Gérard V. Sunnen, M.D., received his medical degree from the State of New York Medical School, Downstate Medical Center. Following an internship in surgery and medicine at Bellevue Hospital, New York, he was appointed resident, then chief resident at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital. He has practiced medicine and psychiatry in general hospital, academic, Air Force, forensic and hospice settings.

Dr. Sunnen was named official psychiatrist for the French Consulate and Embassy in New York in 1980, with the mission of delivering comprehensive health care to French nationals (approximately 75,000 registered nationals in the New York tri-state area, and 400,000 tourists yearly). He received commendations for assisting the French families of the TWA flight 800 disaster victims, and for coordinating the post 9/11 consular psychiatric crisis team.

For his role in developing mental health services for the French community in the greater New York City area, and for enriching American-French fellowship, he was awarded the title of "Chevalier du Mérite" by the French government in 1991.

Dr. Sunnen is a co-founder and honorary president of the International Association for Emergency Psychiatry (IAEP), a transcultural association of mental health professionals seeking to develop global emergency psychiatric services. Founded in Paris in 1988, the association, since its inception has held several international congresses, among them in Réunion Island, Amsterdam, Moscow, Turin, Quebec, and Brussels.

He has, for many years, applied medical hypnotherapy to many aspects of patient care. During his internship he enlisted hypnotic assistance for pain control, for pre-operative preparation and for illness management. During his residency he applied medical hypnosis to the treatment of anxiety, depression, addictions, and to the goals of psychotherapy, namely self-discovery, self-expression and creativity. In his book, co-authored with Barbara DeBetz, MD, "A Primer of Clinical Hypnosis," Dr. Sunnen explores a subject of special interest to him, namely the relationship between hypnosis and meditative experiences. For these insights, he expresses everlasting gratitude to his late parents who were both students of P. Yogananda.

Both in the United States and his native France, Dr. Sunnen has lectured on innovative techniques of psychotherapy - including hypnosis-enhanced psychotherapy - on clinical psychopharmacology, and on future directions in psychiatry. He became foreign correspondent to the premier French psychiatric publication "Psychiatrie Française" in 1988.

Dr. Sunnen was certified as Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1977. He was appointed Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center in 1977, and Associate Clinical Professor in 1987.

Interested in medical research for many years, Dr. Sunnen was president and director of research, from 1997 to 2002, of Medizone International, Inc., a publicly-held company engaged in the research and development of ozone-based technologies for diseases caused by lipid-enveloped viruses and for biological fluid decontamination. He is the recipient of two patents relative to the medical use of ozone's unique antimicrobial dynamics for the healing of diabetic skin ulcers and poorly healing surgical skin lesions.

In 2005, Dr. Sunnen founded Ozonics International, LLC, a company dedicated to the development of ozone-based and other forward-looking medical technologies.

In May 2017, Dr. Sunnen was presented with the William A. Console, MD, Alumni Achievement Award, by the State University of New York (SUNY), "In Recognition of Significant Achievement in Psychiatry."

• What is Hypnosis?, An article by Dr. Sunnen--one of several by a number of authors, included in a compilation entitled "Medical hypnosis: An Introduction and Clinical Guide," published in the Medical Guides to Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• "A Primer of Clinical Hypnosis" DeBetz B, Sunnen G, PSG Publishing Company, Inc., Littleton, MA, 1985
  In "A Primer of Clinical Hypnosis," Drs. DeBetz and Sunnen show how hypnotherapy is increasingly integrated in the field of general medicine, in and out of hospital settings, and in psychiatry. A unique feature of the book allows the reader to note the different styles these two authors have in their approach to hypnosis. This serves to illustrate the fact that hypnotherapists evolve in synchrony with their own creative callings. Essential historical developments, current concepts, fundamental phenomena observed in hypnosis, and basic induction techniques are described in this book. Therapeutic applications are described as they relate to issues of patient care: anxiety control, pain abatement, healing and convalescence. The art of integrating hypnotherapy into psychotherapy for increasing the efficiency of symptom resolution is described in the chapter: "Hypnosis in Psychotherapy." The future of specialized hypnotic and meditative approaches to patient care is highly promising. This book serves as a primer to therapists dedicated to exploring that road.
• Interview with Gérard V. Sunnen, M.D., by Advances: Journal of the Institute for the Advancement of Health
• Hypnosis and self hypnosis in mastering medical procedures and operations
• How hypnosis is clinically utilized to address the spectrum of cancer's physical and psychological dimensions
• Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis in Healing
• Medical Hypnosis in the Hospital
• Hypnotic Approaches in the Cancer Patient
  
• Hypnosis and Anxiety
• Hypnosis in Psychotherapy
• Hypnosis in Psychosomatic Medicine
• Meditative Treatment for Erectile Dysfunction
  
• Miscellaneous Medical Applications of Hypnosis
• The Sunnen Trance Scale for Hypnosis, Self-Hypnosis, and Meditation
  
• The Sunnen Trance Scale Scoring Form
  
• The Science of the Mind
• Can the Mind Talk to the Heart? Hypnosis, Self-Hypnosis, Autogenic Training, and Cardiovascular Health
• Spiritual Epiphanies During Hypnosis
• The OmniForce series
• Speed Hypnosis Versus Meditative Hypnosis in Clinical Care
• Study: Spiritual Epiphanies During Hypnosis
• Psychodermatology: Hypnosis, self-hypnosis, meditation and autogenic training in dermatology, plastic and cosmetic surgery, and dermal health
• Tummo meditation versus Autogenic Training: Visceral nervous system self-regulation, East and West, and implications for integrative psychotherapy
• The Neurology of Meditation: Implications for Meditation Therapies
• Hypnosis and Meditation as States of Heightened Brain Plasticity: Seven Pathways to Higher Nervous System Function
• Hunger Connections: Weight Loss, Nutritional Balance, Weight Gain: What Roles for Medical Hypnosis and Meditation?
• So you want to get better faster? Pairing therapies for accelerating progress
• Experiencing “Pure Consciousness,” A catalyst in psychotherapy?
• Engaging the Brain’s Homunculus: New Approaches to Stroke Prevention and Rehabilitation through “Sustained Attention Neuronal Therapy”
• The Neurology of Sleep Quality Enhancement Via Tactile Entrainment Technology
• Meditation Styles for Our Modern Times Part I: Health Through the Gates of Breath
• Cybernetic Meditation: A Meditative Approach to Enhance Fitness Training
• Sentience and Psychedelics: The Promise of New Psychotherapy Catalysts

Ozone in medicine

• OZONE ENTERS ITS AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT: Ozone therapies today, and tomorrow.
  This paper was presented at the AEPROMO international congress, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain, “New Horizons for Ozone Therapies,” June 5-6, 2009.
• MERS, SARS, and emerging Coronaviruses: theoretical considerations and a proposal for critical care parenteral oxygen/ozone therapy
• A virology primer: With special reference to ozone
• Hepatitis C and Ozone Therapy
  
• Ozone in medicine: overview and future directions
• The utilization of ozone for external medical applications
• Commentaries on prion diseases and ozone
• Possible mechanisms of viral inactivation by Ozone
  
• Diabetic Wound Management: A Key Ingredient is Missing
• Emergency, Adjunctive, and Preventive Oxygen/Ozone Gas Application in External Pathogenic Conditions
• COVID-19, MERS, SARS and Other Emerging Coronaviruses: Theoretical Considerations and a Proposal for Critical Care Parenteral Blood Ozonation

In French

• La psychiatric française vue d'Amérique
• Évolution des soins psychiatriques aux USA
• Progrès de la psychiatrie des urgences
• Argent et psychopathologie
• Progrès de l'hypnose contemporaine
• L’hypnose rapide en milieu hospitalier
  versus l’hypnose méditative en clinique