Clinical Hypnosis.
Therapeutic Communication.
Anaesthesia • Pain • Nocebo • Ethics & informed consent
Improving patient experience, comfort and safety through the way clinicians communicate.
Anaesthetist • Clinical Associate Professor • Researcher • Educator • Author
Communication is integral to patient care
Words can influence expectation, attention, anxiety, pain and the way people experience healthcare. My work explores how clinical hypnosis, therapeutic communication and careful use of language can help improve that experience while respecting autonomy and informed consent.
Recognising significant and lasting contributions through leadership, clinical innovation, research and education in hypnotic communication.
Attention, imagination, expectation and suggestion within everyday clinical care.
Communicating necessary information in ways that mitigate or avoid nocebo effects.
Truthful, meaningful risk communication that respects autonomy and avoids unnecessary harm.
Helping children and adults regain control during procedures and access necessary care.
Conversational hypnosis and therapeutic communication alongside conventional analgesia, if required.
Hypnosis, communication, expectation and pain in obstetric care.
Safe Words for Clinical Procedures
A practical two-page guide to mitigating or avoiding nocebo effects in everyday clinical communication. It is not a dictionary of forbidden and permitted words: rapport, context, previous experience and the patient's own meaning matter.
What expectation might this communication generate? Does it have potential nocebo effects? Can it be reframed to provide more meaningful information? Is there a safer and more meaningful way to communicate honestly from the patient's perspective?
GREAT & LAURS
Complementary structures for deconstructing clinical interactions and using communication therapeutically.
GREAT
GreetingRapportExpectationsAddressing concernsTacit agreement
GREAT helps deconstruct a doctor–patient interaction and establish the conditions in which effective therapeutic communication can occur.
LAURS
ListeningAcceptanceUtilisationReframingSuggestion
LAURS provides a practical structure for listening and working therapeutically with the patient's experience.
Listen first, second, third — and continually throughout an interaction.
No More S Words!
What Hypnosis Teaches Us About Talking with Patients
Australian Society of Anaesthetists, Australian Anaesthesia Podcast — Episode 123. A practical conversation about conversational hypnosis, suggestion, nocebo and everyday anaesthetic communication.
“What experience are my words helping this patient create?”
Therapeutic communication sits on a continuum from ordinary clinical conversation to more formal hypnotic interventions.
What is clinical hypnosis? →Nearly four decades of clinical and academic work
Research interests include clinical hypnosis, nocebo, informed consent, paediatric care, obstetric anaesthesia, pain and evidence synthesis. I am Editor-in-Chief of both editions of the Oxford University Press Handbook of Communication in Anaesthesia and Critical Care (2010; 2024).
Translating evidence into practice
Invited teaching has included the AAGBI Winter Scientific Meeting keynote (London, 2011), the Kester Brown Lecture (Sydney, 2019), ANZBA keynote teaching (2021), and continuing national and international workshops in clinical hypnosis and communication.
Dr Allan M Cyna
Australian anaesthetist, Clinical Associate Professor, researcher and educator specialising in clinical hypnosis, therapeutic communication, pain, nocebo, ethics and informed consent.
Read the full biography →Resources for clinicians
Safe Words guide, podcast, GREAT & LAURS material, selected publications and further educational resources.
Explore resources →Professional enquiries
Conference presentations, workshops, clinical education, research collaboration and professional enquiries.