Patients reporting pain and  urinary-tract symptoms found varying degrees of relief after undergoing group hypnosis training, according to research from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The study, featured in Neurourology and Urodynamics, included the finding that people with the most intense symptoms had the most improvement from the therapy.

Lead author Lindsey C. McKernan, Ph.D.,  associate professor of psychiatry, said hypnosis training could improve the quality of life for these patients and others who suffer from chronic pain.