Hypnosis in psychotherapy: efficacy and mechanisms

AbstractMeta‐analyses have established that different psychotherapies have different outcomes. Cognitive‐behavioural therapies are significantly more effective than psycho‐dynamic therapies, and their superiority increases when long‐term follow‐up is assessed. Hypnosis enhances the efficacy of both psychodynamic and cognitive‐behavioural psychotherapy, and this effect is especially strong in long‐term outcome of treatment for obesity. The paucity of procedural differences between hypnotic and non‐hypnotic treatments in many of the studies demonstrating a substantial advantage for hypnosis suggests that the effect depends on the use of the word ‘hypnosis’. Hypnosis can be regarded as an empirically‐validated, non‐deceptive placebo, the effects of which are mediated by response expectancies. Copyright © 1996 British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis