SCEH Recognizes Achievements in the Hypnosis Community

On Saturday, October 26, 2024, the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis held its Annual Awards Banquet in connection with its 75^th Annual Workshops and Scientific Program in Anaheim, California.  The event recognizes achievements within the hypnosis community. Hosted by SCEH President Barbara McCann, PhD, the ceremony acknowledged the contributions of winners in the areas of clinical hypnosis education and training, hypnosis research and publication, and SCEH programs and activities that advanced the organization’s mission to promote excellence and progress in the field.

Nominations were sourced via a member Call for Awards, then selected by the Society’s Awards and Fellowship Committee.  The 2024 Awards Committee included Chair, Immediate Past President Ciara Christensen, PhD and members Gary Elkins, PhD, ABPP, ABPH, Don Moss, PhD and David Reid, PsyD.  (Committee members recused themselves from voting in certain categories if nominated for an award.)  The SCEH Awards Program also includes Presidential and Living Treasure Awards selected by the current SCEH President.

SCEH celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of this year’s award winners:

• Stanley Krippner Award for efforts supporting the field of hypnosis by students or early career professionals to Vanessa Muniz, MA

• Crasilneck Award for the best first paper presented by a graduate student or young scientist at a SCEH meeting to Yeganeh Farahzadi, MS in recognition of their paper, " A Window into the Hypnotized Brain: Interpretable Deep Learning Model for Decoding Hypnotic Experience from Raw EEG Data"

• Hilgard Award for the best theoretical paper on hypnosis to Cameron Alldredge, PhD and Gary Elkins, PhD, ABPP, ABPH in recognition of their paper, "Adaptive Experiential Theory of Hypnosis" in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 71(3), 165-175.

• Roy M. Dorcus Award for the best paper in clinical hypnosis to Dipesh Vasant and S. S. Hasan in recognition of their paper, “The Emerging New Reality of Hypnosis Teletherapy: A Major New Mode of Delivery of Hypnotherapy and Clinical Hypnosis Training” in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 71(2), 153-164.

• Henry Guze Award for best research paper on hypnosis to Hassan Khazraee, M. Bakhtiari, A. S Kianimoghadam, & E. Ghorbanikhah in recognition of their paper, "The Effectiveness of Mindful Hypnotherapy on Depression, Self-Compassion, and Psychological Inflexibility in Females with Major Depressive Disorder: A Single-Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial" in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 71(1), 63-78.

• Reviewer of the Year Award to Jeffrey Feldman, PhD for significant contribution to the Society's peer-reviewed quarterly, the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.

• The 2024 Arthur Shapiro Award for the Best Book in Hypnosis was shared by two winners for 2024:

• Bernard Raginski Award, the Society's highest honor, for leadership in the field of clinical hypnosis to Ciara Christensen, PhD.

Presidential Awards

The Awards Program also includes awards chosen by the current SCEH President. Singled out this year by President Christensen for a Presidential Citation were the following:

• Anne Doherty Johnson in recognition of her service as SCEH Executive Director, for her skillful association leadership and management in serving our members over the last ten years, supporting the Society in all its efforts to expand and deliver meaningful programs that benefit the hypnosis community.

• Zoltan Kekecs, PhD for service as as valued member of our Executive Committee, and for his long time and dedicated service as Treasurer, and ongoing oversight and attention to SCEH finances, helping to ensure the current and long term financial health of the Society.

• David Reid, PsyD for service as as valued member of our Executive Committee, serving as SCEH Secretary and Certification Chair, and for his contributions as a Presenter and Intermediate Co-chair of the 2024 Midyear Workshops.

• Ciara Christensen, PhD for service as as valued member of our Executive Committee, as ImmediatePast President, and Chair of three committees: Awards & Fellowship, Student Trainee Affairs & Scholarships, and Nominations, and for her contributions as a Presenter and Intermediate Co-chair of the 2024 Midyear Workshops.

• Donald Moss, PhD for service as as valued member of our Executive Committee, as President-Elect, and as Chair of two committees, Education and Publications, and for continuing to develop an excellent Midyear Workshops event each year as well as a successful ongoing Webinar Series.

• Gary Elkins, PhD, ABPP, ABPH for his leadership and professionalism as Editor-in-Chief of our International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, delivering a highly regarded peer-reviewed publication that shares and highlights the latest research supporting the evidence base of hypnosis.

• Flavio Epstein, PhD for his continued dedication and service as Credentials and Membership Committee Chair, overseeing our new member approval process and annual member retention campaign.

• Deanna Denman, PhD for service as 2024 Annual Conference Overall Co-Chair and Scientific Program Co-chair, helping to grow our understanding of hypnosis.

• Tova Fuller, MD, PhD for service as 2024 Annual Conference Overall Co-Chair and Introductory Workshop Co-chair, helping to grow our understanding of hypnosis.

• Cameron Alldredge, PhD for serving as 2024 Annual Conference Advanced Workshop Co-chair, selecting topics and speakers, and helping grow our understanding of hypnosis.

• Jill Ballantyne, PhD, ABPP for serving as 2024 Annual Conference Advanced Workshop Co-chair, selecting topics and speakers, and helping grow our understanding of hypnosis.

• Nicholas Olendzki, PsyD for serving as 2024 Annual Conference Intermediate Workshop Co-chair, selecting topics and speakers, and helping grow our understanding of hypnosis.

• Yeganeh Farahzadi, MS for serving as 2024 Annual Conference Intermediate Workshop Co-chair, selecting topics and speakers, and helping grow our understanding of hypnosis.

• Jessie (Kittle) Markovitz, MD for serving as 2024 Annual Conference Scientific Program Co-chair, securing keynotes and developing the Scientific Session Agenda, helping to grow our understanding of hypnosis.

• Cassondra Jackson, MA for continued service as a Member of the FOCUS Newsletter Team, in recognition of her efforts to publish relevant topics to keep our members informed and engaged.

• Jill Ballantyne, PhD, ABPP for service as a Member of the FOCUS Newsletter Team, in recognition of her efforts to create new content and publish relevant topics to keep our members informed and engaged.

• Lauren Simicich, PsyD for continued service as an outgoing  Member of the FOCUS Newsletter Team, in recognition of her efforts to publish relevant topics to keep ourmembers informed and engaged.
  
  

Living Treasure Awards

Two individuals were selected for the Living Treasure Award, for their significant contributions to SCEH and the field of clinical hypnosis.

• David Spiegel, MD
• Michael Yapko, PhD

The Society congratulates all nominees and winners, and expresses its thanks to the Awards and Fellowship Committee.

The Call for Nominations for each year’s Awards Program is issued in the spring. More information on the SCEH Awards Program can be found at www.sceh.us/awards or by contacting the SCEH office.