Summary Notes From Acupuncture & Hypnosis Pathway

Dr. Joe Feuerstein of Stamford Health discussed acupuncture & hypnosis at our December 14 Pathway Session. He is an integrative medicine physician, which means he combines conventional medicine with complementary and alternative therapies including acupuncture, diet, essential oils, herbal supplements, hypnosis, meditation and therapeutic massage. Following Joe’s presentation which you can find here, we had a good open discussion.

Some of the key points included the following:

  1. Dr. Joe uses suggestion hypnosis as opposed to hypnotherapy conducted by licensed therapists. Joe’s work enables him to change a specific behavior or condition, like insomnia, smoking, or pain. He does NOT try to find a root cause or trauma, and then do traditional psychotherapy.
  2. Joe does his hypnosis work in the authoritative approach, where he as the clinician gives suggestions to the patient during the treatment session. This compares with a “self-hypnosis” approach where the patient creates recordings and listens regularly to affect changes.
  3. To help his patients move from induction into the “deepening” phase, Dr. Feuerstein uses acupuncture, specifically in the relaxation point of the ear.
  4. Joe cited several different academic studies during his talk, which highlighted the fact that both acupuncture and hypnosis have been successful in treating anxiety, addiction, and substance misuse.

To watch the entire Pathway Session, which was conducted on Zoom, go here.