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Fall ’12
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The promise of medical hypnosis By Mary Brolley
in medical hypnosis to relax her enough to get through the MRI. She agreed. Lipski read the patient a short, standard script that asked for her cooperation and participation in a relaxation exercise, then guided her into it. Forty-five minutes later, she emerged from the procedure. “She was fine. She said she fell asleep,” Lipski says.
The patient was claustrophobic. Scheduled for an MRI to screen for cancer, she was afraid to have the procedure. But because she’d already had three primary cancers and was experiencing new symptoms, she needed it. Patients who can’t tolerate closed spaces aren’t unusual, according to Ian Lipski, M.D., clinical associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine. “When we’re called to sedate patients, it’s usually for claustrophobia, anxiety and/or pain,” he says. But this patient had come in alone and had no one to drive her home. Giving her drugs was out of the question. Luckily, Lipski had another tool at his disposal. He asked the woman if she’d consider participating
New option gives patients more control Medical hypnosis is the use of hypnosis within the medical setting to help reduce anxiety, fear or pain, or help manage other symptoms. It’s gaining attention and racking up success stories as its use grows. Lipski was trained in the technique in 2010 at a three-day conference in Boston sponsored by the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Elvira Lang, M.D., an interventional radiologist who developed her own techniques in her practice, trained him and others. Lipski was hooked. Back at MD Anderson, he enlisted the support of Kenneth Sapire, M.D., professor, and Thomas Rahlfs, M.D., professor and chair of the continued on page 2
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