The study, which examined sexual comfort, sexual satisfaction and sexual pleasure, is a first step toward a safe and effective alternative toward hormone replacement therapy, which carries associated risks of cancer and heart disease<\/strong>, said Gary Elkins, Ph.D., director of Baylor’s Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory and a professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences.<\/p>\n The conclusion was based on a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. For the study, 187 women were randomly assigned to receive either five weekly sessions of hypnotic relaxation therapy or supportive counseling<\/strong>, said lead researcher Aimee Johnson, a doctoral student in psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University.<\/p>\n Led by researchers at Baylor’s Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory, all study sessions were conducted by master’s-level therapists trained in clinical hypnosis<\/strong>. Participants in the hypnotic relaxation therapy group received a hypnotic induction followed by suggestions for relaxation, coolness and mental imagery. Participants who received sessions of supportive counseling discussed their symptoms with a trained therapist but did not receive any hypnosis.<\/p>\n Women completed questionnaires at the beginning of the study, at the end of treatment and at a 12-week follow-up. They also were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire assessing the extent to which hot flashes interfered with sexual intimacy<\/strong>. The decrease in estrogen that accompanies menopause is associated with hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain and vaginal dryness, discomfort or pain.<\/p>\n “The most common complaints are being too tired, anxiety, depression, hot flashes and the fear of close contact,” Elkins said. Because warmth that comes from closeness can trigger a hot flash, some women grow to fear intimacy, he said.<\/p>\n At treatment’s end, women who had received hypnotic relaxation therapy reported significantly higher sexual satisfaction and pleasure, as well as less discomfort<\/strong>. This improvement also was seen at the 12-week follow-up assessment.<\/p>\n “Women’s sexual health improved, whether because of sleeping better, less stress or fewer hot flashes, or perhaps other unknown mechanisms,” Elkins said.<\/p>\n Researchers noted that postmenopausal sexual health can be affected by factors other than hot flashes<\/strong>, among them fatigue, self-esteem, a partner’s health, relationship quality and a lack of interest by either or both partners.<\/p>\n For many women — among them those who have had breast cancer — hormone replacement therapy is not an option for menopause-related symptoms<\/strong>. Estrogen, for example, has been associated with more rapid growth of breast cancer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the Baylor University media release: Hypnotic relaxation therapy improves sexual health in postmenopausal women who have moderate to severe hot flashes, according to Baylor University researchers who presented their… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[321,345,5,7,43,338],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15261,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15204\/revisions\/15261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"relaxation_hypnotherapy\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/relaxation_hypnotherapy.jpg\")
Hypnotic relaxation therapy improves sexual health in postmenopausal women who have moderate to severe hot flashes<\/strong>, according to Baylor University researchers who presented their findings at the American Psychological Association’s recent annual meeting.<\/p>\n