Hypnosis for Cancer Patients - Part 3 - Hypnogenesis - Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy Journal

 

In this Part 3 we deal with some additional suggestions and affirmations relevant to some aspects of the cancer treatment. We first cover the side effects, which some patients can find most troubling. (Some patients find the side effects so troubling that they stop the treatment!) Next we consider affirmations for dealing with pain. Not all treatments involve pain, but when it occurs it can be very debilitating. It is fortunate that pain responds very well to hypnotic suggestion, and so hypnotherapy is a very useful tool to have in helping one’s rehabilitation. Next, and most importantly, we give affirmations for a positive attitude. It is well known by oncologists and cancer patients that a positive attitude may be the most important ingredient for a successful outcome. Having a positive attitude needs working on and maintained; not only during treatment, but also beyond. A positive attitude focuses the mind. To reinforce such a positive attitude, we also provide a powerful set of affirmations stressing I AM. All such positive affirmations take advantage of the law of attraction: what is in your thoughts you attract to yourself. So, the message again is repeat, repeat and repeat.

 

 

The side effects of cancer treatment are many and vary from person to person depending on the cancer being treated, whether chemotherapy, radiotherapy or targeted therapy is being administered. There are hundreds of different cancers and so it is not possible to deal with the side effects of each individual cancer. In Part III we focus on general affirmations that can apply sometimes to common specific side effects or to side effects in general. General affirmations can be just as effective as specific ones, since the unconscious mind will know what is meant.

 

We have already given one visualisation for dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy in Part II: namely, the control panel visualisation. Here we focus on affirmations. Side effects occur throughout the treatment, and so these affirmations should be repeated frequently. They can either be presented as an audio file by a hypnotherapist or simply written down and repeated. Either way, repetition is the secret for success.

 

When these affirmations are listened to or said out loud, the unconscious mind will create different images on each occasion. Go with such images: even enhance them. As with all the affirmations present in this article, belief and expectation are important ingredients. A cancer patient needs to believe in their ability to control the side effects: they must expect to control the side effects. All negative thoughts need to be abandoned, e.g., avoid such statement said to oneself: ‘I always feel sick’, ‘I am losing my gorgeous hair’, or ‘I am always in pain.’ The moment one is aware of making a negative statement (a negative affirmation) to oneself, replace it immediately by a positive one. What the mind focuses on tends to become a reality.

 

Here are a useful set of affirmations for dealing with side effects of cancer treatment.

 

 

 

 

Some types of cancer can lead to extreme pain, such as ovarian cancer and bone cancer. But it is not restricted to just a few cancers. Most cancers involve pain. A cancerous tumour may invade nerves, internal organs or bones. Sometimes a tumour presses on a nerve causing pain. A tumour may also cause organs to swell or be blocked, which also causes pain. But chemotherapy and radiotherapy drugs themselves can also cause pain. These pains are felt inside the body and are often continuous, and so need to be addressed if the cancer treatment is to be successful. But it is not just pain. The pain can lead to depression, sleepless nights, and being unable to work. The cancer patient in pain just constantly thinks about their pain. The first line of defence that an oncologist would use for pain, is further drugs specifically targeted for pain. Not surprisingly, oncologist favour the medical model. But alternative therapies can be used to alleviate pain in addition to the drugs advocated by oncologists. Such alternative therapies have the advantage that they do not lead to drug addiction. Morphine is the most effective drug for extreme pain, but it can be addictive. Hypnotherapy is one such alternative therapy, but surprisingly it is not the one often advocated. More usually physiotherapy or acupuncture would be first recommended. However, whatever form pain relief takes; it is important to address it early.

 

There has been considerable research into the use of hypnosis for pain relief and thus there have been several techniques developed for alleviating it. But not all techniques are suitable for cancer patients. For example, distraction can be utilised for mild pain. But cancer patients experience chronic pain that persists, and so distraction may be found difficult. There are other techniques, such as hypno-desensitisation, where a person deals first with a mild pain, then a more severe pain and continuing until the most extreme pain can be controlled. Yet another is glove anaesthesia, in other words numbing the pain. A hypnotherapist can discuss possible techniques that may be suitable with a cancer patient. Here we focus on visualisation and direct suggestion. A good visualisation can lead to distraction when a person becomes very absorbed in the visualisation. In the case of direct suggestion, we provide several affirmations for dealing with cancer pain.

 

In the case of visualisation, the idea is to imagine your pain as a person or creature. Once you have achieved this you talk to it. You ask it questions, and even ask how you can get rid of it! The point is that the person or creature is simply a creation of your own psyche, your own unconscious mind. It is your right brain operating by means of pictures, as in your dreams. There is nothing magical or supernatural about this. If you conjure up, say, a lion, then there is nothing strange in the unconscious endowing this with speech. Walt Disney was a past master at this. You next carry out a number of changes to the image.

 

 

 

 

In the next visualisation we use a TV screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pain responds to direct suggestion. It is therefore useful to have a set of affirmations specifically directed towards cancer pain. Here is my suggested list. Here we present the list in the first person. A hypnotherapist producing this list as an audio file with soothing music would replace “I can let go of my pain” with “You can let go of your pain”. They do no mention cancer, but a cancer patient will know that these suggestions refer to their cancer pain.

 

 

 

 

We have already pointed out that having a positive attitude is the most important ingredient for a successful treatment of cancer. Because this is so important, we present here 85 positive affirmations. Although this may seem a lot, if included as an audio file with soothing music they will not appear daunting. Even so, saying them aloud or even writing them down can be very therapeutic.

 

 

 

Because it is very important to remain positive throughout the treatment of chemotherapy, and the above positive affirmations will certainly help, there are another set of powerful affirmation that can be utilised by the cancer patient. Again, they do not refer to cancer explicitly, but on hearing them a cancer patient will readily consider them relevant to their cancer treatment. Again, these affirmations are in the first person and usually begin with ‘I AM’. There are 40 in total.

 

 

 

In these three articles on hypnosis for cancer patients, we have only dealt with the most immediate aspects of treatment and illustrated how hypnosis can be utilised in the chemotherapy treatment. But hypnosis can aid in other aspects not touched on here. Many patients feel angry and frustrated when they discover they have cancer. Anger is a negative emotion and needs to be replaced with positive feelings. Depression is another negative emotion felt by many cancer patients. Hypnosis can be utilised to help handle such depression. Yet another worry some cancer patients have is with body image. This is something that is conjured up by the unconscious mind, and so too can be helped with hypnotherapy.

 

Cancer treatment is only the beginning. There is the period of post-cancer in which some side effects persist even when the cancer is in remission. There is also the worry that the cancer will return. It is now realised that cancer treatment is not simply extending life. It must also deal with the quality of that extended life.