Event Details
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Title
Hypnosis for the Operating Room
By Elvira Lang, MD, PhD
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
17:00 - 20:00 CEST
Abstract
The rapid pace and commercial focus of modern medical/surgical/dental offices and operating rooms can challenge even hypnosis experts. The webinar will focus on four themes:
1. Operating Room Dynamics: settings, workflow, adaptation of techniques and wording, stresses within treating medical teams, and the transference of emotions among all participants;
2. Self Care: techniques hypnosis practitioners can use when they become patients themselves, such as addressing unhelpful comments from their healthcare providers, overcoming the reluctance and fear among their treatment team to allow the use of self-hypnosis with no or minimal intravenous sedation/anesthesia during invasive treatment;
3. Symbolism: when to consider the meaning of "dis-ease" in the context of treatment, how its symbolism may determine whether the chosen medical/surgical treatment will actually resolve the symptoms, and how potential postoperative grief may need to be addressed upfront;
4. Introducing Hypnosis in Clinical Settings: What to Consider When Planning to Introduce Hypnosis into a New Practice Setting or Maintaining Hypnotic Focus During a Practice Expansion.
The presentation is based on more than 25 years of rigorous research and clinical experience. Its format includes lectures, video demonstrations, small-group exercises, and large-group discussions to provide an interactive and practical learning experience.
Learning objectives
This session will equip participants with the skills to
• Understand the workflow and dynamics of medical, surgical, and dental settings and adapt hypnotic techniques to enhance patient care.
• Gain confidence in supporting the medical team while using self-hypnosis during personal medical procedures.
• Increase awareness of the symbolic meaning of dis-ease in the context of surgical conditions and its impact on treatment outcomes.
Short CV
Elvira Lang-Anderson, MD, PhD, is an award-winning interventional radiologist known for researching the clinical effectiveness and cost savings of pre- and intra-procedural nonpharmacologic analgesia adjuncts.
She held faculty positions at the University of Heidelberg, Stanford University, the University of Iowa, and Harvard Medical School. With a substantive government-funded research program, she demonstrated in three large-scale prospective randomized studies with more than 700 patients that guidance is self-hypnotic relaxation on the procedure table that reduces pain, anxiety, drug use, and complications. This work provided much of the evidence-based foundation for the widespread acceptance of procedural hypnosis. In >170 research papers and chapters, Dr. Lang has presented and analyzed medical procedures, interactions with healthcare professionals, and the effects of patients' age and disposition on outcomes. She developed and rigorously tested training in advanced rapport skills and hypnoidal language methods for busy healthcare professionals with no extra time to spare. This experience culminated in the creation of Comfort Talk®. She oversaw further multicenter trials on training MRI teams in Comfort Talk®, encompassing over 125,000 patient visits, which yielded impressive improvements in patients' satisfaction and their ability to complete examinations at the participant sites. Her research work has been recognized with the Ernest R. Hilgard Award from ISH for Scientific Excellence in a Lifetime of Published Experimental Work and the Division 30 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Scientific Hypnosis from the American Psychological Association, in recognition of her eminent and enduring contributions to the advancement of scientific hypnosis.
After co-authoring the book "Patient Sedation Without Medication" for Medical Personnel, she published "Managing Your Medical Experience," a book for patients' use. Dr. Lang has been featured extensively in the popular press and on television.
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Will the Webinar be recorded?
Yes, the link to re-watch the session will be shared to all people who registered for the meeting.
How long will the recording be available?
After sharing the link, the recording will be available for at least 30days to re-watch the session.
When will the room be opened?
The room will be opened 15min prior to the workshop. (4.45pm)
