There is a large body of research on the efficacy of hypnosis as an alternative therapy for treating a wide range of health issues. However, despite the support that this technique has received from a wide body of empirical studies, the therapy is not widely used compared to other treatment methods. Research shows that only a little percentage of adults use therapies like yoga, acupuncture, meditation and hypnosis for their health conditions. Thus, the question that often remains unanswered is why hypnosis is not embraced by a large number of people despite its effectiveness in improving people’s quality of life. Researchers have tried to address this question through various studies aimed at examining people’s attitudes about the therapy.
A study by Montgomery et al. (2018) investigated this phenomenon through a framework that conceptualized hypnosis as a consumer good, and which considered the low level of adoption of hypnosis as a consequence of little consumer interest. This model was adopted to determine the factors that may be influencing people’s interest in hypnosis. The researchers found that attitudes about hypnosis have a significant impact on people’s interest in the therapy. People’s attitudes were influenced by beliefs, misconceptions and myths about hypnosis. These findings show that working towards eliminating these misconceptions among people may help in increasing their interest on hypnosis. Educating people about this alternative therapy can prove beneficial for populations that are not aware of it or those that have negative attitudes or misconceptions about it. Communicating the hedonic value of hypnosis is beneficial in increasing people’s interest in it, because most people who embrace it often agree that the therapy is pleasant and absorbing. Future endeavors to disseminate and implement hypnosis should aim at educating people on how it works, supporting its efficacy through evidence, and letting people know the potential health benefits of hypnosis.
In another study, Montgomery et al. (2019) also studied the attitudes of hypnosis providers about the therapy. The researcher wanted to determine if watching a video about hypnosis would significantly improve providers’ attitudes about the therapy, and how demographic and professional factors influence such attitudes. It was determined that exposure to the short video enhanced the providers’ attitudes about the therapy. There was an overall positive improvement on the providers’ attitudes about hypnosis as the short video led to the adoption of positive beliefs about the technique, such as beliefs that hypnosis leads to mental stability. Variables like age, previous experience with the therapy and ethnicity were found to be associated with the alternative therapy.
This study illustrates that a short lecture about hypnosis may change people’s attitudes about it. These findings are consistent with past studies that also showed that exposing people to content about the therapy helped improve their perceptions about it. However, more studies are needed to examine the effectiveness of this kind of lecture on different groups of people, including health care professionals who have not voluntarily gone for hypnosis training, as well as various health care providers. More studies should also explore how ethnic factors determine attitudes towards hypnosis, and whether ethnically relevant lectures can help reduce negative beliefs about the therapy.
Overall, these studies have shown that people’s beliefs about hypnosis significantly affect their interest in this type of therapy. Negative beliefs and misconceptions about hypnosis are the factors leading to its non-adoption despite empirical studies supporting its efficacy in improving people’s well-being. It is recommended that people should be educated about the benefits of hypnosis to increase their interest on it since education can help eliminate the negative perceptions.
References
Montgomery, G. H., Sucala, M., Dillon, M. J., & Schnur, J. B. (2018). Interest and attitudes about hypnosis in a large community sample. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 5(2), 212.
Montgomery, G. H., Force, J., Dillon, M. J., David, D., & Schnur, J. B. (2019). The effect of an online lecture on psychosocial cancer care providers’ attitudes about hypnosis. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice.
