Circle therapy for headache management: case studies

  • Muhammad Rafiq Institute of Clinical Psychology, University of Management and Technology, Johar Town, Lahore, (Pakistan)
Keywords: Pain management, Circle therapy, Headache, Suggestibility, Hypnosis, Brief psychotherapy

Abstract

Recent findings have indicated that hypnotic interventions produce significant decrease in pain intensity. This current case studies are focused to highlight significant impact on pain management including headache. All the patients underwent a complete observation and clinical interview and only patients with psychological pain were included in the study group. For the management of headache, a novel hypnotic intervention - Circle Therapy (CT), was applied on a group of ten patients indicating their pain intensity in the range of 8-10 on subjective pain rating scale. According to rating scale, headache above 8 was considered as severe, 5-8 moderate and < 5 as mild.  CT is a brief hypnotic technique limited to about 10 min. Post hypnosis ratings were also measured. The pre and post hypnosis data were recorded and analyzed by paired samples t test. Use of CT showed significant results between pre and post rating e.g. 9 ± 0.25 vs. 1 ± 0.21 (p < 0.001). This brief CT intervention provided an immediate relief from headache, however, this is limited to few case studies focusing on just headache. So, we recommend large sample studies to document the effects of CT in different types of pain.

Citation: Rafiq M. Circle therapy for headache management: case studies. Anaesth pain intensive care 2020;24(1):__

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35975/apic.v24i1.

Received – 28 December 2019;

Reviewed – 10 January 2020;

Accepted - 10 January 2020;

Published
05-07-2020
How to Cite
Rafiq, M. (2020). Circle therapy for headache management: case studies. Anaesthesia, Pain & Intensive Care, 24(1), 101-104. https://doi.org/10.35975/apic.v24i1.1232