It has been over two years since I wrote the last post of this blog. It was all about headaches. 8% of kids get migraines. 18% get tension headaches. Half of them will go onto have headaches as adult. A lot has changed since March of 2017. That year, an excellent study called the CHAMP showed that the leading approved preventative medicines for migraines - topirimate and desimpramine - work no better than a placebo, or sugar pill. And they have a lot more side effects than sugar pills.
Even more evidence has come out showing that behavioral treatments - like relaxation, cognitive behavioral treatment, and hypnosis works best for tension headaches and migraines.
This year, I am giving the talk on headaches at the annual Shriners conference. A lot more people are convinced that the separation between mind and body is an artificial one.
Clinical hypnosis incorporates both relaxation and CBT. Anyone who does hypnosis with kids or adults should have some training in both. The therapist should either be a health professional who can rule out the rare organic causes of headaches or be a mental health professional with a close ties to your health care provider.
In the meantime , we’ve seemed some popularizations of hypnosis in the media which are scarier than ever! The film by the talented comedian turned director/producer Jordan Peele, “Get Out” was a horror film about a Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner story turned on it’s head. The evil white psychiatrist wife hypnotizes the African American hero of the film in truly horrific fashion, in order to steal his brain!
Yet hypnosis - trance, suggestion, relaxation - is very similar to the gentle art of meditation. It is “not that unique”, my mentor Michael Yapko wrote in 2013, “but it can do unique things”.
in my practice, I find clinical hypnosis helps with coping, alters negative thoughts and expectations, increases self efficacy, helps build a healthy lifestyle, helps with self management skills, helps kids get back to school and sports, and gives them a skill they can use for a lifetime.
All while helping heal their headaches.