Written by Michael Hedahl
United Nations University doctor uses hypnotherapy to help medical students manage exam anxiety
Like many of her medical school classmates, Katina Kasisier dreaded the make-or-break Step 1 exam. While she was taking a practice test, her mind went blank, so much so that she delayed taking her test.
Then a friend told her that she was undergoing hypnotherapy with Dr. Robert E. Sapien, professor of emergency medicine and associate dean of admissions at the medical school.
“This was a last-ditch effort to overcome exam anxiety, because even if you know everything you know, you can still fail,” Kasisier says.
Over three sessions, Sapiens used hypnotic suggestion to induce a deep state of relaxation and asked Kasisier to imagine taking the exam feeling calm, collected, and focused. The idea, she says, was to overcome her paralyzing negative self-talk.
”“He’s kind of explaining to you the lies we tell ourselves as adults. You break through the subconscious brain barriers that we unconsciously tell ourselves all day long. ” she says.
As the exam approached, my terrible exam anxiety disappeared. Kasisier now practices self-hypnosis regularly at home, trying to relax and re-center herself. And she encourages her friends to explore it too.
Sapien says her life changed when she first encountered hypnotherapy 15 years ago. At the time, he was intrigued by his colleagues’ reports that children’s anxiety during dental procedures was alleviated by hypnosis.
“I thought it might be a good idea to try it in a pediatric ER,” he says.Sapiens enrolled in the class of The American Academy of Hypnotherapy aims to teach you the basics of hypnosis.
But during that week of introductions, he says, “I developed very strong emotional connections with other students during the activities.” “It really made me think about the possibility of connecting with people on that level.”
This experience led me to take the Academy’s full course of hypnotherapy training. Now he teaches there part-time, treats patients and founded a professional association of hypnotherapists based on the medical model.
Hypnosis is not like “stage hypnosis,” where entertainers bring audience members on stage and make them act abnormally, Sapien said. Hypnosis is simply an altered state of consciousness that naturally induces a parasympathetic “relaxation response” in the body.
Although the patient in this state still retains agency and is not forced to do anything he or she would not otherwise do, the hypnotic trance state allows the patient to discover deeply embedded beliefs and long-buried subconscious memories. He says it will give them access to.
“This really helps individuals work through limiting beliefs,” Sapien says, cautioning that “this is a supplement and not a replacement for traditional therapy.” added.
sapiens want it Scientific validation of this technology has deepened, with recent studies of overactive bladder patients treated with hypnotherapy showing results comparable to, and in some cases better than, patients treated with traditional drug therapy alone. brought results.
Sapien admits approximately 10 medical students each year, many of whom are referred by mentors in our learning community. Although it may seem that highly educated people are less susceptible to hypnosis, the opposite is usually true.
“In fact, the people who do this job well are the ones with really developed, strong minds,” Sapiens says. “They are bright people. I enjoy working with them.”
