Editor's note.

Welcome to this issue of the Journal of Heart-Centered Therapies. We are pleased to present the two original articles published in this issue. And we also have published an excerpt from Diane Zimberoff's book, Breaking Free from the Victim Trap. The excerpt is of chapters 11 through 16, the section of the book on the Personal Transformation Intensive.

The lead article is Healing Mind, Body, and Soul in Chronic Pain Clients: Using Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy with Women Who Have Debilitating Interstitial Cystitis by Amy E. Casey. The author reports on her previously published phenomenological study of women who live with debilitating interstitial cystitis (IC). This article explores existential themes underlying the experience of chronic pain, based upon the conclusions of that study. Specifically, the women's individual experiences of debilitation were applied to existential themes surrounding death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy is reviewed as an effective form of holistic treatment to aid in the healing of mind, body, and soul of those who suffer with intractable IC. Treatment implications within the Heart-Centered therapies context are described for each theme.

The second article is Hypnosis and "Heavy Metal': Musical Modalities for Treating Trauma by Megan Elizabeth Cassano. This article takes a unique look at the effects of introducing music into the standard hypnotherapy protocol. Music is a fundamental element in the lives of people today. Music is everywhere, and everyone experiences it in different ways. The senses are gateways to intensity of experience, to aesthetic appreciation in life, and to memory. Just as a smell or a visual image have the ability to resurrect a memory, a song can remind a person of something that he or she has endured. The senses provide a means of access to deep emotions that may be otherwise inaccessible. For example, music provides a means for rejoicing, in addition to providing comfort during the solitude of heartbreak. Music allows for a unity of voices to come together in harmony. Music has the strength to deeply touch the soul and to embrace even the darkest of secrets held within the crevices of the subconscious mind. The author proposes that when certain types of music are introduced at precise times during hypnotherapy sessions, people are given enhanced sensations of personal power, more fitting senses of self and a greater understanding of their traumas, while increasing the ability to address their demons in efforts to successfully move forward. This theory is supported by the results of the author's research study, "Affective Music," which includes the opinions of 100 people regarding music and mood. These results provide a glimpse into the inherent relationship between music and the subconscious mind while in a hypnotic trance.

Published in the format of an article in this issue is an excerpt from Diane Zimberoff's book, Breaking Free from the Victim Trap. The excerpt is of chapters 11 through 16, the section of the book subtitled "Treatment: Turning the Victim Triangle into a Circle of Power through Personal Transformation." Most of this material was added in the 2004 edition of the book, which was originally published in 1989.

You will find many of the articles published in this Journal since its inception in 1998 archived on the Association website. Look for them, and an online Directory of Heart-Centered Hypnotherapists, at the internet site http://www.heartcenteredtherapies.org.

Also, please consider submitting a manuscript for the March, 2006, issue of the Journal, and share your clinical experiences with other readers!

David Hartman, LCSW 

Editor-in-Chief

Heart-Centered Therapies Association, Issaquah, WA USA