This simple process of actively listening does three things. It supplies you with information, creates a trusting therapeutic relationship and more importantly it helps them to focus and relax. You can almost see relaxation unfolding as they speak. This may not necessarily be obvious on your first visit but usually it is. There are, of course, some families who haven’t had a moment of peace their whole lives and they are not about to start with you. Be open minded, realistic and patient.

Planting Seeds of Confidence

Once you have your hospice family in a better place, how you speak and what you say can offer profound impact and direction. Speak slowly, confidently, with direct eye contact and use positive affirming tones. One statement should build on next. For example: “you’ve shown that you can manage his pain and there is enough medication in house.” Any victory along way is praised and added to your laundry list of positive review topics. Such as: “you did a great job repositioning him in bed, you’ve also made excellent decisions using break-through medication and you know you can call us anytime.” This positive review is where healthy seeds get planted.

By packaging up distracting emotional debris you can better offer direction, validation and clarity in a way that supports their continued growth and success. The more order and control you create more relaxed and focused they become. The more at ease they are more attention they pay to everything you say. Your words and suggestions will have a dramatic impact on their ability to cope and make difficult decisions while dealing with their own issues of grief.

Empowering Success

Your words become their thoughts and actions. Whether you like it or not you are in position of authority and knowledge of all issues involved with this life transition. All eyes and ears are pointed in your direction so take advantage of this opportunity to position them for success.

By understanding principles of suggestion and how conscious and subconscious minds work, hospice nurses can empower effective change with every visit they make. The repetition of supportive constructive suggestions and affirmations to those in a more relaxed and focused state of mind can have an enormous therapeutic effect. Good nurses know obvious advantages of reducing stress and putting their clients at ease, by also practicing these simple communication techniques your hospice families will be more autonomous, confident and in control during this difficult transition.

Increasing muscle tone reduces stress to affected joints, which increases mobility and comfort. Low impact activities like swimming; walking and range of motion exercises are commonly recommended to clients with arthritis. With hypnosis it’s easier to integrate new regimes and to establish positive subconscious connections between healthy activity and improved mobility, comfort and freedom.

The more protection in your joints, more comfort and mobility you create. Since subconscious controls multitude of our bodily function, hypnosis can direct it to increase production of chondrocytes, which increases growth of healthy new cartilage. Pain is often biggest issue with arthritis. Some pain, however, is necessary; it acts as a warning system telling us that something isn’t right. The responsible approach with hypnosis is to only reduce unnecessary pain, leaving intact body’s ability to signal us and protect us from further complications.

Hypnosis can also be used to regulate flow and distribution of endorphins, which are ‘feel good’ chemicals body uses to create comfort and relaxation. Using hypnosis to regulate endorphin production plays a big role in putting client in control. Hypnosis can also alter perception of where pain is located. By redirecting sensitivity away from key areas such as hips, knees and vertebrae to a less critical part of anatomy like a finger tip, client has much more control.

The same approach can be used to attach a different quality to pain. A sharp pain can be perceived as dull; burning pain can be perceived as cool. Involving other senses is one of distinct advantages hypnosis offers in managing symptoms of arthritis. Another technique involves using one color to represent pain and another to represent comfort, and then blending two offering instant relief.

Lastly, by attaching a number value to pain creates option of change. By imagining a yardstick during hypnosis a client can pick number that best reflects their current level of pain, and then they are directed to different numbers which changes their perceived level of discomfort.

With hypnosis arthritis sufferers gain a distinct advantage in managing and even reversing limitations of arthritis. Hypnosis is simple, empowering and extremely effective. A few sessions with a hypnotherapist gets you started and with a little practice you begin to effect healthy positive changes in your life. We all have remarkable self-healing abilities and hypnosis is an excellent way to jumpstart a return to a healthier more active life.