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A large section of this edition is given over to a report of initial clinical research by Jill Hely and colleagues at the University of New England on a smoking cessation protocol developed by Steve Lynn and Joseph Green seeking to combine hypnosis and cognitive behavioural approaches into a self-help program which can be administered by a range of health professionals (available on request from Joe Green, email: green.301@osu.edu). Using the single case time series method which many ASH members will recall from the national conference presentations of Mike Nash and later Amanda Barnier, this preliminary clinical research found direct statistical evidence for a reduction in smoking as a consequence of this intervention in three out of seven case studies investigated. Hopefully, randomized control trials will now follow. This study highlights the way in which clinicians working individually or in cooperation may use the single case time series design (see http://www.ClinicalResearcher.org) to make a scientifically valid contribution to the empirical clinical literature. Of further note was the use of a brief phenomenological assessment of hypnotic skills using the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory developed by Ron Pekala and colleagues (see http://www.quantifyingconsciousness.com), a brief clinically based hypnotic assessment tool increasingly utilized by North American practitioners. |
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