Using NLP & Hypnosis for Pain Relief

By Matthew Ferguson

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Recent discoveries into a very interesting illusion that reduces arthritic pain have been made. Researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK discovered, by chance, that there was a major reduction in pain if a person suffering from arthritic pain put their hand into a simulator wired to a computer that projected their hand on to a screen. As the projected hand was stretched by the computer the person reported experiencing pain relief. The pain relief for some has continued. The research is to be published in the journal Rheumatology.

This discovery highlighted the power of the imagination and has lead me to think further about what we may be able to do using Hypnosis and NLP for people in pain. We in the fields of Hypnotherapy and NLP have known for a long time that suggestion can have powerful effects in many areas including pain relief.

Since the simulation of the stretched hand is just that i.e. a simulation and an illusion, we can use our skills to stimulate the imagination to create the same or similar illusions that could bring relief from discomfort and pain. Provided that the client is open to suggestion and is able to connect hypnotically with their imagination they could create with our help their personal simulator. Using their brain to change internal representations and sub-modalities with NLP techniques and imbedding them with Hypnosis could bring lasting drug free pain relief that is within their control. We can teach self-hypnosis as a simple skill the person could use to alter their internal experience and manage or completely remove their pain. Provided we ensure that the client has had a medical check up we can use NLP and hypnosis skills to relieve pain.

Research has shown that hypnosis is valuable in pain relief. In fact hypnosis has been used in everything from headaches to major surgery without anaesthetics. There are many anecdotal stories of people using hypnosis to overcome pain and we in the field, have known for years the benefits of NLP and hypnotic skills in many areas of experience. What is interesting at this time is there are increasing scientific discoveries that correlate with our experiences of the benefits of using NLP and hypnosis.