Faymonville M E

Faymonville M E

University hospital of Liege (CHU),Belgium



Biography

Faymonville M E is Doctor of Medicine with PhD thesis in Anaesthesiology, Director of the Pain Clinic and Palliative Care in the University Hospital of Liege (Belgium). Since 1992, she introduced hypnosis as a new anaesthetic technique and, since 2008, she taught groups of patients (oncologic or chronic pain patients) selfhypnosis and selfcare. In collaboration with the Coma Science Group (www.coma.ulg.ac.be), she publishes about the neurophysiological correlates during different modified or altered conscious states.  She is author and co-author of 200 publications. 

Abstract

Since 1992, hypnosis has become routine practice in our surgery services. Revivication of pleasant life experiences has served as the hypnotic substratum in a series of over 9,000 patients. In retrospective studies followed by randomised prospective studies, we have confirmed the usefulness of hypnosedation (hypnosis in combination with conscious IV sedation) and local anaesthesia as a valuable alternative to traditional anaesthetic techniques. Medical hypnosis is also a safe and effective complementary technique in the treatment of chronic pain syndromes. Learning selfhypnosis/selfcare improves not only pain but also psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, pain disability and improves patient’s global impression of treatment effectiveness. The relevance of mind-body interventions to reduce emotional distress in breast cancer patients was also studied. Selfhypnosis/selfcare learning decreases distress and fatigue, insomnia and increases quality of life, as well as emotional functioning in these cancer patients. In a context of a socio-economic crisis, it is essential to develop health intervention treatments with a significant effectiveness combined with a low cost for the patient. Futures studies should consider comparing selfcare learning and selfhypnosis interventions separately to disentangle the effect of hypnosis from the effect of selfcare learning in the management of chronic pain.