Arthritis sufferers can alleviate their pain by using mental imagery and hypnotherapy.

This is the finding of Bryan Bennett and colleagues from Bangor University who presented their findings on the11 September 2008, at The British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference held at the University of Bath.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive and disabling auto-immune disease affecting 0.8% of the UK adult population. It is an incredibly painful condition and can cause severe disability and ultimately affects a person’s ability to carry out everyday tasks. Even with current medical treatment many people still report high levels of pain. A rising number of chronic sufferers now turn to complementary and alternative medicines to lessen the main symptoms of pain and fatigue. Read More…

STEVE HOOKER twisted his mighty body 5.9 meters up through the air to vault to Olympic gold at the Bird’s Nest stadium last night.

The man who was once so spooked of vaulting he was hypnotized to allay his fears is Australia’s first athletics gold medalist since Cathy Freeman in 2000.

Beyond Olympic gold the 26-year-old has made no secret of wanting to break the record of pole-vault great Sergey Bubka of 6.14m and he is proving he may have the technique to do that. Read More…

ScienceDaily (July 29, 2008) — A scientist at the University of Liverpool has found that hypnosis can slow down the impacts of dementia and improve quality of life for those living with the condition.

They found that people living with dementia who had received hypnosis therapy showed an improvement in concentration, memory and socialization compared to the other two treatment groups.
Read the complete medical hypnosis article.

Smokers trying to quit sometimes use nicotine patches to fight their tobacco dependence. But patches don’t work for everyone. New research suggests that patches might be made more effective if used in combination with hypnosis, just as they tend to work better when used in conjunction with professional counseling. A recently published study showed hypnotherapy to be as effective as standard behavioral counseling when combined with nicotine patches in helping smokers to quit and stay off cigarettes for one year. Read More…

According to an Announcement in the National Guild of Hypnotists Membermail Newsletter, the NGH Voluntary Now Has Life & Health Benefit Plans  This is yet another reason to become a member of the NGH!  The following is from the newsletter…  The NGH is pleased to announce the following Voluntary Life and Health Benefit plans for its membership through Annuity Managers Agency, LLC.