Abstract
Hypnotherapy was used in the successful treatment of six young women with migraine, in whom the attacks were related to unexpressed resentment, usually toward their husbands, without secondary gain. Hypnosis shortened the psychotherapy by increasing rapport and verbalization in the initial phase, facilitating expression of feeling and acquisition of insight in the middle phase, and consolidating self-expression and improving the marital relationship in the later phase. In one case deeper analysis was facilitated.
There were two failures, both in older people in whom the migraine served a need.
It is realized that these cases may not be a representative sample of migraine in the community, but they do indicate the existence of a group which can be helped by hypnotherapy.