Recent Studies Show the Effectiveness
of Hypnosis

Numerous studies have shown just how effective hypnosis can be for a number of different conditions, including anxiety, weight loss, stopping smoking and much more.Below are some of the more prominent findings. You can also find additional studies by using Google Scholar.

Weight Loss

The effectiveness of hypnosis as an intervention for obesity: A meta-analytic review.March 2018

Click here for a study summary.

Important facts:

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  The study found that “The average participant receiving some form of hypnosis lost more weight than about 94% of control participants at the end of the program and about 81% of controls at follow-up.”
  
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  The study combined a number of different research studies to better track the long term efficacy of hypnosis for weight loss.
  
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  Researchers concluded hypnosis is “a promising treatment option for obesity.”
  

Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatments—Another meta-reanalysis.1996

Click here for a study summary.

Important facts:

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  Study control group participants lost an average of only 6.00 lbs, while the hypnotized participants lost around 11.83 pounds.
  
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  This study was a meta-analysis that was performed of existing studies analyzing hypnosis vs. control groups and measured total average weight loss in both groups.
  
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  According to this research, a person could lose twice as much weight through hypnosis compared to trying to lose weight on their own.
  

Stress Relief

Hypnosis for the Management of Anticipatory Nausea and VomitingMay 2015

Click here for a study summary.

Important facts:

• 
  Cancer patients found relief of fears as well as physical symptoms through hypnotic suggestion.
  
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  Study shows hypnosis can be an integral part of medical care through a supportive role.
  
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  The efficacy of client-directed posthypnotic suggestion lasted well after the performance of the live sessions.
  

Physical Health

Using hypnosis to accelerate the healing of bone fractures: A randomized controlled pilot studyMarch 1999

Click here for a study summary.

Important facts:

• 
  The study results indicated that the human body is capable of accelerated physical healing through hypnotic suggestion.
  
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  The study involved participants with bone fractures. All participants received standard care but a randomized group also received hypnotic suggestion describing fracture healing.
  
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  At six weeks, the hypnosis group showed reliable signs of the bones fusing back together at a rate similar to eight-and-a-half weeks.
  

New directions in hypnosis research: strategies for advancing the cognitive and clinical neuroscience of hypnosisApril 2017

Click here for a study summary.

Important facts:

• 
  The study identified where hypnosis occurs in the brain – the divisions between the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices activate differently when a person is in hypnotic responding.
  
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  Hypnosis was shown in a variety of clinical trials to have proven efficacy for health issues such as irritable bowel disorder, pain relief, and smoking cessation.
  
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  The study supported using techniques of conversational hypnosis for change and moving away from a “non-state” model of hypnosis.
  

Smoking

Guided Health Imagery for Smoking Cessation and Long‐Term AbstinenceAugust 2005

Click here for a study summary.

Important facts:

• 
  In this blind study, 71 people were asked to quit smoking. Of the participants, 38 were hypnotized to quit and 33 were in the control group.
  
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  After two-years, the hypnosis group was twice as likely to have remained free of cigarettes.
  
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  Researchers determined that hypnosis was “an effective intervention for long‐term smoking cessation and abstinence in adult smokers.”
  

Freedom from smoking: Integrating hypnotic methods and rapid smoking to facilitate smoking cessationJune 1999

Click here for a study summary.

Important facts:

• 
  In this study, 90.7% of those who were hypnotized were still smoke-free during follow-ups ranging from six months to three years afterward.
  
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  Researchers noted that many people who try to stop smoking on their own crash and backslide after a week or two.
  
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  In total, 43 people were hypnotized to quit smoking and 39 remained free of hypnosis at the conclusion of the study.
  

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