Within the western medical tradition, pain has been treated as a single phenomenon – a signal, generated by injury or disease, which was transmitted to the brain and which was experienced physically. Since the 1960s, pain has been considered at a psychological level, and modern neuroscience shows us exactly what’s happening inside the brain at an emotional level. We can think of pain in two different ways: A sensory experience – this is when the body experiences something physical, such as...

Key points: Hypnotherapy has a strong record in helping people manage and improve chronic pain conditions. Chronic pain hypnotherapy focuses on the person, not the condition. A holistic approach to chronic pain includes pain management tools, improving the mind:body connection and a focus on emotional release. Chronic pain hypnotherapy training should be rooted in evidence-based approaches. *Sandra (real name and details changed) had an ongoing, chronic pain condition in the form of...

Why we need to reframe the question to: how can we help autistic people gain the most from their hypnotherapy sessions? Key points: Hypnotherapy is often a very effective approach for autistic people Stereotypes about autism sometimes mean people think hypnosis won't work for them Creating the right sensory and communication environment matters Learning about autistic processing styles means we can adapt hypnotic language I was diagnosed as autistic in my late forties, and now identify as...