DOCTOR INDUCES HYPNOSIS ... Mrs. Robert (Ardelle) Bieberdorf Rush-ord, Minn., has been told by Dr. L. J. Wilson, a Rushford hypnotherapist, 'to look

toward him (left photo) and to get as comfortable as she can. She has been askedher head m that position, look up toward her eyebrows, and then toward

tie top of her head. As she continued to look upward she was told to close hereyelids slowly. The patient was instructed to keep her eyelids closed and con-tinue to hold her eyes upward. "Take a deep breath, hold. Now exhale, let your

relax and concentrate on a feeling of a floating, floating down right through

the chair. There will be something pleasant and welcome about this feeling offloating," said Dr. Wilson. The patient has been told to concentrate on the floatingwhile the doctor concentrated on her left arm and hand. Dr. Wilson stroked themiddle finger (center photo) of Mrs. Bieberdorf's left hand. He said she woulddevelop movement sensations in that finger. "Then the movements will spread,"said Dr. Wilson, "causing the left hand to feel light and buoyant." He informedher that the arm would float upward, first one finger and then another. "As theserestless movements develop," Dr. Wilson said, "your hand becomes light and

buoyant, your elbow bends and your forearm floats into an upright position." Hatold her (right photo) that her arm would stay in that position even after he gaveher the signal for her eyes to open. Later Dr. Wilson touched her left elbow andput her arm in a resting position. Mrs. Bieberdorf remained in a deep hypnotictrance, (lower photo) shifting positions at time to stay comfortable. Respondingto a cue from Dr. Wilson. Mrs. Bieberdorf later came out of the trance. (SundayNews photos by Jim Galewski)

Alternative to chemical anesthesia

doctor uses hyfBy VI BENICKE

Sunday News Area EditorRUSHFORD, Minn. — Dr.

L. J. Wilson, Rushford, a for-mer Winonan, who practiceshypnotherapy, raised a fe-male patient's arm and sheimmediately went into a hyp-notic trance.No preliminaries were nec-

essary to produce hypnosis;she had been through the pro-cess many times before andwent into the trance on signal.

Another patient was put in atrance on the count of five. Oncount one, Dr. Wilson told thepatient to look up toward hereyelids; on count two, to closeher eyelids and take a deepbreath; on count three, to lether eyes relax, her bodyfloat, and to allow one fore-arm to float upward; oncount four,' she was told tohave the arm remain in theupward position, and on countlive, to go Twice as deep intothe trance state.

Dr. Wilson, along withother obstetricians, finds hyp-nosis a viable alternative tochemical anesthesia duringlabor.

During the physician's ob-

stetrics class in the waitingroom of the Rushford Com-munity Clnic, it was notedthat another of the patientsseemed to be peacefully sleep-ing in her chair. Then anotherdropped off. B o t h womenwere in self-induced trances.

Dr. Wilson conducts "ob"and smokers classes everyother week. Every Thursdayevening is reserved for menand women who want to loseweight with the help of hypno-sis. Each Tuesday he deals

with problems such as ten-sion, insomnia, bed wettingand phobias.

Classes are held at nightbecause there are no inter-ruptions.

If Dr. Wilson is called outon an emergency during asession he asks his patientsto remain in the trance untilhe returns.

"Then I don't have to takethe time putting them in andtaking them out," Dr. Wil-son said.

Every suggestion given tothe patients is designed tohelp them and every sugges-tion compounds or helps theones given before, Dr. Wilsonexplained and the more theypractice going into trancesthe better they get; just likeriding a bicycle.

Dr. Wilson, who has beena member of the AmericanSociety of Clinical Hypnosissince 1966, attended the so-ciety's 16th annual meetingand workshop on clinical

Mother thought she was frogDuring labor, while in a hypnotic trance,

an area woman imagined she was a frog. Shehad the sensation of floating in water.

When experiencing a hard contraction shepicked up the contraction and put it on top ofa lily pad, she said.

.Another woman, who bas had four child-ren while hypnotized, nu'inUins she does notknow what a labor pain «r a contraction feelslike, other than simple pressure.

While in labor with her first child, shedreamed she was walking along a beach, witha white house in the distance (she was actu-ally walking in the hospital). As each wavesplashed against the shore, she experienced a

contraction. The house in the distance keptcoming closer and closer.

The mother imagined she was at the countyfair when her second child was born. Therewas a big, fat, jolly clown with a large, rednose. She remembers that she laughed andgiggled the entire six hours she was in labor.

The third +5nr<e she Vid tvrir1 son?.. Duri">£ •labor she dreamed she was floating on clouds,drifting from place to place — never gelunginvolved with anything.

Another woman, while giving birth to achild, sang Christmas carols and songs aboutbabies. She also sang Deep River as she en-visioned herself floating on top of the waterwhile her contractions stayed on the bottom.

DHOSISWinona Sunday News

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 1974 Winona, Minnesota

hypnosis Oct. 16-21 in Toron-to, Ontario, Canada.

The son of Mrs. HildredWilson, Winona, and the lateDr. R. H. Wilson, he is a1951 graduate of the Univer-sity of Minnesota MedicalSchool and began practicingmedicine in Winona in July1952. He has been associatedwith the Rushford Commun-ity Clinic since 1961.

Dr. Wilson and his wife,Miloty, have two sons and twodaughters.

A vocal advocator of theuse of hypnosis in patientcare, Dr. Wilson offers Dr.H e r b e r t Spiegel's workingdefinition:

"Hypnosis is a response toa signal from another or toan inner signal, which acti-vates a capacity for a shiftof awareness in the subjectand permits a more intensive'wipertration upon a design*>ated goal direction. Thisshift of attention is constant-ly sensitive to and responsiveto cues from the hypnotistor the subject himself if pro-perly trained."

Dr. Spiegel is the associateclinical professor, depart-ment of psychiatry, ColumbiaUniversity, College of Physi-cians and Surgeons.

"A girl can have her babyany way she wants to," Dr.Wilson pointed out. "All Ido is guide her. Hypnosis isa way to keep the patientcalm and have an easy de-livery. And it's a joy for me;after all, she just had ababv."

•""J •> _^^_^l

Dr. Wilson informs his pa-tients that they must trustcertain persons when in labor,•while in a trance: those in1he household who are respon-able for getting them to theaospital; persons they meet at

s the hospital, and the doctor.U "My biggest job is to take

the patient from one room toanother in the hospital," Dr.

r Wilson explained, "because ofthe noise factor.

"So I try to have them ad-just to as much noise as pos-sible so that nothing disturbsthem." (He demonstrated bydropping a metal object onthe floor directly in front ofone of the women in a trance.The loud, clattering noise didnot phase her).

While in a trance the "ob"patients acquire a time dis-tortion and the stages of laborgo very rapidly, said Dr. Wil-son.

"Gome women will get hyp-nosis for the first stage oflabor and will continue in atrance until they go into de-livery. Others will go throughthe whole period in a veryexcellent trance with no prob-lems at all. The real goodones don't even know theircontractions are there."

Dr. Wilson said that moth-ers of 60 percent of the babieshe delivers use hypnosis.

On« of the first steps inr>r ™ of tyP^is," said

^X: is to &» theo£ thf, Patient and «-^actly what will beThe therapist must be

both honest Md truly interest-

During the time a patient is

I D]™?^ s"^esti<™ cannr wM m the min<*> saidDr. Wilson. He or she can begiven post hypnotic sugges-tions that can carry over forhour, day s or eS ye^s. AJerson in a trance, however

There are formal and wak-ing trances.

"Sometimes one cannot tellif a person is in a trance stateor not, since daydreams turninto mild hypnotic trances,Dr. Wilson said.

Examples: a person watch-ing the raindrops hit the win-dow glass and run down thepane, or thinking about herchildhood or some pleasantexperience and becoming sodeeply caught up in the recol-lections that she is not awareof what is going on aroundher.

"Or it may be an out-and-out fantasy one has conjuredup so realistically that totalmental involvement comesabout," said the physician.

Clinical hypnotherapists saythat the trance is not sleep,but rather a state of alteredconsciousness. It is deep re-laxation. The patient is awareof what is going on aroundhim, but listens only to thetherapist. He can come outof the trance any time he

wishes, although usually thetrance is ended on signal orinstruction from the therapist.

Dr. Wilson, along with theother physicians and psychia-trists, agrees that hypnosis is

MRS. WILLIAM TENSETH

gaining credence and popular-ity as an adjunct to conven-tional therapy. Some of thacountry's most respected in-stitutions include it in theircontinuing education pro-grams, he said, and more andmore practitioners, specialistsand family physicians alike,are using it in primary pa-tient care.

However, said Dr. Wilson,confusion and misinformationabout hypnotherapy remainwidespread. Its proponentssay that this relatively simpletherapeutic technique is usednowhere near its potential.

Some physicians shun hyp-nosis, Dr. Wilson pointed out,because it takes too muchtime, while others declarethat hypnosis saves time forthe physician and for somepatients, it saves money be-cause it can lessen the needfor drug therapy and lengthensthe interval between officavisits.

Rushford doctor(Continued on page 2b)

Rushford doctor(Continued from page Ib)

Dr. Wilwo *ald thai phy-•jciaoi In many fields usehypnosis with varying degreesof suecess: to treat stutteringin froth »dults and children;family physician* u*« It totreat anything from enureslsto tension headaches, insom-nia, hysteria, neuralgia, nailbiting and migraine head-aches

Soffit physicians us« hyp-noaii to minimiit discomfortor pain during such officeprocedures u pelvic or proc-toscopic examinations, sellingfractures, suturing or chang-ing dressings.

Patients with functional col-itis or asthma often respondto hypnosis, said Dr. Wilson,as do Lhose with tendenciestoward sexual disorders, arth-ritis, obesity and anxiety ten-alon states. It also is used tohelp hemophiliacs controlWeeding.

Dr. Wilson pointed oul thatnot all patients respond favor-ably to hypnotherapy. A har-monious relalicitislu'p is amust. If the doctor or thepatient feelj al all uneasywith the other, hypnotherapyIs almost certain not to besuccessful, he said.

The people who are easiestto hypnorize, according to Dr.Wilson, are the ones mostlikely to benefit from hypno-therapy. As a ruse, they areof moderate to high intelli-gence, fairly well adjustedand accustomed to mentH]discipline.

Dr. Wilson saio it [s advis-able to establish a patient'shypno'.Jzability, or trance

Winort* SundayWinoin, Minnesota

SUNDAY, JAN. 20, 197*

•city before suggesting a pro-gram of hypnotherapy. One ofth» simplest and fastest waysIn determine trance capacity isthe eye-re!! ^cst develop*^ atColumbia University. The patient is asked to roll her «yesupward while closing her eye-lids; the higher sh* can "lookup" the more hypnotizabl*she Is. Inability to roll theeyes at all signifies zerotrance capacity.

The patient's motivation tnbe helped is at least at im-portant to successful hypno-therapy &g trance capacity,Dr. Wilson maintained. Ahighly motivated patient with• fairly low trance capacitycm be treated successfullywith hypnothentpy, Rome-times under extraordinarycoi.ditions.

Dr. Wilson said thai gen-erally a patient who ii underuni'sual physical or emotlonnlstress, In pain, or anticipat-ing pain is sufficiently motiv-ated to be a Rood candidatefor hypnotherapy during pain-ful diagnostic or therapeuticprocedures.

This is especially true ofmentally alert patient* whoarc fncing death under pain-ful circumstances, said Dr.Wilson. Then, too, the patientwho roust slop smoking be-cause nf early emphysema isa better candidate for hypno-therapy than tho patient whomerely thinks he would liketo stop.

Hypnotherapy Is widely ac-cepted as a legitimate thera-peutic technique, according (oDr. Wilson, but great num-bers of physicians and )ay-aen stiH harbor misconcep-tions resulting from hypnosis'lonR fl.?soo.iflt|(>n with charla-tans and showmen.