Tuesday's Psychology Tips: If You Have Chronic Pain You Should Know This...

Thought for the Day: On Tuesdays I have been sharing Psychology Tips. Often the tips come from my 100 character Tip Taps on HealthTap with some additional advice related to the short tip. Recently, there I took part in a competition between HealthTap's over 62,000 doctors nationwide. In preparation for the launch of an expanded site with new features including primary care skype consults, all the doctors were asked to write additional Tips. The doctor who posted the most tips would be invited to a retreat in California. I decided to put my thinking cap on and wrote tips daily for the month of June. I'm proud to announce that I won the competition and will be going to California in September. I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet the doctors who have developed this cutting edge service that is helping millions of people every day. In addition, I am proud to have again placed as the Top Psychologist nationwide on HealthTap.

I wrote so many tips, that when I received a thank you note from a 49 year old woman who was helped by the tip, that I had forgotten writing it! I decided to share it here today, since many people may not know the benefits of hypnosis for pain management. The tip in the image above is:

"If you have chronic pain, you should know this.,,you can control it better with hypnosis."

Often, when someone is suffering from chronic pain, their doctors try all the procedures and medications they can, only to tell their clients that they need to learn to cope with the pain. Sometimes they refer them to clinics for chronic pain. Unfortunately, many physicians do not know that hypnosis can help. Here's a brief overview of how and why it can be worth pursuing...

The benefits of hypnosis are not well understood in this country. Stage hypnosis and Woody Allen movies have given it a undeserved bad reputation. Stage theatrics make it look as if people will do silly or even illegal things while in trance. It also keeps the myth alive that the hypnotist is controling the person who is in trance. In actuality, no one will do anything that they do not feel comfortable doing while they are hypnotized. Stage hypnotists choose people who volunteer and want to put on a show. They take several volunteers in case not all of them are actually ready to be a clown on stage. Often only one or two people comply. In reality, the person in trance is in charge of the session. Clinical hypnosis allows people to reach a higher level of self control, making it possible to overcome issues with which they are struggling. That is why it can help people stop smoking, relax, overcome insomnia, heal from operations and manage pain, to name just a few of the medical uses of hypnosis.

In brief the reason hypnosis works is that it allows you to access parts of your brain that are normally automatic which are controlled by unconscious mechanisms in your brain. An example of this kind of mechanism is the uncanny ability people can have to lift a car following an accident or to feel no pain until help arrives on the scene of an accident. If you suffer from chronic pain of migraine headaches or backaches, learning how to use self hypnosis can help you take control of these unconscious mechanisms. If you are not getting enough relief from medications or are concerned about becoming addicted to pain medications, consult with a clinical psychologist who has been trained in the use of clinical hypnosis.

You can follow me on HealthTap and ask questions 24/7 of experts from all medical specialties.

Dr. Barbara Lavi's Virtual PracticeHealthTap