The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's radiotherapy department has introduced clinical hypnosis to its list of supportive therapies for anxious radical head and neck patients.
Liz Rogers, who works at the hospital as a head and neck site specific radiographer, has completed an NHS approved post-graduate course to practice the alternative therapy.
Clinical hypnosis is being implemented in the department as a way of supporting those patients who are stressed or distressed by the moulding and wearing of an immobilisation shell, with or without a dental mouthbite, for their radiotherapy planning or treatment.
According to the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis, it is estimated that around 85% of people will respond at some level to clinical hypnotherapy, and it may even succeed where other, more conventional treatments have not produced the desired result.
The initial experience gained from teaching self-hypnosis to head and neck cancer patients, who present with anxiety/claustrophobia issues, suggests its implementation is of great value to radiotherapy services.
Liz said: "The radiotherapy process for these patients is, by necessity, very controlling to ensure safety and accuracy. These self-management skills give some control back to the patient."
SoR professional officer, Christina Freeman, said: "It's good to see an initiative like this; it's in line with the findings of the research project Scope of Radiographic Practice 2008, which identified new roles emerging in more holistic aspects of patient management – including palliative care and counselling."
