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Page 1 of 2  Dr Colin Carbis
This article is an appraisal of the Virtual Hypnosis Machine (VHM) demonstrated at the CCH Annual General Meeting in August, by Dr Colin Carbis, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Hypnotic Sciences and whose qualifications include BSc (Biology), Honours (Immunology and Infection), Doctorate – Ph.D. (Microbiology, Infection, Toxicology), Diploma Clinical Hypnotherapy, Diploma Psychotherapy.
I hope to give you an insight into its workings and uses through providing details about the machine, without the technical jargon.
Conception
The idea for the VHM came from the television series M*A*S*H. In one of the episodes it showed a soldier suffering an acute war induced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Under hypnosis, the soldier was asked by the army therapist to go back in time to examine some painful memories. In order to enhance, and better facilitate the soldier’s memory retrieval, the characters (Hawkeye Pearce and BJ Huneycut) supplemented additional sounds to aid memory revivification. To mimic war explosions, they dropped large books on a wooden table, generating banging noises. Whistling noises were also generated to emulate bombs falling. With the additional noises artificially generated, it made the experience a lot more real for the soldier and enabled him to work with the army therapist, in hypnosis.
With this idea in mind, the Virtual Hypnosis Machine was born. The designers went to work to make a machine with primarily video and audio output that would address many mind issues.
What is it?
 Dr Carbis with the Virtual Hypnosis Machine
The internals of the machine were not displayed, but I’m guessing roughly, its internal systems would be similar to a hard drive driven, portable DVD/VCD/MP4 player, PDA or CPU computer. The video is possibly MP4 or other compressed video of some kind, with a multi-track audio system. Its data would probably be stored on a large computer hard disk (HDD) rather than a VCD or a DVD. The main reason for this would be larger data storage space, and ease with which it could be reprogrammed when required. There are other reasons and technical aspects, which I’m not going to go into.
The VHM comes presented in an aluminium briefcase with the electronics firmly mounted on the right-hand side. The headphones, microphone and virtual goggles are kept in the area on the left. There is a courtesy remote 7-inch LCD display and speaker inside the lid, so the therapist can monitor what the client is viewing and hearing. The unit comes with a remote microphone, so the therapist can intervene at any time and speak with the client through the headphones.
The goggles have a similar look & feel to a set of oxy welding goggles or bulky ski goggles. The goggles have a very small LCD (Liquid crystal display) unit or similar attached. By wearing the goggles you can only see the very small screen in front. Your peripheral vision is blocked out from seeing anything else. It’s just like looking at a very small TV screen. What this means is your whole and undivided visual attention is on the screen.
The headphones do the same sort of thing, except this time it is with sound. One of the headphones’ functions is to exclude or block outside sounds. This is so you only listen to the sound generated by the VHM. Now you are in a virtual world, watching and listening to what is before you.
What can it do?
To begin with, the presenters of the VHM showed various slides regarding the aspects of the human mind such as; fight/ flight response; solar flair; the moon; the earth’s electromagnetic fields; and how weather effects the mind and moods. Other slides went on to demonstrate how the limbic system was first made, and how the brain was formed and developed. The presentation also went into how disease affects the mind, and the way we think. Other slides described how stress could cause an outcome of disease in the body. We were then told about what the Virtual Hypnosis Machine can do.
The VHM’s ability to produce hypnotic induction, as well as its effectiveness for immune function modification (including chicken pox), wart removal, stress and anxiety, PTSD, assistance for Benzodiapine withdrawal, bipolar and many other mind problems, pain management, use in the aged community as well as its application for children and in schools were all presented.
A series of slides and graphs were shown to demonstrate how the VHM was used to help a ‘Bali bombing’ burn victim. The victim was suffering acute Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Due to the acuteness of the PTSD, the subject was not comfortable with the idea of working with a Psychologist, but did not mind using the VHM. The slides indicated that after using the VHM, the subject’s anxiety levels were reduced to ZERO. It was reported that after the client was successfully treated, the hospital’s nursing resources were greatly reduced. Furthermore, the working relationship with the client was much more amicable from this point on.
The VHM was also used on patients whilst their bandages were being changed. This made it easier on the staff, and on the patients as well. The VHM was reported to distract the patient with lovely scenery and pleasant soft music, while the nurses went to work changing very painful burns bandages. It was suggested that had the patients been concentrating on what the nurses were doing, the experience for the patient could have been a lot more painful, with the patients’ attention on anxiety and the unpleasant tasks at hand.
During the presentation, video footage was shown on how the “Hi Five” theme was used in the VHM to gain rapport with children. Discussions were entered in to how the VHM could be used in schools as well.
The machine is designed specifically not to be challenging to the client. Rather, it is designed to lead the client on a pleasant experience, without abreaction.
Also, since the VHM is totally predictable, it is said that with any changes made, the output can also be predictable. And the programmers can change the product as required to suit demand.
Dr Carbis made it clear that the only practitioners allowed to use the VHM were psychologists, doctors, clinical hypnotherapists and other professionals with relevant and appropriate experience and expertise in such clinical situations.
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