Peer-reviewed studies comparing hypnosis to placebo controls indicate that hypnosis demonstrates superior efficacy and durability for pain management and trauma treatment.
Background: Prominent theoreticians have referred to hypnosis as a mega placebo (Kirsch, 1997) or “hypnobo” (Raz, 2007) suggesting that hypnosis and placebo are effectively the same phenomenon. However, there is evidence that their mechanisms of action are different (Parris, 2016a) and that whilst placebo effects rely on the prefrontal cortex (PFC; Benedetti, 2010), the role of the PFC in hypnosis and hypnotic suggestibility is inconclusive. Methods: Fifty-four participants (27 male) performed tasks known to tap either left (the Stroop Task; Stroop, 1938), right (the Hayling Task; Burgess & Shallice, 1996) or global PFC functions (Fluid IQ; Wechsler, 1939; 2008). Participants then completed the Cold Pressor Test (CPT), a commonly used test for pain-threshold (the time at which pain is first felt) and pain-tolerance (from pain threshold until hand removal), under three counterbalanced conditions: 1) After receiving a hypnotic suggestion for analgesia; 2) After receiving a placebo analgesia (hand cream); 3) After receiving “cleansing” hand cream. Results: Placebo analgesia was not effective on pain-tolerance, but did affect pain-threshold and was related to right and global Fluid IQ, which appeared to positively modify the relationship between the Hayling Task predictor, the right prefrontal cortex and placebo analgesic. Hypnotic analgesia was effective for both pain-threshold and pain-tolerance but was not related to performance on any PFC task. Conclusions: The findings showe
A single manualized abreactive hypnosis session (5-6 hours) based on Ego State Theory (EST) was recently subjected to two placebo-controlled investigations meeting evidence-based criteria. Thirty-six patients in study #1 and 30 patients in study #2 who met PTSD criteria were exposed to either 5-6 hours of a manualized treatment or a placebo in a single session. Abreactive hypnosis emphasized hypnotically activated “reliving” of the trauma experience to physical and psychological exhaustion. In study #1 hypnosis and control group’s reduced PTSD checklist (PCL) scores immediately post treatment (placebo PCL score mean reduction 17. 34 and EST treatment PCL mean reduction 53.11). However, only the hypnosis patients maintained significant treatment effects at followups. Study #2 used the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), Beck Depression II (BDI – II), and Beck Anxiety Scales (BAI). Only the hypnosis group showed significant positive effects from pretreatment to all post treatment measurement periods. Abreactive EST was shown to be a highly effective and durable treatment for PTSD. Apparently, EST works because it is emotion focused, activates sub-cortical structures, and because the supportive, interpretive therapist reconstructs the patient’s personality to be resilient and adaptive.
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