PositiVibes Hypnotherapy
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Stage 1: Discover the Idea
The first part of any good research is to find an area that you like to study and discover just what about it is lacking. For me, the part about hypnosis that needs the most attention is bringing its credibility into the medical industry as a viable alternative to pills. The research is there. Hypnosis is already empirically supported as being an effective and potent form of therapy. The part that's missing is a way to isolate a population of individuals that would respond equally well - if not better - to hypnosis than the active medication. These people are classified by scientific literature as High Hypnotizables. To find an affordable and reliable test for those who are highly susceptible to the benefits of hypnosis, I turned to genetics for an answer. There is lots of research that shows that genes influence aspects of personality and mood disorders. Hypnosis studies have come to the conclusion that susceptibility is a personality dimension that is stable and heritable. I decided that I'd have a good shot at uncovering a link if I analyzed two genes in particular - the Serotonin Transporter gene (SERT) and the Catechol-O-methyl transferase gene (COMT).
To read more about the research behind hypnosis, click on the read more and you'll be directed to a part of my thesis with the citations to look up these remarkable findings for yourself.
Stage 2: Recruit Participants
For this study to have adequate power and potency, I need a large sample - and for a master's student - a really large sample. I decided that I wanted 250 participants from Humboldt State University and the local Arcata area. I recruited by email, classroom announcements, and by sitting in the main university quad in heavy lunch traffic to direct them to an amazing opportunity to learn about their genes and try hypnosis for free. My project was approved in October and by thanksgiving break I had exactly 250 remarkable volunteers for this project.
To read more about the research procedure, click on the read more and you'll be directed to a part of my thesis with a detailed explanation of the methods.
Stage 3: Get Genetics and Test Susceptibility
Using Indicating FTA cards purchased from the Whatman Group, we could take buccal cheek cells from a simple cheek swap and preserve the DNA on the cards until further analysis (indicated by turning white). Then the participants came to the BSS building on campus in groups of 8-14 to test their susceptibility to hypnosis using the scientifically standardized scale - Harvard Group Scale for Hypnotic Susceptibility.
Stage 4: Isolate the DNA and Analyze the Genes
With the help of HSU's most prominent researcher for large samples - Reggie Blackwell - we spent months in the Bio-Core lab facility at HSU to isolate the DNA and analyze our results. We are near finished with this stage. We already have the results for the COMT and soon we will have the SERT results. Once we finish this final stage of development, we will finally be able to input our data and discover if the allelic variants for SERT and COMT actually predict high hypnotizables with a significant degree of accuracy.
Stage 5: Analyze the Results and Revolutionize the Medical Industry.
I'll keep you posted on the status as results become discovered.
