Study Shows Hypnosis Is Beneficial in the Treatment of Pain

According to my own research, I have found that hypnotherapy is very helpful in treating patients who are experiencing pain. Over the years I have had many clients walk into my office suffering from various types of pain. Oftentimes, they come to my office as a last resort because medicine is not helping them.

Another reason why pain patients come into my office is because they don’t want to have to go on prescription pain killers. Prescription drugs can have an addictive effect on people and this side effect should be avoided when possible. Also, prescription medication is often used to cover up the pain, not treat the cause so that it develops a dependency. Dependency on prescription drugs is expensive and sometimes unnecessary.

In a research study in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, researchers tested to see whether hypnotic suggestibility played a role in treating pain patients. Hypnotic suggestibility is the rate in which the patient under hypnosis is actively involved in what the hypnotherapist is telling them. Being highly suggestible in relation to hypnosis means that one is taking in a large amount of what the hypnotherapist is saying.

In the study, 188 participants were randomly divided into six groups. The six groups included distraction, cognitive-behavioral package, hypnotic cognitive-behavioral package, hypnotic analgesia suggestion, placebo control, or no-treatment control conditions.

The study showed that there was a direct correlation between hypnotic suggestibility and the hypnotic interventions. The participants in the hypnotic cognitive-behavioral group and hypnotic analgesia suggestion group who were highly suggestible saw the greatest reduction in pain.

The study also pointed out that response to hypnotherapy is a trait. Some people are more suggestible than others and thus are going to react more favorably to treatment. Although the results do not mean that everyone is going to benefit from hypnosis, it shows that those who are highly suggestible will most likely benefit through hypnosis treatment.

In my practice, I have had great success treating patients who have pain. I get great satisfaction by helping these people because I feel that hypnotherapy can greatly improve their quality of life.