Which hospitals are now offering Anodyne?
What is the Anodyne State?
How are the techniques used in Anodyne?
Is Anodyne like guided imagery?
How does Anodyne give control to the patient?
Is Anodyne Hypnosis?
What is Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)?
Doesn't it take a long time to build rapport?
Who is most helped?
What if they want medication anyway?
Are there cases where Anodyne doesn't work?
Does it save some time and money?
Why doesn't it take more time, isn't it something extra?
What about the patients who are really nervous?
What is another example of a situation where you'd use this technique?
How do I get doctors to let me use Anodyne?
What about people who can't get images?
Won't they think I'm silly?
Wouldn't it be a lot easier for everyone if we just use medication?
We already don't have enough time, won't using Anodyne take more time?
What happens if someone gets emotionally triggered as a result of Anodyne?
Does Anodyne work with children?
What if there's a loud crashing sound nearby because someone drops something?

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Which hospitals are now offering Anodyne?

Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina and Veterans Administration hospitals in Palo Alto, California and Durham, North Carolina. It is also available at the University of Iowa Medical Centers in Iowa City as well as several outpatient facilities in Northern California and HCM Hospital in Elkin, North Carolina.

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What is the Anodyne State?

The use of Anodyne techniques causes the frequency of brain waves to lower, creating a very beneficial state of mind where the patient is more relaxed and resourceful and has more control of their experience. A person in this state is cooperative and open to suggestions that can easily relieve pain and anxiety and even control physiological processes like heart rate, blood pressure and bleeding. A state of acute pain and anxiety very quickly changes to a relaxed state of inner focus, with attention away from outside stimuli.

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How are the techniques used in Anodyne?

The specific techniques are listed in the Tools of Anodyne. The practitioner begins by creating instantly a state of rapport with the patient. This step alone eases the patient's anxiety, and it also helps establish an atmosphere of trust and cooperation. Once rapport is established, and this usually only takes seconds, we teach the patient the Relaxation Breath. This special breath creates an immediate sense of relaxation and the patient that the patient can reenter anytime they need during the procedure.

During the entire Anodyne interaction the practitioner is aware of communicating with both the patient's conscious mind and unconscious mind. How we phrase what we say to patients makes all the difference in their experience. Whatever their state, patients are usually in a vulnerable situation, and therefore more suggestible. Words can be very powerful, so the Anodyne practitioner learns to use new patterns of positive and effective language.

A variety of other Anodyne techniques is available for working with even highly anxious patients. In most cases the rapport skills and Relaxation Breath are enough to ensure a good patient experience. If necessary during the procedure we can add an imagery technique, the Preferred Place, to help the patient re-focus their attention inward, to an experience that is very pleasant.

If the patient is in extreme anxiety or pain, another imagery technique is used that enables the patient to change the submodalities of the image associated with the pain or anxiety. This instantly creates a shift in the experience.

When appropriate, the Anodyne practitioner uses a combination of language and imagery techniques to relieve pain and control physiological processes such as bleeding, heart rate and blood pressure.

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Is Anodyne like guided imagery?

Yes, Preferred Place is an Anodyne technique that is like guided imagery. However, Anodyne differs from guided imagery in that the person selects their own pleasant experience and the Anodyne practitioner merely helps the patient to focus on it and make it vivid. In guided imagery, the practitioner selects some predetermined pleasant place, usually someplace outdoors and "paints" a picture for the patient. Anodyne practitioners avoid this because it is our belief that we cannot intrinsically know what is going to be pleasant or not for another person.

Another major difference between Anodyne and guided imagery is the very vivid inner experience the patient gets when the practitioner helps them to become fully associated there. The Anodyne technique involves all the senses, not just visualization. The more senses involved in the inner experience, the more associated the patient becomes in the experience. This makes it easier to stay in the experience, and to reenter it at will, empowering the patient and providing a sense of control.

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How does Anodyne give control to the patient?

The patient realizes they have control over their inner experience because they can relax and relieve pain or anxiety at will, and because the practitioner is only helping them to get to where they want to be, without directing their experience. The patient knows they are doing this themselves. Also, with Anodyne, the patient is an active participant in the medical or dental procedure. Their job is to be relaxed and comfortable and so we ask them use the Relaxation Breath and the other techniques. It's an empowerment. Just knowing you have some control does wonders for reducing anxiety.

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Is Anodyne Hypnosis?

No, Anodyne is not hypnosis. It is, however, a specific synthesis of techniques adapted from hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. It is a unique modality which is intentionally focused on mitigating resistance to relaxation during times of trauma or other difficult physical circumstances.

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What is Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)?

NLP is a specialized branch of hypnosis. It is the study of subjective experience, and of human excellence and how people structure their experience. Specific patterns have been developed that consistently and predictably allow people to change their experience and behavior, including beliefs, emotions, and habits.

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Doesn't it take a long time to build rapport?

No, in fact the Anodyne rapport skills enable a practitioner to more quickly and easily help patients through procedures. Rapport can be created as quickly as taking a breath. There are specific Anodyne techniques which can create instant rapport and re-establish it if necessary.

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What if Anodyne doesn't work?

If an issue arises that prevents the patient from relaxing, ask the patient allow an image to come up to represent whatever is bothering them. We then use a specific adaptation of an NLP technique that changes the submodalities of the image. This instantly creates a shift in the experience. When the pain or anxiety is neutralized, the practitioner can easily employ the relaxation techniques.

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Who is most helped?

The Anodyne process is designed to be used with patients undergoing difficult medical procedures where they need to be awake. It works well with any patient who is coming into the hospital or dentist office for any type of procedure, whether it's an angiogram, interventional radiology procedure, an MRI scan, preoperative anesthesia, or root canal. Any patient that's undergoing a difficult or stressful situation where they want to be more at ease and comfortable can benefit.

We have also noticed an interesting side affect. When the patient is calm and cooperative, there is a reciprocal effect on the attending staff during the procedure and the whole environment shifts to one of more relaxed efficiency.

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What if they want medication anyway?

That's fine, the practitioner can give the patient a smaller than normal dose and anchor it to the Relaxation Breath. Then during the procedure, each time they take the Relaxation Breath they will experience the effects of the medication.

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Are there cases where Anodyne doesn't work?

All patients benefit from Anodyne. Even if a patient doesn't want to use the breathing or imagery techniques, the Anodyne practitioner's rapport and language skills alone are very effective in reducing pain and anxiety. There are a very few patients who say they are not interested in anything other than just having pain medication, and that's okay, Anodyne simply offers another option. While there isn't anyone who can't be helped by it, the more willing the patient, the more benefit they'll receive.

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Does it save some time and money?

Yes, because it saves time for both the patient and the staff, it therefore saves money for the hospital, and often the insurance company. The patient or the insurance company saves money when the need for medication and related services like recovery room are decreased or eliminated.

Initially some people have thought Anodyne would take longer than the old way because we have to do something extra for the patient. In practice, it works out to be more efficient. In many procedures a nurse is not needed to administer pain or anxiety medication, and that's a savings. Patients who haven't had meds can go home right after the procedure, with no recovery time necessary. That's a savings. Even if meds would not have been used, the procedure goes more quickly and smoothly with a relaxed and cooperative patient.

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Why doesn't it take more time, isn't it something extra?

The doctor, nurse or technician who is practicing Anodyne does so while they are also doing their other duties in the procedure. It becomes second nature, and very easy for practitioners to use the techniques in every procedure. It is incorporated right into the procedure so there is no preliminary set up to relax the patient. So no extra time is added for the medical person who is also doing the Anodyne.

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What about the patients who are really nervous?

We get some of the most dramatic results from patients who are both anxious and skeptical. For instance, there was a patient at Duke University Medical Center who was to have an angiogram for the second time. He was very nervous because of this condition and because he had been sick for two days after the first one because of all the medication he had needed. Although both he and his wife were very skeptical that Anodyne could help, he agreed to try it. I worked very well. He needed no medication at all for the second angiogram, only Anodyne, and it went very well, even though the results showed he needed surgery. The problem had been complicated by too high blood pressure. Although he had been on beta blockers for two months, it had remained too high. During the angiogram with Anodyne he was able to lower it from 210 over 106 to 138 over 80. Later his wife thought that the monitor must be broken, so we replaced it and checked again. This patient, like many others, learned how to use Anodyne himself, and until this day has kept his own blood pressure low.

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What is another example of a situation where you'd use this technique?

MRI is a place Anodyne works very well. Often patients without Anodyne become claustrophobic in the MRI scanner. It is a very small space, a little tube in a very large machine, and often their whole body has to be inside. They are going to have their eyes closed and all the sounds that come -- an MRI scanner is very, very loud, it can sound like a jackhammer in your ear -- it gets louder, and louder, and the noise gets faster, and faster and the intensity of the noise mixed with the closed in feeling that they have from being so tight in there can give them a really difficult experience. Add to this that they need to hold perfectly still for long periods of time. Anodyne is really helpful here. Many people who would ordinarily have to come back for anesthesia just to go in the scanner do great the first time with Anodyne.

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How do I get doctors to let me use Anodyne?

The training covers the most efficient and effective ways to get cooperation and assistance from the entire team. Establishing rapport with the team leader or physician in charge is sometimes the first step. A self-training guide for both patients and practitioners will be available soon on this web site.

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What about people who can't get images?

It's an interesting fact that everyone can get visual information, even people who aren't aware of their ability to see "images". Anodyne practitioners learn several ways to help people elicit images. One of the simplest and easiest is to ask the question: "If you could see an image, what would it look like?"

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Aren't they going to think I'm silly?

No, because as an Anodyne practitioner, you have established a high level of rapport with the patient and there is a sense of trust. The patient's trust creates an opportunity for you to help them open to new ideas. Follow your intuition, remain congruent about your outcome and your suggestions will be accepted very naturally.

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Wouldn't it be a lot easier for everyone if we just use medication?

In some ways it's easier to do the customary thing. The intention of Anodyne is to provide another option. Medication certainly has an important place in medicine, and now Anodyne gives patients and practitioners a choice, where before there was none. Anodyne not only benefits the patient, it also promotes a more pleasant working environment for the entire care giving team.

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We already don't have enough time, won't using Anodyne take more time?

This is a good question, and the answer is no. In fact Anodyne most often decreases procedure time because of its very natural and conversational fluidity. The Anodyne response is created in the patient as the practitioner performs their other duties before and during the procedure. Patients who would otherwise require extra time or sedation benefit greatly from Anodyne and cooperate more quickly with little or no sedation.

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What happens if someone gets emotionally triggered as a result of Anodyne?

This may occur in a small percentage of people because of their already vulnerable state or because they simply may have something ready to surface. It's a good sign if this happens because they are exhibiting their trust in you. All you need do is continue to pace the patient, accepting their experience until you sense some relief, and then lead them to the next step of the Anodyne process.

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Does Anodyne work with children?

Yes, Anodyne is especially effective with children because they are generally open to new things and are very happy to use their imaginations. The Anodyne technique of using metaphor is especially effective with children.

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What if there's a loud crashing sound nearby because someone drops something?

Suggest to the patient that they can remain comfortable in their preferred place. Then acknowledge the sound with a suggestion reminding them that they are having their own inner experience, and that whatever sounds they hear can cause them to go even deeper into their experience.