Summary

A psychiatrist who is skilled at hypnotism is asked by an oncologist to hypnotize a difficult patient prior to a bone marrow biopsy. The psychiatrist is able to achieve excellent pain relief through hypnotism, much to her own surprise. She is exhausted by the mental energy she has expended in this experience, and is discredited by the oncologist, who doesn't really believe that hypnotism is anything special.

Commentary

This essay encourages discussion about how healing is achieved, about how physicians can use non-traditional methods to augment Western treatments, and about how professionals do and should interact.

Primary Source

A Piece of My Mind: A Collection of Essays from the Journal of the American Medical Association

Publisher

Ballantine

Place Published

New York

Edition

1989

Editor

Bruce B. Dan & Roxanne K. Young

Page Count

1