Approved Posters

Updated: 10/3/2023        

A list of approved posters for the SCEH 2023 Annual Conference appears below.                                 

The Scientific Program includes two Poster Sessions.  Click on the title link to view the poster.                       

Saturday, October 7 -- 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM PT  

Needle Phobia: An Advanced Case

Marcello Vinicio Romei, Dr. Surgeon, Montevideo, Uruguay

Dentistry represents a universe for clinical hypnosis. The special situations and requirements of dental diagnostic, treatment and clinical cases offer a wide and vast situations for dentists and patients to replace anxiety, phobias, and uncontrolled challenges with confidence, comfort, and fully controlled solutions. The ways in which hypnosis can be used in dentistry are reviewed. However, dentistry world have not as a profession widely accepted, studied, nor utilized hypnosis for their clinical practices. Different strategies and suggestions are made for introducing clinical hypnosis to colleagues so that they might integrate slightly useful hypnotic techniques into their dental practices.

Exploring a Single-Item Assessment of Hypnotizability

Poorvi Balaji¹; Cameron Alldredge, PhD¹; Morgan Snyder¹, MA

¹ Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

Recent research has suggested that an individual's level of hypnotizability can modulate the overall effects of a hypnotic intervention. This provides evidence regarding the importance of measuring hypnotizability in clinical and experimental settings. Despite this, hypnotizability is rarely measured because it is commonly viewed as too burdensome and time-consuming. Recent research has also suggested that hypnotizability can be conceptualized by a single factor. However, the research is limited regarding single-item assessments. The present study aimed to evaluate the correlation of a single, mental imagery item on the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS) to the total score. Using archival data that included the administration of the EHS to 173 women (mean age = 54.6), we examined the relationship of ratings on depth of subjective experience for a mental imagery item and total scores on the EHS. Our results suggested that the correlation between ratings of subjective experience and the total scores on the EHS yielded a significant, positive correlation (ρ = .740; p< .001). This suggests that participants’ rating on depth of subjective experience for one imagery item of the EHS may serve as a predictor of overall hypnotizability as determined by the EHS total score. These findings lead to implications for both research and clinical use of hypnosis as new measurement tools can be refined to focus on these types of items to measure the single-factored construct of hypnotizability.

A Narrative Review of Hypnosis: Myths, History and Theories

Dali Geagea, PharmD ¹; David Ogez, PhD ²; Roy Kimble, MBChB, DMed [Res] ³; Zephanie Tyack, PhD ⁴

¹ University of Queensland, Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research
² Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Montreal;
³ Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, Queensland Children's Hospital, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia;
⁴ Child Health Research Centre, Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, Australian Centre for Health Service Innovation and Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Hypnosis, one of the earliest mind-body treatments, has been the subject of renewed interest in the last decade with research indicating its effectiveness for varied physiological and psychological ailments including pain, distress, and psychosomatic disorders. However, the adoption and acceptance of hypnosis are still hindered by myths and misconceptions that prevail among the general public and clinicians. Considering their significant role in promoting the successful delivery and acceptance of interventions, informing clinicians about hypnosis is warranted to promote balanced views, and thereby the adoption of this intervention. This narrative review traces the medical uses of hypnosis throughout history and the historical roots of theoretical controversies regarding hypnosis, while unravelling related myths and misconceptions that have impeded the adoption of hypnosis in clinical and research settings. The review also examines theories of hypnosis that, in addition to advancing knowledge on hypnotic procedures and phenomena, highlight factors that influence hypnotic responding and thus have important clinical implications. For instance, social theories highlight social and contextual variables of hypnotic responding, whereas state theories highlight biopsychological mechanisms and individual factors. Additionally, theories distinguish hypnotic and non-hypnotic interventions with overlapping procedures and phenomenological features and highlight areas requiring further research to optimise multimodal therapies embedding hypnosis. We hope that this review enhances clinicians' understanding of hypnosis in historical, theoretical, and research contexts to promote adoption in research and clinical settings and steers research toward evidence-based practice of hypnosis.

Hypnosis as a Vagal Maneuver

Kiva Bostick, MBA, RN, CHNC, Saybrook University, Meridian, Idaho USA 

Chest pain is the second most common complaint among patrons of the emergency room (ER) in the United States (U.S.). Imbalances in vagal or sympathetic and parasympathetic tone are known to trigger cardiac arrhythmias such as paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) and atrial fibrillation (AF). Vagal maneuvers have been used as an evidence-based, non-pharmacological intervention in cardiac arrhythmias such as PSVT for decades. Controlled breathing, biofeedback, meditation, and yoga are known to produce an autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulating effect. Still, no formal experimental studies have evaluated the use of hypnosis as a potential mechanism in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias or cardiophobia. However, based on recent case studies and a review of the effects of hypnosis on the ANS, hypnosis has great potential to be applied to reduce anxiety and as a vagal maneuver for arrhythmias in the ER setting.

Sunday, October 8 -- 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM PT 

Treating Hot Flashes with Hypnosis: Does Hypnotizability Modulate Reductions?

Katherine Scheffrahn, BS¹ and Gary Elkins, PhD, ABPP, ABPH¹ 

¹ Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

Hypnosis is an effective treatment option for a variety of concerns. Past research has suggested that those who score in the high range of hypnotizability initially show greater improvement than those in the low range. A post hoc analysis was conducted to examine the extent to which hypnotizability modulates the reduction of hot flash frequency. Average number of hot flashes reported during hypnosis treatment and a 12-week follow-up were grouped according to participants' level of hypnotizability. Using baseline data, the reduction percentage of hot flash frequency was plotted and visually examined to determine when a clinically significant reduction (50%) in hot flashes was reached. Our results suggested that, regardless of hypnotizability, participants ultimately obtained a 50% reduction in hot flash frequency. Interestingly, participants who were rated as either moderately or highly hypnotizable achieved a 50% reduction by Week 3 while those of low hypnotizability did not cross the 50% reduction threshold until the 12-week follow-up. Implications from these findings include the importance of assessing hypnotizability in clinical settings to better tailor treatment dose and expectations.



Exploring the Influencing Factors of Deep Hypnosis Experiences During Conventional and Control Hypnosis Inductions

Vivien Belegrai, BA¹; Balazs Nyiri, PhD¹ ; Balint Domok¹ ; Boglarka Cserni, MA¹; Cameron Alldredge, PhD²; Dorka Fenyvesi, BA¹; Kyra Giran, MA³ ; Lili Csabai, MA¹ ; Olafur S. Palsson, PsyD⁴ ; Vanda Vizkievicz, MA¹; Zoltan Kekecs, PhD

 ¹ Eotvos Lorand Tudomanyegyetem (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary
² Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
³ University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
⁴ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA

The goal of this project was to assess the validity of a free-text phenomenological self report instrument for measuring hypnotic experiences, and to use it to understand hypnosis experiences associated with different hypnosis inductions better. In a 2x2 balanced placebo design, participants underwent four conditions: conventional induction described as hypnosis, conventional induction as relaxation, sham induction as hypnosis, sham induction as relaxation. Participants were asked to report their subjective experiences in free-text and subjective hypnosis depths (0-10) after each condition. We also measured hypnotizability. Free-text reports were later coded for experiences that are characteristics of deep hypnosis according to Cardena (2005).We found a correlation between participants' hypnotizability and the number of deep hypnosis experiences in inductions which were described as hypnosis (r=0,195996199, r=0,391386696), but not those described relaxation (r=0,02008633, r=0,022256911). The correlation was two times stronger in placebo inductions described as hypnosis (r=0,391386696) compared to conventional inductions described as hypnosis (r=0,195996199). The correlation between subjective hypnosis depth and experiences of deep hypnosis was similar in all trials. This qualitative instrument needs more work, but, if perfected, it could broaden our horizons: it could afford a more in-depth assessment of hypnotic experiences that can be used to supplement previous tools.