www.sich.co.uk
Introduction
Sally was one of
the clients in a study I conducted on the effects of Hypnotherapy on Plaque
Psoriasis. Having seen various studies on how Hypnotherapy can be very helpful
in tackling psoriasis I asked for volunteers on a self-help forum through the
Internet. Sally was one of the volunteers that asked to be included.
Although she
lived a long way from my practise I explained that she would need to see me
once a week for 8 weeks. I also explained to her that she would need to get a PASI form filled out by her GP to show the extent her body was covered by
psoriasis at the start of the study. I also asked her to take photographs of
her psoriasis. She had used no medication, only moisturising cream, for over 2
years.
The therapy was
conducted over 8 sessions. The treatment plan I had devised allowed for 3
sessions of Hypno-analysis followed by 2 sessions of suggestion therapy, 2
sessions of NLP and finally a self-hypnosis session. I also gave Sally a CD
with two different tracks on it - more about that later.
Background
Sally is a
28-year-old woman working in an IT company, which she perceived as a highly
stressful job at the time. She lives with her boyfriend “Steve”. She was a 20
a day smoker. Sally had quite severe Plaque Psoriasis on both knees and both
elbows. She was very conscious of it, always wearing long sleeves and long
skirts or trousers. She would never uncover herself except in front of Steve.
He was very supportive of her and the psoriasis did not seem to be a problem
for him.
Sally had
suffered with psoriasis for 22 years. She had tried steroid creams and
everything else her GP had to offer, as well as chinese herbal remedies,
acupuncture, and UV treatment (which had had limited success). In 22 years she
had always had some psoriasis, and nothing had reduced it significantly.
What is
Psoriasis?
The top layer of
skin is much thicker in psoriasis. It gets this way because the normal growth
cycle of skin cells has been accelerated to 3 or 4 days, compared to 28-30
days in normal skin. Skin cells accumulate at the surface. The white, flaky
build-up that sheds from the skin is actually dead skin cells. The epidermis
is about twice as thick as normal in psoriasis. The bottom level of the
epidermis where cells multiply is particularly active (cells are proliferating
28 times faster than normal skin). The blood vessels of the skin expand in
psoriasis. There is also increased blood flow in psoriatic skin, necessary to
bring nutrients to the rapidly growing skin cells. This combination leads to
the redness of the psoriasis lesions. The dermis is where the inflammation
originates. Immune system cells are drawn into the dermis as part of the
immune response that takes place in psoriasis and these cells send
inflammatory signals to the skin cells.
My aims
as the Therapist
My aim during the
early therapy sessions was to establish if an initial sensitising event was
present, using Transforming therapy, taught to me whilst training with Gil
Boyne. This was then followed with some suggestion therapy utilising the
limited success Sally had achieved with her UV treatment to attempt to heal
her existing Psoriasis quickly. This was supported by track 1 on the CD I gave
to her. Track 1 was a relaxation induction (Hartland) followed by suggestions
of her being on a beach in warm sunshine and her feeling the sun on her skin.
I then intended
to use NLP to change her beliefs regarding the psoriasis by changing her view
that she was a victim, to one that she was a winner and could change her life,
so that she would not think about her psoriasis all the time, like she had at
the beginning.
Finally to teach
her self-hypnosis using track 2 on the CD.
The
Technique
I used instant
induction techniques including a standing induction, and a form of the Elman
technique i.e. closing hands. After the induction I would continue to deepen
the trance until I was satisfied that the client would go no deeper.
I used 90-minute
sessions throughout the treatment.
Treatment: session 1
During the
initial interview, I established that her mother was a perfectionist and very
controlling and her father was very relaxed and quite laid back. Her father
tended to work a lot and found it quite difficult to show his emotions. When
questioned Sally said that she believed her mother didn't love her although
she loved her mother. She believed her father did love her and she loved him.
When asked how
her psoriasis made her feel, she revealed that it made her feel dirty, lonely,
upset and unattractive.
The initial
interview took nearly an hour. At this point I induced hypnosis and used her
own words about her psoriasis to bring the feelings up and to heighten them. I
then used these strong feelings as the royal road back into the sub-conscious
to the first time she felt this way.
She was six when
it transpired that she was in a room with her mother and her mother was
packing up the house because they were moving. Sally felt very lonely as she
was leaving her two best friends. She asked her mother why they had to move
and was told to “shut up and help”. At this point Sally felt extremely lonely
and unloved.
I then set up a
gestalt session with her mother where Sally told her how she really felt and
asked her to explain what was going on. Eventually her mother apologised for
not explaining but would not give a reason why they had to move.
After doing some
integration I terminated the trance. Sally had been crying a lot during the
session and after allowing her a few minutes to compose herself, I asked her
about the event. She explained that she had no conscious memory of this event
but would ask her parents about it. I cautioned her not to confront her
parents but just to get some information.
I asked Sally how
she felt about what had been revealed. She said she was very surprised that
this memory had come back to her unbidden.
The session
lasted over 2 hours
Session 2
Sally had
discovered that her father had made a business deal that had gone wrong and
because of this it had been necessary for them to move. Her mother had been
very angry and unhappy.
Upon inducing
Hypnosis again Sally went straight back to the same time. We discovered that
she was very upset about leaving her friends Jane and Mark, also aged six.
They were twins that she had known all her young life. Apparently they had
been out when she had gone round to say good-bye. Her mother was not happy
about having to do this just before they left and was very dismissive of the
fact that they were out.
Once again we set
up a gestalt session where there was a very powerful exchange between Sally
and her mother. During the gestalt session Sally was shouting and swearing at
her mother telling her how she felt about that time. During this time I
noticed how scared Sally was of her mother and how much anger there was
towards her.
Once again we did
the integration of this new information, getting Sally to realise how it
affected her as she grew and how it was still affecting her now.
Upon termination
of the trance I asked Sally how she felt. Once again it had been quite a
traumatic session. She explained that she felt very drained but strangely
calm.
Session 3
At the start of
this session Sally reported that she had felt very relaxed all week, something
she hadn't felt for a long time. She said she also felt a bit sad as she had
not thought of her childhood friends in a long time, she had apparently lost
contact with them after they had moved.
She had had
trouble this week holding her temper with her mother and had become irritated
whenever she spoke to her. I explained to her that there was no blame, had she
had the same conditioning and experiences as her mother, she would have done
exactly the same.
During this
session we did a gestalt session with her friends Jane and Mark, where Sally
said good-bye (with a lot of emotional release). We then set up another
gestalt with her mother where Sally confronted her on her controlling nature.
Eventually she came to the realisation that her mother was not to blame, and
after another powerful gestalt session Sally became very calm.
We went on to
regress her back to the new house where she was desperately unhappy. She had
no friends and was being bullied at school. It was at this time that her
psoriasis started. We integrated all this information and she realised that
this was possibly the reason why she had developed psoriasis.
Upon termination
Sally reported it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
She felt light-headed and was smiling from ear to ear.
Session 4
At the start of
this session Sally reported that she had felt really good all week, even when
she had talked with her mother. All thoughts of confronting her mother had
gone and she felt at peace with her now. In fact when her mother had started
her controlling behaviour on the previous Sunday during a visit, she had
simply smiled to herself and let it wash over her. She reported that things at
work were still stressful.
During this
session I used suggestion therapy on her psoriasis healing and her work
becoming less stressful. I also introduced the CD using Track 1 Warm beach,
which I asked her to play once a day.
Session 5
Sally told me
that her relationship with her mother had improved even more. Her mother had
asked how the hypnotherapy was going, and in spite of not being able to tell
her everything she has discovered about herself, they were able to have a
frank and open conversation. She also reported that she thought that her
psoriasis was marginally better.
During this
session we worked on her self-image, getting her to feel better about herself
and seeing an image of her body without psoriasis.
Session 6
There was now a
significant improvement in Sally's psoriasis, which she was able to show me
for the first time. It was at this point she gave me the photos she had taken
at the beginning and there was no doubt that there was an improvement. Sally
was really excited.
During this
session we enhanced the image of her body completely clear of psoriasis and I
anchored it to the word PSORIASIS - so every time she thought about or someone
mentioned the word she would see a picture of herself in a bikini on a beach
completely clear of it.
Session 7
Sally arrived at
my consulting rooms in a skirt to just below her knees and a T-shirt.
Apparently she had been wearing these sorts of clothes to work all week and
although people had mentioned and commented on her psoriasis, she explained to
me that it no longer bothered her. There was a further improvement in the
psoriasis this week.
During this
session we did a lot of Timeline work and further suggestion therapy on work
related stress.
Session 8
(Final Session)
Only a slight
improvement on the psoriasis this week, however Sally reported that she was
really happy with her body now and felt sure the rest would go in time.
During this
session I taught her Self-hypnosis so she could continue reducing her
psoriasis, which by now was reduced approximately 75%.
Post
Treatment
Both Sally and I
felt her progress over the trial was such that we were sure it would continue
until she was completely free of psoriasis. I asked her to use track 2 of the
CD as well to help with her Self-hypnosis.
I have seen Sally
on 2 occasions since. Once was 3 months later to do a follow up, and her
psoriasis was almost gone, about a 90% reduction. Then a year later where it
has virtually disappeared, on her scale 99%!
Conclusions and Recommendations
It is interesting
to note that Sally never really attained a very deep level of trance. Levels
of trance do not seem to be a contributing factor in the response. Finding and
eliminating the ISE (initial sensitising event) and any convincers I believed
to be an important factor.
I think it is
very important to change the image the clients invariably have of themselves
as being dirty or unclean. The fact is that Sally felt unlovable because of
her Psoriasis, and her mother's attitude was also a large contributing factor
of her maintaining her Psoriasis.
During the trial
I worked with 7 clients. Of these seven 2 achieved over 95% reduction, 2
achieved over 50%, and 3 saw no improvement at all in the actual Psoriasis.
However, even these 3 reported a completely different attitude towards their
Psoriasis. So who know what the future holds.
Below is the
actual email sent to me by the client 18 months after her treatment
"Hi Paul,
We've taken some
more pics which you can use on any marketing material or in any studies about
hypnosis and psoriasis. The focus is a bit dodgy so let me know if you need
better pictures.
The great thing
is, I know I'll never have psoriasis again because I won't let it happen.
Being psoriasis free has given me a newfound confidence - I feel great about
myself and my lovely clear skin. I am more confident at work and with friends
socially because I'm not dreading having to answer questions about what's
wrong with my skin. It's a huge weight off my mind - I don't have to spend
hours picking out an outfit that has to cover 80% of my body and I can go
clothes shopping in the summer for short sleeves and skirts! My only regret is
that I didn't try hypnotherapy about twenty years ago, but better late than
never. "
