Presentations to Educate Hospice Professionals

I have been a hospice comfort therapist since 2004; I used to work with Providence SoundHome Care and Hospice, and now I work with Assured Home Health and Hospice. I provide therapeutic touch and hypnosis to hospice patients.

I gave four presentations this month on hypnosis - all to professional staff, comfort therapists, and volunteers - in two cities. It was a wonderful opportunity to educate people on the many uses and benefits of hypnosis. The main focus of these presentations was - of course - using hypnosis with hospice patients.

Here are some of the things I talked about:

- the difference between Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy (hypnosis is a state of mind and hypnotherapy is a process for working on issues)

- the difference between the terms Hypnotist, Consulting Hypnotist, Hypnotherapist (In Washington state, they are interchangeable and pretty much mean a person who practices hypnosis; every state has different guidelines and rules under which a hypnotist can practice, and what they can call themselves.)

- the wide variety of research and studies on the efficacy of using hypnosis with hospice patients (or anyone, for that matter)

- Interesting hypnosis word derivatives: hypnosis, somnambulistic, mesmerize (Greek god of sleep was Hypnos; Roman god of strange dreams was Somnus; Dr. Franz Mesmer introduced 'animal magnetism')

- how to refer to hypnosis when discussing this modality with patients and caregivers (call it guided imagery, visualization, a way to use the mind to give you more control over your life, using the resources in the mind to make you feel better, or relaxation)

- ways that hypnosis could benefit a hospice patient (relaxation, difficulty sleeping, reduce anxiety, reduce pain/discomfort, gain insight, relive pleasant memories)

- different techniques that I've used with hospice patients (story telling, distraction, pattern interrupt, humor, guided imagery, visualization, reframing, scripting, changing the discomfort)

Hypnosis is a subject that I could talk about forever, and there is a lot to tell. My presentation time was limited, since I came in at the end of regular staff meetings, so I did my best to make the presentations short, interesting, and informative, giving the professional staff enough information for them to be able to understand how and when to make referrals for their hospice patients to receive hypnosis as a comfort therapy.

I really enjoyed giving the presentations. It helped me to get over my unease with public speaking and showed me that there are many ways to say something; each talk I gave was a little different from the one before.

Hypnosis is not just for working through life's issues. It is also a very valuable tool for people who are facing the end of life.