The LCCH is proud to announce that we have been asked by Dr. Peter Taggart, Hearts Hospital, London, to participate in a research project.

The research will study the effect of positive and negative emotions on heart rate variability. Three protocols will be used and conducted in a state of hypnosis with a return to baseline. The baseline will be a hypnotic state where neither positive nor negative emotions are experienced. This will be achieved by direct suggestions.

The research proposal has been submitted to the ethical committee at Hearts and we anticipate starting towards the end of May. This is excellent news for the LCCH and all of our students. It provides yet more evidence - to both the medical profession and the public - of the efficacy of clinical hypnosis, and, indirectly, of the standard and quality of LCCH trained hypnotherapists.

If you are interested in volunteering as a subject then you must be between 18 and 35 years of age. In the first instance please e-mail Avy Joseph, the LCCH’s Director of Development, on: avy.joseph@btopenworld.com. Volunteers are likely to be required to attend twice and will receive £30-00 per visit. Full details will be announced middle of May.

Practitioner Diploma

Over recent years the area of knowledge surrounding hypnotherapy has continued to expand. New research has been opening up our understanding of the phenomenon of hypnosis as well as producing new methodologies for us to follow. This new information and knowledge has generally been passed on to our students through the medium of our Masterclasses. However, we feel that Masterclasses alone cannot satisfy the demand for new information and many students have expressed the wish that (some) Masterclasses be incorporated into the LCCH’s curriculum. Consequently, in 2003 we will be extending the Practitioner Diploma from a four-weekend to a six-weekend course. We feel that this change will further enhance the quality of the LCCH’s training although many already view the Practitioner Diploma as the icing on the cake.

Masterclasses have always formed an essential part of the LCCH’s commitment to the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of its students as part of their hypnotherapy-related further education. In the past, Masterclasses have predominantly been presented by tutors from within the LCCH. However, we are now widening our horizons by offering Masterclasses presented by specialists from outside of the LCCH organization. May 2001 saw Rubin Battino presenting his wonderful ‘Guided Imagery’ Masterclass based on his book of the same title.

Dr Battino returns to the UK in June 2002 to repeat ‘Guided Imagery’ in Glasgow (1-2 June) and in London on 8-9 June he presents his new Masterclass ‘Metaphoria’ (based upon his book of the same name) which deals with the use of metaphor in psychotherapy and healing. (See page 5.)

Dr Bruce Fox will present his ‘Abduction Phenomena’ Masterclass on 6-7 July. This is a unique opportunity for hypnotherapy professionals to update their skills about a very unusual subject matter. Dr. Fox, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and International Managing Editor of the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, is a renowned scientist with specialist knowledge in this field of expertise. (See his interview with Dr Edgar Mitchell on page 14.)

If you are interested in utilizing your hypnosis skills in the area of childbirth, then the two-day ‘Painless Childbirth’ Masterclass by Dr Anna Zohrabian and Dr Rumyana Peynovska will provide you with the skills you need to guide expectant mothers through a painless labour and childbirth.

The above two-day events will carry two Masterclass credits towards Practitioner Diploma and BSCH affiliation for full membership.

We are also privileged to have Georges Philips (co-author of Gold Counselling) present his Masterclass. Georges is well-known both here and in Europe for his work in Belief Restructuring.