Would hypnotherapy be a good skill for a neurologist

[EdLongshanks]

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I'm highly interested in the pain management aspects of neurology and I am investigating this to what extent I can through my school.

I have a question for those of you already in the field. Would a neurologist who was specializing in headaches or chronic pain management find hypnotherapy a useful skill. One of the doctors at my school received hypnosis training during his medical school years, but dropped it after he was warned that it would cost him residency positions. He told me that he now regrets it and may try to get more training.

 

[PETRAN]

Isn't this more of a consult-liaison psychiatrist's domain? I'm not in medicine but from what i've seen, this seems more of a c-l psychiatrist's (or clinical health psychologist's) thing. Maybe you should try the psych forum as well.


But some neurologists could do that, why not (especially the more private practice-headache/migraine folks i guess?). Some people in here should know better.

 

[splik]

yes learning hypnosis would be especially useful for treating conversion disorder and also making you more aware of the language you use when communicating with patients and what messages you may giving them without realizing it. however you will probably not have all that much time do lots of hypnosis with patients as it is time consuming and there are issues surrounding reimbursement.

Some people do not understand it and thus frown upon it, however they will soon change your tune when they see successful results! Some programs run electives in clinical hypnosis although usually for FM, psych or peds. There are a few neurologists who are trained in hypnosis and of course it was Charcot who popularized the use of hypnosis in the treatment of hysteria.

Hypnosis would also have some use in chronic pain in select patients but the evidence-base is much more robust for acute and procedural pain.

 

[EdLongshanks]

yes learning hypnosis would be especially useful for treating conversion disorder and also making you more aware of the language you use when communicating with patients and what messages you may giving them without realizing it. however you will probably not have all that much time do lots of hypnosis with patients as it is time consuming and there are issues surrounding reimbursement.

Some people do not understand it and thus frown upon it, however they will soon change your tune when they see successful results! Some programs run electives in clinical hypnosis although usually for FM, psych or peds. There are a few neurologists who are trained in hypnosis and of course it was Charcot who popularized the use of hypnosis in the treatment of hysteria.

Hypnosis would also have some use in chronic pain in select patients but the evidence-base is much more robust for acute and procedural pain.

Thanks for your input. This was what I wondered, but you bring up an interesting point on timing and reimbursement.

I am investigating the business models in town, but I have not heard of anyplace in my town that has a headache clinic. I'd like to find one and see how it works. Should I investigate this by just continuing to ask every practicing physician with whom I have a relationship?

I've also found a local PhD who is a member of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (there is only 1 in town) and left a voice mail asking if I could observe and learn something from him. Question: will he see a first year medical student as potential competition? I would think that we would be working with different populations. I'm not planning on doing anti-smoking or weight-loss work.