Imagery and Chronic Pain

In the Journal "Pain Management Nursing" there is a study showing that chronic pain patients who used guided imagery to deal with their chronic pain described their pain as ultimately more tolerable or easier to control.

In a conrol group study, researchers at Kent State University and Case Western University, (led by nursing professor Wendy Lewandowski), tracked the experience of 44 patients being treated for chronic pain.

The variable test group listened to a seven-minute audiotape that helped them to relax, focus on the sensory images their pain evoked, and then guided them to change the sensory images. (Does this sound familiar?)

This is a common technique that we hypnotherapists use in helping our clients