Just as there is little data to be found in support of hypnotherapy and its uses, little data exists to contradict the use of
 hypnotherapy in general, or in specific treatment modalities. The majority of this sparse information has little or no experimental data to support the conclusions. This is not to say that there are no scientific trials to be found, but there is tremendous need for further research.
 For instance, Lukas et al performed a randomized trial in cancer patients undergoing curative radiation therapy. The purpose was to determine if hypnotherapy in conjunction with radiation therapy could reduce anxiety and improve quality of life in this population. Their study determined that there is was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups as pertaining to these parameters. There was however a significant improvement in mental health and overall well-being reported in the hypnotherapy group. So, some benefit is derived from hypnotherapy in this patient population and it should be up to the patients to decide for themselves if they would like to pursue this modality.
 Other evidence frowning on the use of hypnotherapy exists. A Cochrane Systematic Review looked into the efficacy of hypnotherapy as an aid in smoking cessation. Included were 9 studies where hypnotherapy was used against various control groups, and results were tracked for a period of no less than 6 months. The authors determined that the data were too diverse and had too many contradictions between the studies, and overall no benefit of receiving hypnotherapy could be determined when compared to other treatment modalities.
Another recent study also showed that hypnotherapy
has limited success for smoking cessation. In the study, a large
population of older women were asked about their smoking over a 3-year
period. The women who quit smoking during this interval were asked
which interventions were helpful. Advice from physicians, referral
to a smoking cessation clinic, and nicotine replacement were found to be
most helpful, with more than 50% of the women who tried each of these
interventions finding them useful. Hypnotherapy was less helpful.
Although some women who used hypnotherapy did quit smoking, only 24% of
those who tried hypnotherapy found it useful, which was significantly
less than with the three more successful interventions. |
