Self-hypnosis has a wide range of clinical applications due to its usefulness in managing various health issues. The intervention involves self-induced hypnotic process in which an individual goes through self-generated hypnotic suggestions. Various instances where the therapy has been successfully applied in managing different illnesses are documented in the literature. Its efficacy in managing habit coughs, hemophilia, emotional distress, pain, stress, as well as in boosting the immune functioning, treating depression, and enhancing learning, has been confirmed through research and practice. However, research is still needed to establish a database of evidence pointing to its actual clinical use.
Eason & Parris (2018) carried out a systematic review of past literature on clinical applications of self-hypnosis. The researchers reviewed past randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the application of the intervention therapy in managing various illnesses. The review included studies that were published from 1841when use of hypnosis was in its earlier stages of development. Terms such as “autohypnosis”, “self-hypnosis”, “autosuggestion” and “self-hypnotic” were used to search various online databases for the related articles. The researchers selected research articles of RCTs where self-hypnosis was used for treatment, therapy and relief from any medical conditions. They also included studies that were comparing self-hypnosis with other clinical treatment. However, studies that were comparing self-hypnosis with control groups with no treatment were not included in the review. Only 22 research articles met the conditions for this study from a total of 576 publications that the search yielded.
Since self-hypnosis has been used in many areas to deal with specific health conditions, the researchers divided these studies into various categories including situations where the therapy was used to manage stress and anxiety, childbirth experience, pain and pediatric cases. On pain management, the researchers found that self-hypnosis was more effective in reducing pain than other techniques like electromyography (EMG) feedback and structured attention. Self-hypnosis also outperformed other treatment methods such as conscious sedation, standard care and empathy. All the studies on pain management, including those carried out on children, showed that the intervention was effective and outperformed other pain management therapies.
The researchers found that there are few studies on self-hypnosis and childbirth. However, the few that examined the effectiveness of the intervention on childbirth reported reduced stage I labor and reduced use of medication. However, some of the studies revealed that the application of self-hypnosis in obstetrics does not yield positive results. Studies that were conducted on the management of stress, hypertension and anxiety using self-hypnosis revealed that the intervention outperformed other methods such as relaxation and mock neurofeedback. All patients who were taken through a self-hypnosis process exhibited high expectations for improvement, treatment efficacy, as well as behavioral and cognitive change. The review also found that self-hypnosis can be effectively used to strengthen the immune system, alleviating tinnitus, attenuating hay-fever symptoms, reducing the severity of asthma symptoms, treating insomnia, helping women with breast cancer maintain their health and general well-being.
Thus, for all the 22 studies reviewed in this study, the researchers found that 18 of these studies confirmed the effectiveness of self-hypnosis in managing various types of illnesses. Participants in fourteen of these studies performed better than those in control groups. Only four of these studies showed that self-hypnosis did not outdo the control groups, as participants only listened to heterohypnosis recordings. None of them involved teaching of self-regulated or self-directed skills, while some had audio-led activities. It was found that 12 of the 22 studies employed the use of audio recordings, 17 taught self-directed skills, while 16 composed of three practice sessions.
References
Eason, A. D., & Parris, B. A. (2018). Clinical applications of self-hypnosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice.
Melvin S. Marsh is a certified hypnotherapist serving Atlanta GA, Aiken SC, Augusta GA, and Blairsville GA. He performs hypnotherapy appointments both in person and worldwide virtually. He can be reached at www.afterhourshypnotherapy.com .
