Bryn Higgott joins us as a speaker for the first time this year. His presentation is entitled “Hypnosis Use in Breast Cancer-related Pain”
The Presentation:
Pain in medical terms is widely regarded as a personal, subjective, sensory and emotional experience. It is classified as a symptom or a disease. Pain, in psychological terms, in contrast, is understood as a psycho-neurobiological phenomenon with biopsychosocial affects impacting self and identity. The outcomes of experimental and clinical hypnosis published research usually focus on process and medical comparisons, such as drug efficiency. They are frequently of limited evidential value due to their low methodological quality and a lack of replicability, though they do underscore the potential of clinical hypnosis for pain management.
To date, there is limited qualitative peer-reviewed research published on the lived experiences of using hypnosis for pain management in complementary health care settings. The growing interdisciplinary research in psychoneuroimmunology and neurobiology identifies that the psychobiological state of hypnosis can serve as a therapeutic tool to influence neurobiological processes for healing, including managing pain. For example, in managing psychological overwhelm, a condition reported as experienced by participants in this study, can cause the brain to respond in ways similar to a hypnotic state.
This IPA study explores the experiences of practitioners and clients in complementary practice to hypnosis interventions as part of a breast cancer journey.
Full details of the schedule and tickets can be found here at this website (see main toolbar for 2026 event).