The mind and the body are intimately interconnected. If we’re honest, we don’t understand how this works. Suffice it to say, we only understand some of the results.
One woman I saw was having marital problems. She developed severe hives. She and her husband had an intense argument and she felt the relationship was on the verge of ending. She could not put her feelings about this into words, so I asked her to put it into an image. She rubbed her hand against the bare wall behind her. She said, “This is it. It’s nothing! That’s what I saw for my life. Or stepping off of the edge of the Grand Canyon at night. You can’t see anything. You don’t know how far your falling. It’s just terror.” She showed me her hives when she first came in. I asked her to show me again at the end of the session (they were greatly reduced and she found this remarkable!). This is but a simple example of how emotions can be expressed in the body.
The interesting thing is, with hypnosis, a certain area of the body can be focused on. And while general immune system features may not change (such as circulation of killer T-cells), the immune response changes for the very specific area that is focused on. For example, let’s say a person has a wart on their finger. If in hypnosis, you have them visualize that wart shrinking and healing, there will be a very specific immune system response in that area only! So, how in the world can this happen? Warts are caused by a virus. But the immune system can be unconsciously directed to the very specific area in question by the mind!
I will continue this series in the future.

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September 23, 2008 at 9:38 am
dwilli58
Although I have never witnessed this, I know of people who claim to have been healed by the laying on of hands. This is documented in the bible, especially with Jesus and the apostles. Could it be that this kind of healing today, comes about by this same physical process: a form of hypnosis, which is directed to an exact area of the body?
September 23, 2008 at 10:19 am
thecountryshrink
I think that is the case sometimes. Although many of the healings in the Bible are beyond what hypnosis can achieve. So, I think in the case of the Bible it goes beyond that. But there may be times now where faith-healing acts through hypnosis. I’d be hesitant to say that this is always the case.