The Effectiveness of Cognitive Hypnotherapy on Reduction of Intrusive Thoughts, Avoidance, Hyper arousal and Pain Intensity and Improvement of Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer

In spite of remarkable advances in medical science, cancer has remained one of the most important disease of this century and the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. Studies have shown that breast cancer is the most common type among women. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Cognitive Hypnotherapy on Intrusive thoughts, Avoidance, Hyper-Arousal and Pain Severity in women with breast cancer. This study is based on multiple-base-line single case studies. In this way 3 women with breast cancer in accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected who were referred to Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital and participated in 10 sessions of Cognitive Hypnotherapy. The data were assigned into the Impact of Event Scale and Pain Severity Visual Scale was administered at pre-treatment, the 5th session, post-treatment, and 2-month follow-up. The data was analyzed using mean comparison and visual analysis. Data analysis indicated that Cognitive Hypnotherapy is associated with significant reductions on Intrusive thoughts, Avoidance, Hyper-Arousal and Pain Severity in women with breast cancer. Cognitive Hypnotherapy has a moderate effect on improving intrusive thoughts, Avoidance, Hyper-Arousal, and has been effective in reducing Pain Severity. This therapeutic changes also occurred during the two-month follow-up.