MAY 2006, VOLUME 34, NUMBER 1, Abstract 10
Stress and Trauma: Using Hypnosis to Understand and to Treat
Richard A. Bryant, University of New South Wales, Sydney
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the major psychological disorder to arise after exposure to a traumatic event. Many features of PTSD are difficult to understand and study in the clinic. I outline attempts to utilise hypnosis to identify some of the core mechanisms underpinning PTSD. I focus on experimental studies in the hypnosis laboratory that have investigated emotional numbing and suppression of unwanted thoughts. I then turn to the role of hypnosis in treating PTSD, and outline the first properly controlled treatment study that has applied hypnosis to treating PTSD. Finally, future directions for applying hypnosis to the study of PTSD will be explored.