With special thanks to Jeffrey C. Kopelson, MD, and Peter Blum

There are some serious problems with the way Conventional Medicine treats pain. Although many of the most popular prescription and over-the-counter analgesics are dangerous, many physicians and most of their patients remain unaware of their toxicity. (An expert panel told Health Canada last month, for example, that warnings need to be strengthened for ibuprofen because the anti-inflammatory carries as much risk of heart attacks and strokes as Vioxx, which was withdrawn from the market.) Significantly, they are also ignorant of the efficacy of well-documented alternative approaches to pain reduction like hypnosis and acupuncture.

Despite a large body of quality research, experts and lay people alike generally view the concept of “psychosomatic illness” in a very negative way.

This is tragic because tens of millions of people from all walks of life are suffering from a wide range of chronic symptoms - symptoms that lack any clinical evidence of organic pathology or structural injury to which one could attribute their suffering.

Jan 4, 2005 is World Hypnotism Day. This is a day when certified hypnosis professionals from around the globe will, for the first time in history, collectively step out from behind the shadows. On this day we will begin to raise consciousness about the fact that hypnosis is a safe, non-toxic, highly effective and very affordable way to help people feel better, heal faster and be generally more effective in their lives.