According to a study presented to the
European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
conference in Berlin in July of 2004: hypnosis can
effectively double the success of IVF treatments. The study
was conducted by Professor Eliahu Levitas and his team at
Soroka Hospital in Israel to determine if hypnosis could
improve the success of the embryo transfers stage of IVF.
The study of 185 woman found that 28% of
the women who were hypnotized for the IVF treatment became
pregnant, compared to 14% of the women in the control group
(2).
Professor Levitas studied the effects of hypnosis for the
IVF treatment and embryo transfer only, because prior
studies that demonstrated the stress of the procedure
created small contractions of the uterus that prevented the
successful implantation of the fertilized egg. The professor
indicated that tranquilizers had been used in prior studies,
but nothing worked as well as hypnosis. "Performing embryo
transfer under hypnosis may significantly contribute to an
increased clinical pregnancy rate," Professor Levitas told
the conference in Berlin.
A few months ago, a young woman called
Mary (3) came to see me for hypnotherapy because she was due to
go for her fourth and final round of IVF treatment. She,
like many others, had been diagnosed with unexplained
infertility. Instead of giving up after trying naturally for
18 months, her and her husband decided to give IVF a go.
After a year of unsuccessful fertility treatment she felt at
an all time low. She spent some time telling me about what
the last two and half years had been like for her and how it
had left her feeling. She explained how trying to have a
baby had become all consuming, and that without her
attention the other areas of her life had begun to
deteriorate. She had turned down work opportunities, social
engagements, holidays and family gatherings all in an
attempt to get pregnant or avoid the heartache of not being
pregnant yet. She had changed her diet and entire lifestyle
to include only things which she believed would help her to
conceive. She spent hours every day on infertility chat
rooms and seemed to know as much about infertility and
medical treatments as a reproductive endocrinologist.
Although her relationship with her husband was strong, he
had finally drawn the line and said that he was only
prepared to do one more cycle of IVF. He could see how much
their attempts to get pregnant were affecting her, and he
did not want the next 5 years of their life to be on hold
while they continued trying.
Although terrified at the prospect of
stopping, she knew that she could not go on like this for
much longer. Her health and psychological wellbeing were
suffering, and she felt she no longer had the energy to keep
on struggling. Knowing that this was her last attempt at
IVF, she decided to try hypnotherapy. She was hoping that
hypnotherapy would help increase the chances of success, but
also knew that she needed some help to cope with each stage
of IVF, as well as the outcome.
Mary is a very typical example of the kind
of IVF case that I hear. In a situation like this, I like to
follow a simple six stage therapeutic framework:
-
Outcome
-
Balance
-
Resolve
-
Enhance
-
Prepare
-
Support
This framework has come to be known as the
Fertile Body Method, and can be applied in varying ways to
the treatment of any fertility case. Below I have
illustrated how this method was used in Mary’s case to help
bring about the changes that she wanted.
After hearing about Mary’s situation we
began detailing what outcome she wanted from the
hypnotherapy treatment. I used solution focused
(4) questions
get a detailed and specific goal for therapy. Through this
process we identified significant markers along the path to
this goal, as well as some of the resources she may need to
get there.
Mary’s goal focused on wanting to feel
ready mentally, emotionally and physically for the IVF
treatment. We discussed in detail, what this would be like
and how she would know she was prepared in the way she
wanted to be. We identified some unhealthy beliefs that
would need to change, as well as what she would need to be
doing differently before and during this cycle. She then
went on to describe how she would feel when all of this is
happening.
Mary knew she would need inner strength to
be able to come to terms with the possibility that it may
not work, and greater perspective so that she could see how
her life could be happy without her own children.
Once the outcome for therapy was clear, we
began by looking at how we could restore balance to
Mary’s life. This stage in the process is vital, and really
needs to precede all other therapeutic intervention. This
stage ensures that general wellbeing is restored and that
the client is in a stable and resourceful state before
continuing to address more complicated issues.
During this second stage we did some work
together to help her give the different areas of her life
the attention they needed. We created mini-goals to identify
what changes she would like to make to her relationship,
social life, work, hobbies and lifestyle. This immediately
broadened her narrow baby focus to include the rest of her
life. She began putting more energy and time into the areas
of her life which gave her a sense of satisfaction and
pleasure. I also taught her self-hypnosis so that she could
enjoy some time each day in deep relaxation.
After a couple of weeks Mary felt that she
was well underway to having a more well rounded life, and
was already noticing the benefits of having made these
changes. Now in a more stable and resourceful state it
became much easier for her to access her inner resources
which we worked together to develop and build.
Mary now felt ready to begin to address
her fear of being childless and resolve some of the
unhealthy beliefs she had about herself as an infertile
woman. She believed she was a failure if she didn’t have a
baby of her own, and that she had let everyone in her family
down. She also believed that her life could not be
worthwhile without children. All of these beliefs were
contributing to her high levels of anxiety and preventing
her from coming to terms with being childless.
With a combination of cognitive
behavioural techniques and hypnosis, Mary was able to
overcome her fear and begin to see how she was worthwhile
irrespective of whether she had children or not. I also
asked her to create a picture collage of how she would like
her life to be like if she did not have children. During
this process she began to think about what some of the
benefits of not having children might be and was able to see
how she could be happy without children. This brought her
such a sense of relief and she explained that she felt as if
a weight had been lifted.
I created a tailor made self hypnosis CD
with specific guided visualisations designed to help
enhance fertility. The CD contained visualisations for
the different stages of IVF: stimulation, embryo transfer
and implantation.
We spent our second last session together
focusing on helping her to feel ready and prepared
for the IVF treatment which was due to start within the next
couple of weeks.
I also taught her some self help tools
which would help her to feel more in control throughout the
treatment.
Mary used the self help tools and self
hypnosis CD throughout her IVF treatment and booked her last
appointment with me after she had heard the results of
treatment. To her absolute disappoint, the IVF treatment
failed. When I saw her for our session together I was so
inspired by the courage and strength that she showed.
Despite being very disappointed that the treatment had not
worked, she felt she was able to handle it because she knew
that it no longer meant the end of her world. She also told
me that the treatment had gone really well and she had felt
the best she had ever felt. She knew that she had done
everything she could and it was now time for her and her
husband to focus on building their life together. Because
the outcome of the IVF had been unsuccessful the focus of
the session was to support Mary through this time of
grief and moving on. She came to see me after that for one
more session to help support her to maintain some of
the positive changes that she had made in her life and to
continue to build a happy and fulfilling life for her and
her husband.
When I received a phone call from Mary 3 months later to say
that she had conceived naturally and was pregnant, I was
shocked but not surprised. The work we had done together had
helped Mary to make many changes to her life, and above all
else had helped her to let go of the anxiety and fear that
she had about being childless. How and why she conceived
will forever remain a mystery. However the transformative
journey that Mary undertook in an attempt to become a
mother, will have a long lasting effect on her and her
family’s future. It may even be that it was a very necessary
part of her unique preparation for parenthood.
Time and time again I have witnessed the
wonderful effects of hypnotherapy on couples undergoing IVF
treatment. I feel very passionate about the benefits of
hypnotherapy becoming available to more people with
fertility problems and would love to see it offered as a
standard part of IVF treatment.
I welcome your comments and would love to
hear about other therapist’s experience of hypnotherapy and
IVF.
References:
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