Ran D. Anbar, MD

With more than 30 years of experience in clinical hypnosis, Ran D. Anbar, MD, FAAP is board certified in both pediatric pulmonology and general pediatrics, and has worked with more than 8,000 children and teens—helping them address challenges from anxiety and chronic pain to a wide range of conditions across physical, behavioral, and emotional health and wellbeing. A nationally recognized leader in mind-body medicine, he earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, completed his residency and fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and served as professor and director of pediatric pulmonology at SUNY Upstate Medical University for 21 years. He has since become one of the most recognized voices in the field—authoring more than 80 articles, abstracts, books, and book chapters on pediatric functional disorders and pediatric hypnosis, publishing over 250 blogs on PsychologyToday.com, and serving as a past president and approved consultant of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

Dr. Anbar's books put decades of clinical expertise directly into readers' hands. Changing Children's Lives with Hypnosis: A Journey to the Center offers parents and practitioners a story-driven roadmap for helping children overcome anxiety, pain, and other challenges, while The Life Guide for Teens: Harnessing Your Inner Power to Be Healthy, Happy, & Confident—praised as "a superb guide" by Booklist—hands teens the practical tools to take ownership of their own wellbeing.

Dr. Anbar is also the founder of Center Point Medicine, where he offers hypnosis and counseling services at locations in La Jolla, California, and Syracuse, New York. He has directed and co-directed more than 20 clinical workshops on pediatric hypnosis, and has served as both guest editor and advisory editor for the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

Learn more about Dr. Anbar's practice at Center Point Medicine.

Learn more from Dr. Anbar's blog on Psychology Today.

“Dr. Anbar is an outstanding champion for children’s healthcare.

His willingness to think outside the box on how best to serve his patients has helped thousands of children live healthier, happier lives. His introduction to the process and benefits of hypnosis therapy deserves serious attention from parents and medical practitioners everywhere.”

— Ernest Mort

Staff emeritus and retired Dean of Students, Revelle College, UC San Diego

“Dr. Ran Anbar is a gifted teacher, compassionate healer, and consummate pediatric clinician.

In Changing Children’s Lives with Hypnosis: A Journey to the Center, he has used his years of experience incorporating hypnosis in the care of his patients to tell their stories. This compelling book will help parents and the clinicians who work with children to discover the healing power of hypnosis. This is a masterful addition to the pediatric health care literature and a must read for anyone who cares for and about children.”

— Linda Thomson, PhD, APRN, ABMH, ABHN

Author, Harry Hypno-potamus, Metaphorical Tales for Children, Volumes I and II; Creator, Harry Hypno-potamus Imagination Cards and Stress Free Surgery; Past-President, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis; Moderator, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis Board of Governors

“Dr. Anbar is a renowned leader in the field of mind-body medicine and medical hypnosis.

This book will help open people’s eyes to the power we each possess for self-regulation. Readers, especially parents, will appreciate learning how suggestions and mental imagery may be used to influence conditions as diverse as anxiety, pain, asthma, insomnia, low self-esteem, and bedwetting.”

— D. Corydon Hammond, PhD

Author of Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestion and Metaphors (WW Norton and Company, 1990); Professor Emeritus, University of Utah School of Medicine; Past President, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis

“I was always a cynic when ‘hypnosis’ was suggested as a medical alternative. But then, thirty years ago, I became the father of a profoundly physically challenged young boy—a quadriplegic child, dependent on a ventilator.

He was ‘locked in’ by his condition, and nothing was available to open the window to his heart and soul. Then along came Dr. Ran Anbar, a highly respected pediatric pulmonologist, who told me, ‘I think I can help!’ There were no hollow pronouncements, just, ‘I think, through good medicine and the introduction of hypnosis, we can improve the quality of your son’s life.’ And he did.

This book is not an esoteric medical manuscript, but a book about life and for life. Dr. Anbar and his story exemplify wisdom, determination, passion, creativity, and willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ for the children in his care.”

— Rabbi Charles S. Sherman

MBIEE-Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El; Author of The Broken and the Whole

“Over the past 20 years Dr. Anbar has embarked on an intense study of hypnosis through countless workshops, persistent inquiries, writing, and careful listening to colleagues, mentors, and most of all his young patients.

Changing Children’s Lives with Hypnosis: A Journey to the Center, with its stories that variably astound, challenge, inspire, is an important and courageous undertaking. Through his clear commitment to the power of the human mind to create change, Dr. Anbar teaches young people and their families to believe that positive change is both possible and do-able.”

— Daniel P. Kohen, MD, Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics

Kohen Therapy Associates, Minnetonka, Minnesota; Co-Author of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy with Children; Director, Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Program; Professor, Departments of Pediatrics & Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota (retired); Co-Founder/Co-Director, National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute

“I’ve known Dr. Anbar for over 30 years and watched the amazing care he gives kids through teaching them mind/body regulation techniques and about self-actualization.

He is now sharing his learnings and teachings in an easy-to-read format to help teens and their families with practical tips to deal with their stress, pain, and overall health. This is a great resource for everyone who knows a teen, with practical advice for people of all ages.”

— Cheryl Beighle, MD

Integrative Pediatrician, Seattle, Washington

The Life Guide For Teens

180 Tools to Harness Your Inner Power to be Healthy, Happy, and Confident

Books by Ran D. Anbar, MD


Changing Children’s Lives
with Hypnosis

Help your child overcome anxiety, pain, and more by empowering them to heal through the power of their own mind.

Functional Respiratory Disorders

When Respiratory Symptoms Do Not Respond to Pulmonary Treatment

Functional Symptoms in Pediatric Disease

A Clinical Guide