Hypnosis for pain Live versus audio recorded inductions

The effects of live versus audio recorded hypnosis inductions for low and high hypnosis groups were tested in response to experimentally induced ischemic pain. One hundred and seventy one individuals were administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS, Shor & Orne, 1963) during the first session. One hundred twenty five participants who scored either 0 to 5 or 8 to 12 qualified for participation in the study. Of these 125 participants, 84 chose to participate. Next, the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS:C, Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1962) was administered to determine their hypnotizability score. Fifty-one individuals qualified for further participation by obtaining either high 9 or greater or low 3 or below SHSS:C scores and participated in the study. Participants were assigned in balanced order and exposed to either a live or audio recorded hypnosis induction and administered and an ischemic pain task. Twenty four high hypnotizables and 24 low hypnotizables completed the study. The highs showed significantly (p <.05) lower pain scores than the lows. Participants in the live hypnosis conditions reported significantly (p <.05) lower pain scores than participants in the audio recorded hypnosis induction condition. Within the high hypnotizability participants, live hypnosis produced significantly lower mean pain reports in contrast to the audio recorded hypnosis induction condition