Showing posts with label clinical hypnotherapist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clinical hypnotherapist. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Segi University’s Forum (Careers In Psychology) - Guest Speaker





Guest speaker for the Segi University’s Forum (Careers In Psychology).
I am glad to share my story as a Clinical Hypnotherapist along with other mental health experts (Clinical Psychologist & Registered Counselor) today



😇Feeling blessed to inspire more people to join our field.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

“Story of hypnosis in Malaysia” official book launch






“Story of hypnosis in Malaysia” official book launch!
Lovely night with all practitioners and T&CM experts.

The Association of Hypnotherapy Practitioners, Malaysia (AHPM) also known as Persatuan Pengamal Hipnoterapi, Malaysia is the peak body for hypnotherapy in Malaysia. The association is a founding member of the Federation of Complementary and Natural Medicine Associations, Malaysia (FCNMAM) one of the eight bodies recognized by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia under the T&CM Act.


Saturday, January 21, 2017

(Guest Lecturer) Introduction to Clinical Hypnotherapy @ Southern University College

Introduction to clinical hypnotherapy for university students. 
Special thanks to counseling psychologist for inviting me.

Stress is often referred to as the silent killer and for good reason. Stress is a common issue among university students. Clinical hypnosis is known to be a powerful stress reduction tool, it is also very useful for test and performance anxiety. 
Thus, I am glad to have a chance to share this powerful and effective tool.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Hypnotherapy in the treatment of severe refractory irritable-bowel syndrome (IBS)

Whorwell PJ; Prior A; Faragher EB. Controlled trial of hypnotherapy in the treatment of severe refractory irritable-bowel syndrome.The Lancet 1984, 2: 1232-4. 
This was the earliest formal study of hypnosis treatment for IBS and remains to date one of the best studies in this research area, as it was thoroughly placebo-controlled and showed dramatically greater improvement from hypnosis treatment above the placebo. 

Thirty patients with severe symptoms that had been unresponsive to other treatment were randomly chosen to receive either 7 sessions of hypnotherapy (15 patients) or 7 sessions of psychotherapy plus placebo pills (15 patients). 

The psychotherapy group showed a small but significant improvement in abdominal pain and distension, and in general well-being but not bowel activity pattern. The hypnotherapy patients showed a dramatic improvement in all IBS symptoms. The hypnotherapy group showed no relapses during the 3-month follow-up period. 

Figure adapted from the above paper by Whorwell and colleagues, showing the changes in the hypnosis group and the comparison treatment group in well-being (upper left-hand graph) and IBS symptoms during the 2-week baseline and 12-week treatment period.


How to Select a Hypnotherapist in Malaysia?
Get answers to the following three questions:
1) Is this person a licensed health professional? Be aware that hypnosis certificates and vanity letters after the person’s name such as C. Ht. ("certified hypnotherapist") mean nothing in terms of clinical qualifications. In Malaysia, A licensed clinical hypnotherapist should be registered with the professional body in Malaysia: The Association of Hypnotherapy Practitioners, Malaysia (AHPM)

2) Does this person have formal training and significant experience in clinical hypnosis and psychology field? Using hypnosis with good success requires considerable skill and knowledge. In general, 50 hours or more of certified workshop training in hypnosis would be good, although less is sometimes adequate.

3) Does this person know the details of successful hypnosis treatment protocols for IBS? Hypnosis in itself is probably not sufficient to treat IBS effectively. Specific gut-directed hypnotherapy method need to be included.


Source: http://www.ibshypnosis.com/IBSresearch.html

Sunday, August 7, 2016

ROLE OF NEURO-HYPNOTHERAPY IN HELPING PEOPLE WITH TIC DISORDER - By Hiro Koo

ROLE OF NEURO-HYPNOTHERAPY IN HELPING PEOPLE WITH TIC DISORDER



Neuro-hypnotherapy is practiced by licensed clinical hypnotherapist who has been trained in the area of EEG biofeedback technique. Neuro-hypnotherapy is first of its kind in Malaysia developed by Hiro Koo. It is based on the concept of clinical hypnotherapy which can be classified as psychotherapy as well. It is well known to deal with the subconscious mind directly and is commonly used to deal with symptoms of various problems such as habit breaking, smoking cessation, weight management, and mood-related issues. There are many approaches and techniques in the field of clinical hypnotherapy. The most commonly used clinical hypnotherapy techniques for patient with tic disorder are hypno-behavioural methods such as hypno-desensitization and habit reversal therapy. Cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy (CBH) can also be used to deal with tic disorder or the comorbid feature of TS such as OCD or anxiety related symptoms.

Neuro-hypnotherapy for tic disorder includes a combination of different types of therapies.  The first step of the neuro-hypnotherapy is psychoeducation. During this initial step, the possible causes of tic disorder will be elaborated by the clinical hypnotherapist. Patients will be guided on ways to communicate with the school or co-workers effectively to prevent conflict and misunderstanding, while their caregivers will be educated on ways to provide appropriate amount of support. Furthermore, although habit reversal is an effective intervention for tic disorder, individuals should be informed that tic disorder is not just a bad habit but neurological disorder. Thus, it cannot be solved based on positive or negative reinforcement alone, let alone the possibility that reinforcement in either positive or negative manner may worsen the symptoms. It is very important to neutralize the self-defeating belief, while empowering the patient and setting realistic expectations.

The following sessions will focus on functional intervention, cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy, HRT, as well as relaxation therapy. During the functional intervention session, patient will be hypnotized in order to identify how environmental factors may worsen, maintain or improve the symptoms. Patient is able to observe his or her behaviour before and after the tics occurrence during the neuro-hypnotherapy session. CBH technique can then be applied to deal with the irrational feelings, cognitive distortion, and unhealthy coping ways.

According to the systematic review done by Dutta and colleague (2013), HRT can significantly reduce tic severity for patient with tic disorder. During the neuro-hypnotherapy session, the hypnotized patient will observe all of their tics in detail such as how it feels in the particular muscle group and where it feels most intensively in the body. During this stage, HRT will be incorporated into neuro-hypnotherapy session to find out the premonitory urge. Thus, patient will notice how it feels before the tics occur more clearly. Hypno-desensitization focuses on helping patient getting used to the premonitory urge, so that the patient doesn’t need to react to it by doing the tic. In this way, premonitory urge can be controlled before the tic happens. Soon after the patient becomes more aware of the premonitory urge, competing response will be discussed and implemented. During the neuro-hypnotherapy session, an intentional movement that can prevent tic from happening will be suggested. After that, the clinical hypnotherapist will use the hypno-exposure therapy to reinforce the competing response.  

Progressive hypnotherapy relaxation is taught to relax the patient as it can directly reduce the stress response. Tics are commonly known to become worse when triggered by stress. Progressive hypnotherapy relaxation technique which requires patient to progressively tensing and then relaxing the different muscle groups is taught in a self hypnosis format. This is a very helpful method to reduce the arousal level in the brain and empower the patient with positive coping strategy. Patient was taught to utilize this progressive hypnotherapy relaxation technique whenever he or she has the need to stay calm and relax.


During the neuro-hypnotherapy session, electrodes are applied to the individual’s scalp, which allows the patient and therapist to observe the brainwave activity. The electrodes do not hurt and conduct no amount of electricity that one can feel. The person’s hair is not removed or shaven during the electrode placement. This is done in real-time setting, so the individuals see exactly what is going on in their brain as they think of certain thoughts, feel stressed, or relaxed. After the self hypnosis session, patient commonly will learn how to self regulate their brain activity naturally, without pharmaceutical medications.





Retrieved from the Integrative treatment for tics and tourette syndrome in Malaysia (Author: Hiro Koo).


References
Bronfeld, M. & Bar-Gad, I. (2013). Tic disorders: What happens in the basal ganglia?
Neuroscientist, 19, 101-108. doi:10.1177/1073858412444466
Dutta, N., & Cavanna, A. E. (2013). The effectiveness of habit reversal therapy in the
treatment of Tourette syndrome and other chronic tic disorders: A systematic review. Functional Neurology, 28((1), 7-12. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov /pubmed/23731910
Kaya, Y., & Alladin, A. (2012). Hypnotically assisted diaphragmatic exercises in the
            treatment of stuttering: A preliminary investigation. International Journal of Clinical
and Experimental Hypnosis, 60(2), 175-205. doi:10.1080/00207144.2012.648063
Lam, T. (2013). Hypnosis for insomnia: An exaggerated myth or an underrated intervention. 
Sleep Medicine, 14(1). doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2013.11.412
Messerotti, B. S., Buodo, G., Leone, V., & Palomba, D. (2011). Neurofeedback training for
Tourette Syndrome: An uncontrolled single case study. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback36(4), 281-288. doi: 10.1007/s10484-011-9169-7
Abbot, N. C., Stead, L. F., & Barnes, J. (2008). Hypnotherapy for smoking cessation (Review).The Cochrane
  Library, (10), 1 – 39. Retrieved from http://bscw.rediris.es/pub/bscw.cgi/d5001301/Barnes-
  Hypnotherapy_smoking_cessation.pdf
Piacentini, J. C., & Chang, S. W. (2006). Behavioral treatments for tic suppression: Habit
reversal training. Advances in Neurology, 99, 227-233. Retrieved from http://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16536370
Shanbao, T., & Nitish, V. T. (2009). Quantitative EEG analysis methods and clinical
applications. UK: Artech House

Sunday, June 19, 2016

[Workshop]南方大学学院催眠工作坊Hypnosis workshop for students of Southern University College



Retrieved from: http://www.southern.edu.my/chinese/news/news.php?id=869

谢谢南方大学辅导处心理咨询师的邀请。
7月5日我将到南方大学给予催眠讲座,只开放给南方大学学院生。
欢迎通知你在南大的同学知道,我主要会教导如何用催眠来克服考试所带来的压力与恐惧(考试前恐惧问题)。
Thanks for the invitation from the counseling psychologist of Southern University College, 
I will conduct a hypnosis workshop there for their students. 
It is an absolute pleasure to share my knowledge with those who attended the mentioned workshop.