Hypnosedation and hypnosurgery

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville · 1992 · Liège

What it is

Hypnosedation is an anaesthesia technique for selected, mostly superficial operations: thyroid and parathyroid, plastic, ENT, breast, gynaecological, hernia and vascular surgery, plus burns dressing changes. It is used in place of general anaesthesia, not in place of anaesthesia care. The…

Format

• Session format. The Defechereux et al. abstract calls the hypnotic style "Erikson's method", i.e. Ericksonian, permissive and conversational. The exact Liège induction script is not drawn on here.
• Version followed: the Liège hypnosedation model (Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville and colleagues, Department of Anaesthesia, CHU de Liège, routine use since 1992), as the group describes it in its papers from 1995 to 2008. Hypnosedation combines three parts: hypnosis, light conscious intravenous…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Hypnosedation is a single perioperative episode, not a course of therapy. It has one preoperative consultation and one intraoperative hypnotic session lasting the whole operation, followed by recovery. The Liège team reports giving no hypnotisability test and no prior training sessions.
• Delivering the intraoperative hypnotic communication only when credentialed by the hospital and working inside an anaesthesia team that keeps clinical responsibility. In the published model this role is held by anaesthesiologists or nurse anaesthetists.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Treat this as a legitimate outcome, not failure.
• Patients apologising or feeling they "failed". Address this in the debrief.
• Breathing slowing, shoulders dropping and gaze steadying show readiness for induction.
• Intrusive memories of the operation, or shame after conversion. Refer for follow-up where distress persists.
• Do not transfer adult wording to children. Use play, choice and the parent's presence where the anaesthesia team allows.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.