the so called Killing Fields and the notorious S21 torture prison are both in and very close to the city.
Until about 2015 Phnom Penh, Cambodia was rather shabby and run-down due to the long years of war and four years of Khmer Rouge abandonment. The future now looks bright, with many new upscale shopping centres, luxury residence complexes and hotels opening all the time.
Most of the important attractions for the tourist are located besides, or within walking distance of, the riverside in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Here you’ll find a surplus of great restaurants, bars, shops, affordable guesthouses and tuk-tuk drivers ready to take you to all the sights.
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Each fee is inclusive of the stages before it, so nothing is paid twice. Quoted rates apply when the fee is paid in full on registration, and a payment plan is available.
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Registration terms are set out in the information pack, alongside the 2027 training dates and full course outlines.
The Distance Learning Hypnosis Training is the full hypnosis training completed online, in your own time. Study opens the day you register, and the fee is USD $999. If you enrol for an in-class training at any time in the future, that fee is deducted from the in-class fee.
USD $1,500 for both distance learning trainings, a USD $498 reduction. Deducted from a later in-class enrolment.
The training works through practical hypnosis procedures, inductions and deepening, therapeutic application, and working with clients. The material sits in the Hypnosis Training portal of the student training and resource centre, as training manuals and training videos.
The curriculum is written by Rick Collingwood, a therapeutic hypnotist, hypnosis and mesmerism trainer and author who founded Mind Motivations in 1993. His teaching draws on traditional hypnosis, Ericksonian hypnosis, mesmerism, hypnotic fascination, direct and rapid methods, counselling, TFT and NLP.
On registration you receive an acceptance letter with your details, the required training manuals in eBook format, and a password for the online student training and resource centre. Study begins the day you register and is worked through at your own pace.
Every training also includes six online group monthly Zoom trainings of two hours each. Resource centre access is permanent and free, so the material stays available after you qualify.
Assessment is an examination and self-assessments. A Diploma of Advanced Clinical Hypnosis is issued on completion of them.
Practical competency for the in-class training is assessed live, in the room, so that component cannot be completed remotely. Distance learning students who later want it attend one of the scheduled eight-day intakes.
If you enrol for an in-class training at any time in the future, the fees of your distance learning training are automatically deducted from the in-class fee. Nothing is paid twice.
No knowledge is withheld in order to upsell students into another training. The distance learning training is complete in itself.
The training assumes nothing, and many students arrive with no experience in therapy at all. It also suits experienced practitioners folding hypnosis into a practice they already run.
The Academy has taught clinical hypnosis as a modality within the professions of physical and emotional healing since 1993, to an audience that has included doctors and executives.
The Academy is accredited by the Hypnotherapy Council of Australia, the peak body for hypnosis in Australia. The training is also AHA and PHA recognised, which supports graduate membership applications.
No Australian jurisdiction registers hypnotherapists, so practice is governed by professional association membership rather than state registration.
The day you register. Online study opens immediately and is worked through at your own pace, so there is no intake date to wait for.
No. The training assumes nothing, and many students arrive with no experience in therapy at all.
No. The distance learning training requires no travel and no in-class attendance, because it is a complete training in itself. If you enrol for an in-class training later, your distance learning fee is deducted from the in-class fee.
Yes. Enrol for both distance learning trainings and the fee for the two together is USD $1,500, a USD $498 reduction, with access to both portals.
Quoted rates apply when the fee is paid in full on registration. The payment plan conditions are confirmed in the current information pack.
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The Distance Learning Mesmerism and Magnetism Training is completed online, with access to the Mesmerism portal of the student training and resource centre. The fee is USD $999, and study opens the day you register. Enrol for both distance learning trainings and the fee for the two together is USD $1,500.
USD $1,500 for both distance learning trainings, a USD $498 reduction. Deducted from a later in-class enrolment.
The training covers mesmerism and magnetism, the magnetic methods, deep trance work, and historical technique applied in practice. The manuals and training videos sit in the Mesmerism portal of the student training and resource centre.
Mesmerism is taught as a discipline in its own right and as a set of methods that combine with hypnosis in practice. Three of the eight in-class days are given to Advanced Mesmerism and Magnetism for that reason.
Rick Collingwood holds Mesmerismus Magnetista (Mesmerism) among his qualifications, alongside Dip. Hypnosis, Dip. Adv. Hypnosis, Dip. 1-2 Counselling, Dip. Mental Health, B.A. Counselling and Cert IV Workplace Training and Assessment. He is a lifetime member of the Professional Hypnotherapists of Australia.
He holds arguably the largest collection of old and rare hypnosis books in the Southern Hemisphere, and the historical material in this training comes from that source.
On registration you receive an acceptance letter with your details, the required training manuals in eBook format, and a password for the online student training and resource centre. Study begins the day you register and is worked through at your own pace.
Six online group monthly Zoom trainings of two hours each are included, as they are with every training. Resource centre access is permanent and free.
The hypnosis training and the mesmerism and magnetism training are enrolled for separately or together. Together the fee is USD $1,500, a USD $498 reduction on the two enrolled separately, and you receive access to both portals.
Students who enrol for one training first can take the other later. No knowledge is withheld in order to upsell students into another training.
Days six to eight of the eight-day in-class training are Advanced Mesmerism and Magnetism. Distance learning covers the same subject in the Mesmerism portal, worked through in your own time.
If you enrol for an in-class training at any time in the future, the fees of your distance learning training are automatically deducted from the in-class fee.
The two distance learning trainings are enrolled for separately or together, and together the fee is USD $1,500. Any entry requirement is confirmed in the current information pack.
The day you register. The portal opens immediately and the material is worked through at your own pace.
Yes. Days six to eight of the eight-day in-class training are Advanced Mesmerism and Magnetism.
Yes. If you enrol for an in-class training at any time in the future, the fees of your distance learning training are automatically deducted from the in-class fee.
A Diploma of Advanced Clinical Hypnosis, issued on completion of the examination and self-assessments.
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The in-class training runs over eight consecutive days and is where you learn to induce hypnosis under supervision. Two intakes are scheduled for 2027: Sydney from Friday 22 to Friday 29 January, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from Friday 5 to Friday 12 March. Places are limited.
USD $4,500 in any other country, and less again for existing distance learning students.
Days one to four are Advanced Hypnosis training conducted by Rick Collingwood. Day five is Advanced Mind Dynamics Training conducted by Michael Nadalin, covering self-hypnosis and using hypnosis for business and marketing a practice.
Days six to eight are Advanced Mesmerism and Magnetism training, including how to combine those methods with hypnosis in practice. The eight days run consecutively, as one block.
Sydney runs from Friday 22 to Friday 29 January 2027, eight days inclusive, at AUD $6,000. Phnom Penh, Cambodia, runs from Friday 5 to Friday 12 March 2027, eight days inclusive, at USD $4,500.
Classes are limited in size, so the earlier you enquire the more choice you have over the intake you join. Accommodation, districts, currency, visas and nearby travel for the Cambodia intake are set out on the Phnom Penh, Cambodia training information page.
The in-class training is hands-on and experiential. You practise on other students under supervision, and no knowledge is withheld in order to upsell you into another training.
Because the days run as a block rather than weekly evenings, most students complete the in-class requirement in a single period of leave. Online theory opens the day you register, so study begins well before the practical days.
The in-class training requires completion of the eight days, together with an examination and self-assessments. Practical competency is assessed live, in the room, which is why this component cannot be completed remotely.
A Diploma of Advanced Clinical Hypnosis is issued on successful completion.
In-class students gain automatic access to the student training and resource centre and to the materials in both the Hypnosis and Mesmerism portals, including all training manuals and training videos. Six online group monthly Zoom trainings of two hours each are included.
In-class students can also repeat any future training at a very low cost. Resource centre access is permanent and free.
The fee is AUD $6,000 in Australia and USD $4,500 in any other country, and less again for existing distance learning students. If you studied online first, those fees are automatically deducted from the in-class fee.
Travel and accommodation for the in-class days are not included, and neither are professional association membership or insurance fees once you qualify.
No. Practical competency is assessed live, in the room, so the in-class component cannot be completed remotely or by video.
Yes. The eight days run consecutively as one block, and attendance across all of them is required because competency is assessed live.
Two intakes are scheduled for 2027. Sydney runs from 22 to 29 January and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, runs from 5 to 12 March, so students choose whichever suits their travel.
Those fees are automatically deducted from the in-class fee, and the in-class fee is less again for existing distance learning students. The exact figure is confirmed in the current information pack.
No. Travel and accommodation for the in-class days are arranged and paid for by the student.
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This page lists the twelve Diploma video lesson topics and where enrolled students access them. The videos sit in the "Monthly Diploma Videos" section of the student training and resource centre. It is a reference for students who are already enrolled.
All the Diploma of Clinical Hypnotherapy videos and topics are found in the "Monthly Diploma Videos" section in the student training and resource centre at www.rickcollingwoodhypnosis.com.
How suggestion given in hypnosis reaches the body, and what that link means in clinical work.
What an abreaction is, how it presents during a session, and how the hypnotist responds when one occurs.
Applying hypnosis to the management of pain, and the boundaries of that work alongside conventional medical treatment.
Regression work covering both present-life material and past-life material.
Writing hypnotic scripts for a client, and the methods used to deepen a trance once it is established.
The magnetism material that also runs through the Mesmerism and Magnetism training, and how energy is shifted in a session.
How transference arises between hypnotist and subject, and how it is managed in a clinical setting.
How hypnosis is adapted when the subject is a child, and how that differs from work with adults.
How the conscious and subconscious minds are addressed in hypnosis, and how a hypnotist works across both.
Induction methods that reliably produce trance, and what gains subconscious compliance once the subject is under.
Applying hypnosis to addiction and substance abuse presentations in clinical practice.
The ethical obligations of a practising hypnotherapist, and the practical side of running a clinical practice.
Enrolment includes the student training and resource centre, the training manuals, the training videos, and six two-hour online group monthly Zoom trainings. Distance learning students have access to the portal for the training they enrolled in: the Hypnosis portal, the Mesmerism portal, or both.
In-class students receive automatic access to the resource centre and the materials in both portals, and can repeat any future training at a very low cost. Resource centre access is permanent and free.
Access questions, missing lessons and enrolment queries go through the contact page. The Academy is a training organisation and does not take hypnotherapy treatment enquiries from members of the public.
For the full curriculum outline rather than the video list, see the hypnotherapy courses page.
Rick Collingwood's articles on hypnosis, technique, client work and the history of mesmerism, alongside notes on the training. The back catalogue is republished here at its original dates.
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The information pack covers course outlines, the Sydney and Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2027 dates, fees and registration terms.
Try the material before you commit to a qualification. Register once and we send an introductory lesson, a hypnosis MP3, an induction walkthrough and the full prospectus.
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The Global Hypnosis Academy training is second to none. Both the in-class and the online distance learning trainings are thorough and structured so that every student learns the theoretical and practical skills needed to become a confident, competent hypnotherapist.
An acceptance letter with your dates and details, all required training manuals in eBook format, and a password for the Academy's comprehensive online student training and resource centre, filled with training videos and relevant books.
You keep permanent free access to the resource centre, and you can begin your training at your own pace immediately upon registration.
Dates and venues are listed on the training locations page.
The in-class Diploma of Clinical Hypnotherapy requires the completion of those eight days, together with a 150-question open-book examination and five self-assessments.
On successful completion, all students receive a professional Diploma of Clinical Hypnotherapy and a Transcript of Studies. If you would rather read it all in one document first, download the prospectus.
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Distance learning is USD $999 for the Hypnosis training and USD $999 for the Mesmerism training, or USD $1,500 for both. The eight-day in-class training is AUD $6,000 in Australia and USD $4,500 in any other country.
If you study online first and later attend an in-class training, your distance learning fees are automatically deducted from the in-class fee.
Two in-class intakes are scheduled: Sydney from Friday 22 to Friday 29 January 2027, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Friday 5 to Friday 12 March 2027. Online study begins the day you register, from anywhere. Choose your city for travel and enrolment detail.
Venue address and start times are confirmed with your acceptance letter. International trainings are scheduled on request.
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The qualification is deliberately split. Theory, history, ethics and case work are delivered online through the students resource centre, which you work through at your own pace from {{ cityName }}. The practical component - inductions, supervised practice and assessment - happens in the room, in Sydney, because competency is assessed live.
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{{ cityAcademyLine }} See the Sydney training detail.
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Get the information pack: course outlines, the Sydney and Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2027 dates, fees and registration terms.
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Rick Collingwood is a therapeutic hypnotist, hypnosis and mesmerism trainer, lecturer, public speaker and author. He is the founder and president of Mind Motivations, established in 1993. He has trained hypnosis in Australia and internationally for the past 31 years and is the founder and president of the Global Hypnosis Academy.
He developed a unique style of hypnosis from a combination of traditional hypnosis, Ericksonian hypnosis and mesmerism. Drawing on the direct and rapid methods used by both modern hypnotists and the hypnotists of the past, he moulded those techniques into a therapeutic model - and that model is what the Academy teaches. The curriculum is created, formatted and updated by him.
He has personally assisted many thousands of people. His clients have included international movie stars, commercial airline pilots, psychologists, medical professionals, sales motivators, business people, homemakers and children, facing challenges from stress disorders, nicotine and drug dependency and gambling addiction to pain management, depression, panic disorder, insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome and cancer.
Peer acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled professional hypnotists and hypnosis trainers, he has trained more than 5,000 students in the correct and effective use of his hypnosis styles.
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In 2005, in conjunction with pharmacist Nathan Elliott, Rick conducted Australia's first monitored clinical study evaluating improvements in quality of life using hypnosis as an adjunct to conventional medical treatment. The participants were nine doctor-referred and doctor-monitored volunteers living with various cancers at various stages of progression.
The advanced techniques used in that trial became Hypnosis Field Therapy - a deep trance methodology that works on the subconscious patterns underlying a habit, emotional issue or health concern. They have been developed further across thousands of hours of clinical experiment and research since.
Read the full trial report: the method, the results, the nine participant records and the references.
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Founded in 1993, the Academy has taught clinical hypnosis as a significant and valuable modality within the professions of physical and emotional healing for three decades. More than 5,000 students have been trained in Australia and internationally.
Graduates practise in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Iceland, Fiji, South Africa, Holland and Costa Rica. Training is recognised by the major hypnosis associations in Australia and accredited by the Hypnotherapy Council of Australia.
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In 2005 in Perth, Western Australia, Rick Collingwood and pharmacist Nathan Elliott ran a clinical trial measuring what specialised mind body hypnosis did to the quality of life of cancer patients. Nine patients took part. Eight completed all six sessions. The full report is below, unedited.
The trial measured quality of life. It did not test whether hypnosis treats or cures cancer, and it makes no such claim. Rick Collingwood's own position, in his words from the report: asked whether hypnosis can cure cancer, his answer is definitely not.
Every participant obtained a referral from their treating doctor and stayed on their conventional medical treatment throughout. Anyone diagnosed with cancer should listen first to their oncologist and medical doctor.
I have spent more than twenty years in full time practice as a clinical hypnotherapist and I have been training hypnosis since 1996. During that time I have helped thousands of individuals afflicted with a vast array of physical and emotional challenges. Most have been able to move beyond their restricting belief systems and gain some benefit, but there are always a few exceptions.
There is endless speculation from all quarters regarding the causes of and cures for cancer, and there are even more therapies available to the afflicted, but there is no panacea or magic bullet. While billions of dollars are spent every year on research, cancer itself continues to spread throughout the world, striking randomly and leaving too much physical, mental, emotional and financial destruction in its wake.
There is a school of thought that all sickness, and cancer especially, results from emotional imbalances. In my opinion there must be an emotional and stress component to many diseases, but to state that all cancer is caused by an emotional conflict is foolish and incorrect, because many of the emotional associations to a disease take hold after a conscious awareness of it. Cancer is caused by many reasons and they are as different and individual as the many types of disease called cancer. The fundamental cause is largely unknown, but the reasons include environmental, genetic and emotional factors to varying degrees, or a combination of all three.
For most cancers the fact remains that there is no cure, and I would advise all seekers to steer a wide berth around any person who claims that all cancer is caused by the mind, or that they can cure cancer, if those claims cannot be backed up with valid and verifiable scientific evidence. I would also advise any person diagnosed with cancer to listen firstly to their oncologist and medical doctor. Common sense dictates that a healthy attitude, fresh food, clean water, some daily sunshine, exercise and good sleep is an idealistic pattern for all, whether presently healthy or not.
There are many derivatives of hypnosis facading behind snappy names and acronyms, which sometimes purport remarkable or instant remedies for all manner of ills. I propose that apparently miraculous cures often miraculously reverse into the non-permanence of wishful thinking. Just because an individual who has been sick may feel better, it does not mean that they are in fact well.
Firstly, I was having successes using hypnosis to alleviate the crippling effects in sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome and non-insulin dependent diabetes. Then I did experimental work with Parkinson's disease which yielded significant results in the amelioration of symptoms. I stress that I insist any sick person I work with must remain under their doctor's care and stay on their prescribed medications.
The final reason was the numerous testimonials arriving in my inbox from people all over Australia reporting significant benefits from regular use of my Mind-Body Healing Program. All of the participants in the clinical study were required to use the program daily as an adjunct to their weekly in-person hypnosis sessions for the entire duration of the protocol.
Beyond my years as a therapist, I learned a lot from this study. I learned about excruciating physical and emotional pain. I learned about hope. I learned about fear. I learned about faith and the strength of the human spirit. But mostly I learned about respect. Not only for the sufferers who took part, but for every victim of cancer and their families, and for those people from all of the caring professions who work tirelessly to bring healing and comfort to the sufferers of cancer.
In my opinion this study has been a success beyond my expectations, and I believe beyond the expectations of the participants. I would like to thank them all, and to thank my colleague Nathan Elliott, a pharmacist also endowed with the knowledge and skills of hypnosis. Without Nathan's academic and professional expertise this trial would not have been possible. This was our trial, not mine alone. Thanks also to the medical doctors and oncologists who had the open-mindedness to approve their patients into the trial.
I do not believe that anything can cure most cancers, but I do believe that cancer is sometimes created from within, and that once a sufferer has a conscious awareness of the diagnosis then the mind plays a significant part in the experience and the outcome of the treatment.
Because there are now so many modalities that profess to be hypnosis but are actually only aspects of it, I strongly discourage any person from using hypnosis for curative purposes without first consulting their medical doctor. Also ensure that the hypnotherapist has adequate knowledge and training in the use of hypnosis, and experience with the specialist techniques required to work with pain management.
This trial and all my cancer work was and is undertaken using traditional hypnosis, not snappy named hybrids. It is far more involved than just relaxing someone and having them imagine an army of good soldiers hunting down cancer cells. It took me five years of experimental work to formulate the correct procedures and terminologies to get the results presented here.
Collingwood BR, Elliott NJ
Hypnosis as an allied therapy to improve the quality of life of cancer patients
Australian Academy of Hypnosis and Advanced Mind Dynamics Pty Ltd, Perth, Australia
Complementary and alternative medicine used by cancer patients is becoming much more prevalent the world over. Many beneficial outcomes have been seen from the addition of hypnosis to conventional protocols. As with all treatments, the focus of the hypnotherapy is to ameliorate the effects of pain and to restore a level of psychological and physical wellbeing and functioning. The EORTC QLQ-C30 core questionnaire was used to assess changes in perceived quality of life. Each patient received six hypnotherapy sessions, conducted by the same hypnotherapist each time, and questionnaires were completed prior to induction of trance.
Responses were evaluated comparing the initial questionnaire with the final questionnaire. Statistically significant improvements were noted with fatigue, global health status, insomnia and physical functioning. All aspects of the questionnaire showed improvement following the six sessions. Overall, patients experienced the benefit of hypnosis in reducing symptoms and increasing their overall quality of life. Many commented that commencing hypnosis at the time of diagnosis, and continuing throughout their treatment, would have been greatly beneficial.
Complementary and alternative medicine used by cancer patients is becoming much more prevalent around the world. Patients with all tumour types and stages use it in the hope of cure, disease control, longer survival, improved quality of life and palliation. Most is used in addition to current conventional medical treatment, therefore it does not reduce health costs, and disclosure to physicians is usually incomplete. Breast cancer patients who use it tend to have higher levels of psychosocial distress.
During the period surrounding a diagnosis of cancer, people can experience anxiety, emotional and physical distress and mood disturbance. During treatment these symptoms are often compounded by side-effects including nausea, vomiting, and procedural and disease related physical pain. Conventional medicine targets pain, distress and depression, however conventional treatments do not always relieve these symptoms to patient satisfaction. Often these patients will opt for complementary and alternative medicine such as acupuncture, naturopathy, homoeopathy and mind-body techniques in an attempt to reduce symptoms, and even in the hope of a cure.
The National Institutes of Health define mind-body therapies as interventions that use a variety of techniques designed to facilitate the mind's capacity to affect bodily functions and symptoms. Many hospitals are seeing the benefit of these therapies in conjunction with current treatments and establishing mind-body cancer research programs. Hypnosis has been used to reduce side-effects and allow patients to function better emotionally and physically, and many literature reviews describe beneficial outcomes from its addition to conventional protocols.
Quality of life in cancer patients is one common measure for treatment success, particularly in palliation. Symptoms relating to psychological distress and existential concerns are even more prevalent than pain and other physical symptoms among those with life-limiting conditions. Specific non-Ericksonian hypnosis techniques were used in the study that follows.
The study was conducted on nine patients, four male and five female, with various cancers: one prostate, two bowel, three breast and two oesophageal. To participate, patients obtained a referral from their treating doctor and were required to remain on current conventional medical treatment unless modified by that doctor. The EORTC QLQ-C30 core questionnaire was used to assess changes in perceived quality of life, completed at the initial interview and then prior to each hypnosis session. All patients completed the questionnaires unassisted and all questions were answered. Patients were also given a hypnosis recording to listen to once a day for the course of the study. Each patient received six hypnotherapy sessions with the same hypnotherapist. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test analysis.
Of the nine patients commencing the study, eight completed all six sessions. One female patient withdrew after four sessions due to weakness following intensive radiotherapy. The average age of male patients was 63 years, range 50 to 76. The average age of female patients was 56 years, range 47 to 64. All patients completing the study maintained regular contact with their doctor.
Functional scales improve as the number rises. Symptom scales improve as the number falls. Every scale moved in the direction of improvement.
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Patients rated their lack of sleep over the previous week on a four-point scale. Three quarters reported no insomnia at all by the sixth session.
Scored 0 to 100. Every patient scored zero at the sixth session, and the group reduced its as-required anti-nausea medication over the same period.
Scored 0 to 100. Fatigue showed the largest statistical response of any measure in the trial.
Insomnia is a prevalent form of sleep difficulty which reduces quality of life, decreases work potential and increases health care utilisation. One of the most statistically significant improvements in the analysis was in insomnia. The patients' initial responses were slightly higher than those suggested for the general population, which would be expected as disease and mood factors influence insomnia. The response to hypnosis was rapid, with most patients reporting dramatic improvement within the first three sessions, and that improvement was then maintained for the remainder of the study. Emotional functioning issues like irritability, tension, anxiety and depression all decreased over the same period, which may have added to it.
Many symptoms patients experience during cancer treatment are related either to their medication or directly to the cancer. Gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhoea and constipation can lead to nausea and appetite loss. Throughout the study period the participants showed increased appetite and reduced nausea and vomiting. One patient was amazed by the return of normal taste sensation instead of a metallic taste, and another began to put on weight while undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Over the study period patients reduced their as-required anti-nausea medication, which indicates the reduction was not merely in their perception of the symptom or an increased effect of current medication.
Physical functioning covers the ability to take a long or short walk, the need to spend time in bed or a chair, the ability to carry out daily activities and the ability to perform strenuous activity. During the study there were changes in patients' perception of daily activities. Initially many described a long walk as a distance of one kilometre. At the conclusion of the study many perceived a long walk to be four kilometres or more. The increase in energy described by patients, and the change in their perception of a long walk, may indicate direct effects on the body's energy levels from the hypnosis, not just an increase in sleep reducing fatigue.
Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms experienced by cancer patients and is associated with significant impairment in functioning and overall quality of life. It showed the greatest response statistically, with all patients describing increased energy levels, decreased time spent at rest and a greater ability to live their lives the way they wish.
Global health status represents a patient's feeling as to their overall wellbeing, based upon that individual's beliefs and experiences. During the study some participants' global health status measure dipped dramatically after the second session, even with improvements in all other aspects of their questionnaire. When questioned about this decline, they stated that they had previously been comparing their quality of life with when they were sick, and now compared it to how they felt before they had any symptoms. All patients in their subsequent questionnaires then showed improved global health status, which indicates the change in outlook of participants to their quality of life.
The hypnotic techniques used in this study demonstrated significant improvements in all aspects of the patients' quality of life. Patients had more energy, were more active after hypnosis and were more able to cope with the difficulties they face in their everyday lives. A clinically significant improvement was seen with insomnia, nausea, physical functioning and global health status.
Hypnosis can affect perception of symptoms, however in this study the results seemed to point to a deeper change, with energy and fatigue being modified positively. The experience of hypnosis was described as beneficial by all patients. Patients commented that they would have seen the best benefit if hypnosis was begun around the time of diagnosis and continued throughout their treatment.
In this study, hypnosis has been beneficial for symptom control and for increasing the quality of life in patients with cancer. Further research into the use of specific non-Ericksonian hypnosis techniques for symptom control and improved quality of life, involving a larger number of participants, is needed to support these results.
Each participant kept a verbal record at every session. The reports are reproduced as they were taken. Participants are unnamed in the original.
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