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February 14, 2000 Contact: Volunteers Sought for Hypnotism Studies PULLMAN, Wash. -- Adult volunteer participants are needed for two separate doctoral dissertation studies involving the use of hypnosis by researchers from the Washington State University counseling psychology program. One study will focus on using hypnosis to end tobacco smoking, and the other will focus on using hypnosis to eliminate genital warts. Doctoral student Linda Russell is leading a clinical study involving genital warts, a sexually transmitted disease caused by the Human Papillomavirus. Genital warts in women are suspected of causing most cases of cervical cancer, Russell said. She needs 24 female volunteers to participate in her study. In the Russell study, 12 of the volunteers will receive the regular medical treatment of burning, freezing or cutting the warts and 12 will receive hypnosis treatments. All volunteers will be assessed weekly for 12 weeks. Regular medical treatments are effective about two-thirds of the time, Russell explained. She is hoping that hypnosis will be equally effective. "There are many studies that indicate that hypnosis can successfully cure the kinds of warts that appear on hands and other exposed body parts, but never a study on using hypnosis on genital warts," she said. Female volunteers who have genital warts and who wish to participate in this study are encouraged to contact Russell at 509/335-4511 or by e-mail at lrussell@wsu.edu . Doctoral student Polly Casmar is leading a study on smoking cessation. Tobacco smokers who smoke a minimum of one-half of a cigarette pack per day and who wish to quit smoking are invited to contact Casmar at 509/332-4846 or by e-mail at wsusmokefree@hotmail.com . Using hypnosis to stop smoking has been studied since the 1970s, Casmar said. Hypnosis is effective in 20-80 percent of the cases. In her study, volunteers will only have one interview and two 90-minute hypnosis sessions. Casmar promises the process will be "painless, short and effective." The dissertation chair for both Russell and Casmar is Arreed Barabasz, director of the WSU Attentional Processes/Hypnosis Laboratory, who has studied the effects of hypnosis for 25 years. Under his direction, during the 15 years that the laboratory program has been established, faculty and graduate students in the program have received 12 national awards for their research in hypnosis. bl101-00
Note to media representatives: Prof. Barabasz will provide a short session for reporters who wish to experience hypnotism and its effects. Contact Barabasz at 509/335-8166 (office) or 509/878-1713 (home).
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