School Pilot Project to Detect Stress and Depression Amongst Students

The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education Malaysia will be jointly launching a pilot project in four secondary schools to identify and address the issue of youths suffering from mental health problems, i.e. stress, depression, etc,  which is currently on the rise.  According to the Health Ministry's National Health Mobility Survey, the number of people seeking medical attention for mental health problems was 10.6% in 1996 but rose to 11.2% in 2006.  And the figure was alarmingly high for those aged 16 and 19 years of age.  Under this project, students will be asked to take a mental health evaluation test to determine if they are facing any mental health problems and the level of the problem they are facing.  The aim of this project is to identify the causes of mental health problems and ways to help these students overcome them.

The full story can be read at The Star Online

Psychosis from the viewpoint of a very intelligent and self-aware psychotic

We've studied regressions in hypnosis. We know that as we revisit traumatic events and allow the release of repressed negative energies, healing can take place. We know that the unconscious has possible links to past lives and the collective unconscious.

We also know that in acute psychosis (madness), a person may take off his/her clothes, run around naked and defecate and urinate all over the place, and also potentially can become violent towards other people or self-harm.

But how many of us know that hypnosis and psychosis could be separated by merely just a thin red line - that the two statements above are very connected?

I'm not saying that we hypnotherapists should start treating psychotics.

But the insight from an ex-manic "patient" about his psychotic experience is simply mind blowing. Do check out his youtube video:

How the acute psychotic phase of a bipolar disorder can PURIFY YOUR SOUL

If you like his video, you can view the other parts of the series. Simply click on the link to the right of the screen entitled "1.The REAL Cause of Bipolar Mania / Bipolar Disorder", and upon finishing, continue clicking on the links which leads to the next part of the video series.


By Doctor Alan Soh

Mahadevan Travelling Fellowship to Harvard University - a First Year report

Many of us remember that on 9 September 2009 Tan Sri Dr Mahadevan launched the Mahadevan Traveling Fellowship, entitling one candidate versed in medicine and clinical hypnosis to travel to Harvard University and to study at Massachusetts General Hospital.

One year later the first Mahadevan Fellow, Dr Sharifah Eliza Jamalullial has returned and is working with the custodians, the London College of Clinical Hypnosis (LCCH Malaysia). She is the first Mahadevan Fellow entrusted to walk in Tan Sri Mahadevan foot-steps. A tall order, since Tan Sri was also Malaysia’s first Chief Psychiatrist and is adviser to the London College of Clinical Hypnosis. In fact, Tan Sri Mahadevan himself has been recognized as a Fellow of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis. 

Mahadevan Fellows are entrusted to share their privileged learning so that everyone involved in medicine and healthcare in Malaysia may benefit. Dr Sharifah’s first task was to work with the LCCH to organize a return visit to Malaysia from Harvard University.  The fellows will also work with the LCCH to ensure that the new learning from Harvard is incorporated into the LCCH curriculum making it widely available for healthcare professionals and doctors in Malaysia and worldwide.

The Harvard team visited in March 2010 and the highlight of the visit was a workshop on psychological trauma presented by Dr John Tan from University Malaya, Dr Dave Henderson from Harvard University and Peter Mabbutt FBSCH from the London College of Clinical Hypnosis. It was open to both doctors and allied healthcare professionals and a comprehensive report will appear in European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

Peter Mabbutt and Dave Henderson went on to present their work at Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital in Sungai Petani. The North country visit was organized by Dr Gayathri K. Kumarasuriar, second Mahadevan Fellow who is in Harvard this October.

The first Fellows nominated for the Mahadevan Travelling Fellowship were selected by a committee presided upon by Tun Dr Siti Hasmah. It is her express wish that the first candidates selected should all be eligible and the first three successful candidates are Dr Sharifah Eliza Jamalullial, Dr Gayathri K Kumarsuriar and Dr Ng Khian Boon. Each Fellow is selected for out-standing contributions to the community, to medicine and for their active love of psychiatry and clinical hypnosis. Tun Siti Hasmah and our Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib entrusted each candidate to work hard and to share the achievements of Malaysian Medicine with the US doctors.  The Prime Minister then signed the coveted Mahadevan Fellowship Award and presented this to Dr Sharifah.

Tan Sri Mahadevan, The Prime Minister, Tun Siti Hasmah, Dr Sharifa and Sheila Menon

In accordance with her responsibilities, Dr Sharifah presented a lecture on psychiatric treatment available in Malaysia to leading professors and doctors at Harvard. They were impressed by the work at Tanjung Rambutan, now Hospital Bahagia in Perak. Several commented that the Tanjung Rambutan mental hospital resembled a resort with its flower gardens and parklands. They remarked in USA such facilities are confined to hospitals or clinical buildings. One doctor even joked he “wouldn’t mind being a patient there!” recounts Dr Sharifah. The US psychiatrists were inspired and Dr Dave Henderson requested specifically to visit both the Half-way house and Hospital Bahagia. Dato’ Dr Majumder Madhuri and Dato' Dr Suarn Singh were there to meet the Harvard team.

For colleagues considering the Mahadevan Fellowship, Dr. Sharifah describes her visit to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) as a jam-packed timetable with clinics, research meetings, ward rounds; child consults visits, acute psychiatry services, grand rounds, lectures and community visits. “It has armed me with an increased knowledge in psychiatry and mental health which I hope to put to good use in Malaysia,” Dr Sharifah continues, indicating why she was such a natural first choice.  Dr Sharifah was invited to speak at the historic Ether Dome, at Harvard University. Upon her return, she shared this and other experiences in a presentation to colleagues and students at the LCCH. 

 

Dr Sharifa and her Fellowship Award

In keeping with Tan Sri’s love of clinical hypnosis, Dr Sharifah met Dr Owen Surman, a psychiatrist who practices hypnosis. “He described to me how he used hypnotherapy as a tool with his heart transplant patients to help them recover faster by encouraging them to imagine that the operation was a huge success and they were on the way to complete recovery. Dr Sharifah described that using hypnosis in this way is done in a safe and controlled manner.”

“Dr Surman also published ‘Hypnosis in treating warts’ as hypnotherapy has a general effect on host response to the causative virus.” Dr Sharifah is in constant discussion with the Medical Director for the LCCH Asia, Dr Gayathri, who will travel to Harvard in October 2010. Together they are exploring new ways to increase knowledge and benefits within Malaysian healthcare. This broader approach to medicine is supported by the Academy of Family Physician Malaysia who work collaboratively with the LCCH and accredit the clinical hypnosis training in Malaysia. 

Another highlight was her visit to the Benson-Henry Institute for mind body medication and meeting the famous Dr Benson. “The Benson-Henry Institute deals with patients with stress related medical conditions by combining conventional medicine with self-care approach that places greater control of health in the patients’ hands. This centre encourages patients to cultivate positive thoughts and mind body healing by turning off stress through new behaviour and attitude. This can be used to treat anxiety, depression, asthma and cancer.

Dr Sharifah also pinpoints the PACT Team as a major highpoint of her month long sojourn. PACT stands for Programme for Assertive Community Treatment and is a community based treatment programme for people with severe and persistent mental illness who may have been under-served by traditional levels of care and can require rehospitalisation. PACT is also seen as a hospital without walls. Dr Sharifah was attached to a PACT Team comprising psychiatrist, nurses, vocation specialists, housing specialists, social workers and peer specialists.

She visited 2 women with bi-polar disorder in their homes in Cambridge learning that PACT kept them out of hospital and helped them pursue productive hobbies like painting, reading, gardening and writing. Dr Sharifah has always been interested in Community Psychiatry stating “Hopefully I can bring what I learned with the PACT Team back to Malaysia. After all, Tan Sri Dr Mahadevan is the pioneer of community mental health in Malaysia and it only seems right a Mahadevan Fellow should follow in his footsteps.”

Dr Sharifah was privileged to meet the renowned Dr Chester Pierce who has dominated mainstream American psychiatry for the last three decades as president of American Orthopsychiatry Association and American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. It is through his friendship with Tan Sri Mahadevan that this fellowship is possible. Dr Pierce was unassuming, modest and intelligent. At 82, he is still actively doing research on racism, a subject close to his heart. Our former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad was intrigued by his work. On his visit to the Antarctica, Tun noticed Pierce Peak named after Dr. Chester Pierce for his research in Antarctica. He requested Tan Sri Mahadevan to obtain a personally autographed copy of the book “Race and Excellence” which was written by the Yale Professor of Psychiatry, Prof Ezra Griffith on the life and work of Professor Pierce. A copy of this book is available for all to read at Tun’s Perdana Putra.

“After a month at Massachusetts General Hospital, I know why it is ranked #1 in psychiatry for 14 consecutive years in the US News and World Report Survey of ‘America’s Best Hospitals’. The Mahadevan Fellowship allows Malaysian doctors to experience a life-changing experience there,” reports the first Mahadevan Fellow.

In 1965 Tan Sri Mahadevan saved the life of a road accident victim using clinical hypnosis. It was an act of remarkable courage and skill and it put both Malaysia and clinical hypnosis onto the map. Tan Sri was first acknowledged in Britain and then in the USA for his remarkable work and contributions. The Mahadevan Fellowship is created to provide study for one Mahadevan Fellow each year at Harvard University. But this Fellow is entrusted to return to Malaysia and to work with the LCCH and Harvard colleagues to ensure that their privileged experience and learning is made widely available through the teaching structure of the LCCH.

The Mahadevan Fellowship continues as a living legacy created so that future generations of doctors and healthcare professionals may benefit from the doors and opportunities that Tan Sri Mahadevan has already opened. 

Our students experience of practicing hypnotherapy

We recently conducted a questionnaire interview via email with the 15 students who graduated. One of the interviewee was a doctor (Dr Alan Soh) who mentioned that he used clinical hypnosis during his consultation and it is usually done informally through rapport building, utilization, metamodel and solution focused questioning with the patients. He had used formal hypnosis practice for cases such as panic attacks, inability to cope following a miscarriage, marital disharmony, work stress, quit smoking, weight management, chronic pain management, post traumatic stress disorder, etc. He had this advice to offer to those who wish to do this course – “The workings of the unconscious mind is a fascinating field to explore. A lot of self discovery can be made, and forward steps can be appreciated as one journey towards peace. The wisdoms acquired may be passed on to help others on their journey as well.”

Another doctor (Dr Gayathri Kumarasuriar Thirukumar) felt that apart from pharmacotherapy and the traditional psychotherapy, clinical hypnotherapy can also play a positive role in healing patients. She uses hypnotherapy mainly for patients who suffer from mild to moderate depression as well as those having self esteem issues. It worked and patients were able to get back on track with renewed confidence.

A clinical hypnotherapist with counselling background (Ms Jyothi Chelamcharla) stated that her interest has been in psychology and hypnosis since her childhood. She explored this field with the aim of helping out trauma victims and abused women as well as help people cope with stress. Her advice to those who wish to pursue clinical hypnosis is to have an open mind and strictly follow the ethics to ensure patient’s safety.

One interviewee (Ms Yi-Ching Ng) chanced upon the LCCH’s certificate course in the local newspaper and she stated that since clinical hypnosis is a relatively new discipline and less known in Malaysia, she was drawn to learn more about this “unusual discipline” as she puts it. After pursuing this course, she uses clinical hypnosis to treat phobias, bruxism, weight management, image enhancement, anxiety and relaxation. She said, “This course is very rewarding, not only for personal development, but the joy and satisfaction felt when a patient reports some positive changes, are immeasurable. I would advise potential students to be patient with the course. The techniques are presented in a very detailed and comprehensive way to ensure that students learn them well and apply them appropriately. In this way, standards in the practice of clinical hypnosis are upheld, ensuring a safe environment for the patient in therapy.”

As mentioned earlier, those who pursue the hypnotherapy courses come from various backgrounds and one such person is a personal development trainer and coach (Ms Thevi Sinnadurai) and she wanted to enhance her skill and decided to incorporate clinical hypnosis as part of her therapy work. She found it easy, effortless and the results were quick and more lasting. She uses clinical hypnosis in improving health, performance, to build confidence, enhance relationships, to break or change habits, smoking cessation, weight management, chronic and acute pain control, manage symptoms, addiction, anxiety, fears, phobias, self discovery, stress management, etc. Her advice to those interested in doing this course is as follows : “As the field of hypnotherapy is continuing to expand, it is important for students to have the opportunity to get appropriate training in this field. Once you realize the unlimited potential of hypnotherapy, you will easily want to experience and be aware of how you can help people improve their lives by enrolling in our courses and expand your capabilities beyond. Whether you are looking for hypnotherapy skill to help people bring change to their lives or change within yourself, you will want to get the right kind of training in the right place. At LCCH, the courses are well structured with good support system. Overall the course is easy to follow. Our training will ensure your clients leave your clinic safe and secure in the knowledge that you have facilitated to make a difference to them in their lives. Join a group of well respected professionals.”

Another interviewee (Dr Bernardine Gomez) who is a General Practitioner with an interest in palliative care mentioned that she has been intrigued by the untapped resources available to each individual within their unconscious mind and therefore decided to acquire the skills required to legitimately practice hypnosis. According to her with the knowledge acquired so far, “I am able to counsel patients and encourage a more holistic approach to disease processes most of which stem from daily stresses, both occupational and personal”. Her advice to potential candidates is to do some research pertaining to hypnosis and the subconscious mind and then decide on the purpose of embarking on these courses. Whether it is just a means to enhance their knowledge on this lesser trodden path because that itself is valid enough reason as we widen our scope to assist those who require assistance either physically or emotionally. She was also of the opinion that “as a professional in my field, we touch the lives of various individuals on a daily basis as they come and go from our consultations. Many besides their health issues, want to be reassured that there is hope in all that they do and they venture to do, in their strides and what lies beyond. And we as therapists must be sensitive to these unspoken needs”.

Example of a Case Study

Below is an example of a case study by one of our clinical hypnotherapists, Ms Thevi Sinnadurai:

“A patient came to me for managing her anxiety and panic attacks. She was having trouble functioning in her work and personal relationship with her partner. This condition had been troubling her for about three years. She had no idea what had triggered it. She had seen her doctor and was given medication to alleviate the symptoms. She was told by a family member that they had seen others experiencing these symptoms and had told her that she had to live with it. This further enhanced her fear, and the panic attacks got more frequent. This created a sense of hopelessness in her and a sense of no control.

During the first session I saw her, she expressed that she was going crazy and wanted to take control of the situation. I did not wish to exacerbate her anxiety by using methods of investigation in the first session. Her motivation to handle the situation made it easy for me to facilitate her into a hypnotic trance. The first session was just introducing her to self-induced relaxation.

During the second session, a trust was already established between my patient and me, so I decided to pursue the deeper causes of her anxiety. However, due to her anxiety level, as we approached the deeper issues, her panic would begin to show up. Therefore, I felt that the best way to proceed with this was to speak to the part of her that was responsible for the panic attacks. I hoped we would uncover a past event that had caused the anxiety, or was exacerbating it. This was called the parts therapy or dissociation therapy. It was important for me to deal with this as soon as possible before her anxiety experiences took over the session again.

Upon isolating the anxious part, and identifying its intention, it revealed that it had been there to warn and remind her of her overpowering father who would beat her up when she was naughty. Upon thanking the part for its positive intention and upon negotiation to now let it go and remain calm and relaxed, I reintegrated the part with good working, beneficial intentions. After this session the following two sessions were around building up her internal resources through ego strengthening. My patient’s anxiety was dramatically alleviated. Now she is confident about returning to work more focused and energetic. Her relationship with her partner has been better.”

Conclusion

Hypnotherapy is a new field that has wide potential which is waiting to be explored. Applied in the right manner and according to ethics, clinical hypnosis has many beneficial effects on patients/clients. It is a non invasive and drug free therapy to help people overcome their problems in life. It is not here to replace doctors but to complement them in their practice of medicine and to enhance the Academy of Family Physicians’ approach towards holistic medicine.

The mind controls everything and if you have control over your mind, everything else will fall into its place, otherwise everything will fall apart. That is exactly what clinical hypnosis does.

“Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind”

~ Zen proverb quotes

Hypnotherapy on a burn patient

A week ago, she was burnt by hot cooking oil. She was only 19 years old, the eldest girl. Her father died three years ago of cancer. She was cooking for the family and forgot about the oil she left on the fire. Without realizing the danger, she threw the food into the super heated oil and caused a major splash. She got burnt moderately on the left side of her face which thankfully did not damage her eye, however, her left arm, left legs and feet/toes were the worst affected. She is recovering well, but in pain and is given morphine every 4 hours.

I went to see her at the tail end of her 4 hourly morphine dose. She was quite alert, aware and coherent, although she was talking to me in a baby like voice. I had earlier gone to see her about three hours ago to assess her situation and briefly discussed her case with LCCH CEO/Director of Studies Peter Mabbutt to get some advice. I again explained to her this time about hypnosis and she agreed to try it. Fortunately, no one was in the room with us and I started without induction.  I used a story telling method and brought her into her favourite place.  As I was counting down, she complained about pain in her left arm, I continued to deepen her to her favourite place. Up to this point, things were going quite well until I mistakenly mentioned warm white instead of healing white light, which she responded to pain in her left arm where the burn was quite severe. I realized that anything to do with heat would provoke her memory. I was worried if I should have used the healing white light script at all, since light can be related to heat and that was not good for this patient. I quickly changed it to healing white light and repeated the words ‘healing white light’ as often as possible until she was relaxed and seem to reduce the pain. I then took a long pause since she was calm and for me to recover from her pain reaction. I then asked her to go to the control room and changed the setting of the pain to bearable. She did it and went into deep sleep for about 20 minutes. She was breathing normally and the shivering of her left hand had stopped. By then her mother had come in to witness this. As she woke up, she said the pain went away for a short while. She then asked her mother to get the nurse for her morphine. While the mother had gone to get the nurse, I again got the patient to go to the control room to control the pain. This time she went very quickly and was in deep sleep again in less than 2 minutes.

When the mother came back after a while, she was surprised that her daughter was resting well again. She woke up 15 minutes later due to the voice of the nurse and her mother entering the room through a noisy sliding door. However, she did not ask her mother and the nurse for her morphine. I said my goodbyes and left the room soon after, feeling good about myself. On the way down the elevator, looking at my reflection on the shinny door, I said to myself “great job Terence!”

By : Peter Terence D’Cruz

10/10/10

LCCH Dip 8

LCCH receives Brand Laureate Award

April 2010. The LCCH has been awarded the Best College of Clinical Hypnosis by Brand Laureate. This award recognizes the high standard of teaching and research undertaken by the college both locally in Malaysia and internationally. 

First LCCH clinical hypnotherapy graduates in Malaysia

On 4 April 2010, the inaugural convocation ceremony for the first 15 clinical hypnotherapists in Malaysia took place at the new Academy of Family Physicians Malaysia’s (AFPM) hall - Medical Academies of Malaysia located at Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur. Sheila Menon, Principal of LCCH Asia-Australia, acted as Censor and the awards were presented by Dr Frank Tan Eng Huat. It was an historical day for the AFPM, LCCH and the 15 graduating clinical hypnotherapists who received the status of Practitioner of Clinical Hypnosis. These graduates will have their names registered in the International Register of Clinical Hypnotherapists maintained by the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis. They also became the first in Asia to achieve this level of skill and academic achievement.

The AFPM made its own history when these practitioners of Clinical Hypnotherapy formed the bedrock of members of The Hypnotherapy Chapter which has been formed between the AFPM and LCCH. The purpose of this Chapter is to facilitate a wider understanding of the benefits of using clinical hypnosis for patient care. This Chapter was launched recently in July 2010.