A good friend of mine, who is a licensed Mental Health Specialist and has a background in hypnotherapy, sent me an email recently asking an interesting question:
Can hypnosis be used effectively with someone who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing?
Apparently he got into an interesting discussion with another hypnotist who questioned whether or not hypnosis could in fact be used successfully in treating individuals who are D/deaf or hard of hearing.
I responded by saying that yes, I do believe that Deaf people can be hypnotized just like anyone else. In fact, I remember when I was a student at Gallaudet many years ago, one of my classmates was a man who himself was a Deaf hypnotist, and I remember watching him do a demonstration of such on a Deaf audience. It was fun to watch people doing different things while in a hypnotic state.
However, I do wish to clarify that what my friend is referring to here isn’t really the “fun and games” hypnosis that one might see done on the stage for entertainment purposes. Rather, what we are talking about is the usage of hypnosis as a treatment method in psychotherapy – using it to help people tap into parts of their subconscious they may have repressed, or as a way of putting them into a trance where they journey into their inner consciousness and discover new things about themselves.
I myself have had an interesting experience which involved the use of hypnosis to help induce me into a trance-like state in which I was able to journey to a safe place in my subconscious where I was able to have a conversation with two deceased individuals from my past, and tell them the things I wasn’t able to when they were still alive. This therapeutic experience brought me much peace and comfort, and helped to put closure to a situation that had been bothering me for some time.
Yes… perhaps the procedures used have to differ a bit due to the communication issues involved. As my friend – who is himself hard of hearing and does use a hearing aid – had to say
I myself am convinced that it can be done…that it is just a matter of innovation since the communication dynamics change a little, and thus there has to be an openness to changing some of the process which initially one was taught is the “right way” to do it.
So I would like to inquire of my Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing readership…
Have you ever been hypnotized? Have you ever used hypnosis as part of a therapy treatment? If so, what methods were used? Do you believe that hypnosis can in fact be used effectively with deaf or hard of hearing individuals? What would be some of the “challenges” involved, and how could they be modified? What methods or procedures would need to be changed?
I know my friend Harold would be interested in any information the readership would like to share, and I admit I am curious to learn what experiences others might have had with this approach. Feel free to leave a comment if you desire (you make make it anonymous if you prefer) and share your thoughts!
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I’ve always wondered if that was possible– thanks for satisfying my curiosity!
Interesting question, Ocean!
Although I have gone for counseling with a psychotherapist, we never used hypnosis as part of my therapy.
I do have a Deaf friend who told me that his doctor used hypnosis as part of his treatment to stop smoking. He says that it did help some, but it was done as part of an overall treatment, and he’s not sure if it would have worked effectively all by itself. He did feel it helped to reduce some of his craving for cigarettes.
I don’t know if I have ever been “formally” hypnotized, but I did attend a workshop one time where we were taught how to do trancework and journeying… and put into something of a meditative state with the use of drumming, chanting, etc. Would this be considered a form of hypnosis? With my hearing aids I could hear the drumbeat, and I could feel it as well. It was quite hypnotic. The workshop presenter “guided” us through our journey, and I found it interesting that I was able to watch the interpreter and still go into a trance! It was a pretty awesome experience.
Again, I don’t know if this could be considered hypnosis, but I do think that Deaf people can be hypnotized, and it could possibly be done with an interpreter – although I would think it would be more effective if the hypnotist could sign for himself/herself.
Just my thoughts… I would be curious to know what others think!
Yes, it’s entirely possible. In fact, the Clinical Psychology Ph.D program at Gallaudet University offers a class in hypnotism to students in that program.
Yes, I know Dr Candace McCullough of ASC in Maryland has used hypnosis in her work with Deaf clients. You may want to contact her to ask questions. She is Deaf herself.
This is very interesting. I am a deaf social worker in the mental health field over 25 years, and I have not encountered with a deaf client who had used hypnosis. I have always wondered about it and how it works with deaf clients. Thanks for bringing this up. I would love to learn more about it.
It only goes to follow that deaf people can be hypnotized. Afterall, they see, don’t they? Not all hypnosis is done with the eyes closed – there is eye open hypnosis (that’s the way most athletes do it).
Since hypnosis is a state of mind rather than a state of eyes, I believe that the deaf can be hypnotized.
Hypnotizing deaf with sign language may not work, some of us need captions lol….
Look at this text
Look at this text
Look at this text
Your eyes are getting heavy..
WHOA too much !!! now you’re asleep and I can’t communicate to you lol
Interesting. I did wonder about it… I believe we all can hypnotize ourselves (looking at candles, watching the ocean waves, looking at text as MM said, etc.), but using hypnosis on a deaf person in order to communicate with him or her… I have no clue on it.
So the posting is enlightening and the comments also…
you talked to the dead? sweet… big money in that.
Personally, I don’t know. I’ve never had it successfully applied to me, but it may be that the methodology would have to change slightly as commented on.
BTW, you have no timestamps on your post or on the comments. With my luck this comment is like two weeks later or something
Hypnosis can most certainly be used with deaf clients. I’ve been doing it for years as a part of my treatment protocols. In fact, I will soon be training other therapists in its use with deaf folks. I will be teaching a sister technique at a week long seminar the end of this month at Gallaudet through the College of Professional Studies and Outreach. The class is in Eye Movement Integration. Check it out on the Gallaudet website. You can also read about hypnotising deaf people on my website at http://www.deninger.com.
Well this is certainly encouraging and I am glad I raised the question to Ocean.
When this question was first posed to me, my immediate response was “Why not?” but not having any research or examples at hand didn’t really give me credibility to answer more in depth.
It is certainly a powerful tool to use in therapy and self improvement, and it’s always interesting to watch speakers who say they don’t use hypnosis actually use it, kind of like a rose by an other name. I have found it very powerful and being HOH myself, have wondered off and on should I totally loose any capacity to hear sound/voice, would I still be able to engage in it-although at a deeper level I knew that I would, but may have to be innovative.
Hey,
I had an opportunity to watch hypnosis used on a Deaf client (with her permission, of course), and it was amazing. ASL was used, and, yes, it worked!
I was asked not to give details but I saw it.
Carl
Here is a research article I found. Interesing results and I wonder how much hearing vs. deaf bias came into play.
1: Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 1995 Oct;43(4):375-85. Links
A comparison of the hypnotic experience between signing deaf and hearing participants.
Matthews WJ, Isenberg GL.
School and Counseling Program, School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003-4150.
This study compared the hypnotic responsiveness of 17 hearing and 34 deaf individuals, all of whom received visual induction and hypnotic suggestions via some form of signing. The comparison between deaf and hearing participants was analyzed on five dependent measures: (a) the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C); (b) participants’ individual item performance; (c) overall trance depth; (d) a rapport scale; and (e) a resistance scale measuring attitudes of participants toward the hypnotist. Although all participants showed at least a moderate level of hypnotic responsiveness, the data did not indicate a significant main effect between deaf and hearing participants on any of the dependent measures. However, there was a tendency (p < .08) for hearing participants to show a greater hypnotic responsiveness than deaf participants. Additionally, there was a significant difference between all the signing participants combined when compared to the norming population on three items of the SHSS:C. Clinical and theoretical implications of these data are discussed.
PMID: 7591339 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE
Great site and helpful information, thanks!
Dr. Mike Deninger is hearing. It is best to work with someone Deaf who knows how to do it. We must give business back to our own Deaf community. I worked with Mike before. He was not able to help me until I saw another Deaf person. What a big difference!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Allen.
I’m sorry that your experience with Dr. Mike Deninger was not a positive one… but I am rather uncomfortable with your implication that the fact he is hearing is the reason that your “treatment” with him failed.
I don’t believe in judging someone on the basis of their hearing ability. In the same way that we as Deaf people don’t want to be discriminated against because we cannot hear, we shouldn’t discriminate against others because they can.
Yes, I support the idea of giving back to the Deaf Community… but even more importantly I believe in utilizing the best qualified individual who can provide the best quality services to meet my needs. That has to take precedence over whether the person is Deaf or hearing. This is especially true when we are talking about my health – I’m not going to go to a doctor simply because he happens to be Deaf… I’m going to go to him because he happens to be the best person capable of helping me with my medical problem.
I was formerly seeing a mental health professional who is herself Deaf… and she was not able to help me. We were unable to establish a good working relationship, even though she was Deaf herself and could sign. We just didn’t click. So I quit seeing her and found another therapist who happens to be hearing… and for me that was a big difference. The hearing therapist was able to help me where the Deaf therapist was not.
You were not able to “click” with Dr. Deninger, and that’s okay. I’m glad you were able to find someone else.
But please… let’s not go playing the “blame game” and start using the Deaf vs. hearing argument to justify every negative experience that we have.
Sometimes that has nothing to do with it.