| There is little information available as to the effectiveness of hypnotherapy as a whole, or for the treatment of any of a wide array of disorders. However, there are some clinical trials and reviews which can be found on a case-by-case basis according to which particular indication for treatment you are interested in. It is also important to note that most of the data available suggests conclusions, but the authors generally call for further study to increase the power of their conclusions.
 A systematic review of pain relief in labor and childbirth
looked at three randomized control trials where the experimental subjects
received hypnotherapy while the control subjects did not undergo hypnotherapy.
Their results showed that hypnotherapy reduced the number of participants
requiring analgesia compared to the control group, with a relative risk of 0.51
for the hypnotherapy group. The same review also looked at two
non-randomized control studies, one of which showed with statistical
significance that hypnotherapy resulted in women rating their labor pain as less
severe than the control group that did not receive hypnotherapy. The other
study determined that hypnotherapy reduced the amount of analgesia required and
the increased the number of subjects requiring no analgesia whatsoever, with
statistical significance. Overall, the review authors felt that the
results were very positive for the use of hypnotherapy in childbirth, but
cautioned that further study is warranted.
Research has also shown that hypnotherapy can be useful in treating irritable
bowel syndrome (IBS). A 2007 review analyzed four randomized controlled
trials of hypnotherapy in patients with IBS. One study showed that
hypnotherapy was significantly more effective than medical therapy, and two
other studies showed that patients who received hypnotherapy had significantly
better symptoms compared with waiting-list control groups. The fourth
study compared hypnotherapy to supportive psychotherapy and placebo medication,
but this study showed no significant difference between the two groups.
There were no adverse effects of hypnotherapy in any of the studies.
Another study, which was conducted to determine the long-term efficacy of
hypnotherapy in treating IBS, showed cautiously optimistic
results. A questionnaire determining improvement or progression of
symptoms, as well as effect on quality of life was given to IBS patients who
were treated with hypnotherapy. Of those responding, 71% showed
improvement of symptoms after receiving hypnotherapy. A course of up to 12
weekly 1 hour sessions was administered and the results showed that the benefits
of hypnotherapy seem to be present for at least 5 years. The authors' only
criticism of hypnotherapy in this modality was the cost, however, the benefits
provided result in a reduction in the medical costs of treatment.
 Hypnotherapy to treat functional hypothalamic amenorrhea
also provided positive results in terms of resumption of menstruation in
patients. In this study women who had secondary amenorrhea (FHA) were
treated with a single session of hypnotherapy after which they were observed for
12 weeks and reported whether or not they resumed menstruation, as well as the
impact on their self-esteem and confidence. 75% of patients resumed
menstruation while all patients reported increase self-esteem and confidence.
The authors suggest that this is an effective modality treatment, and provides
an alternative to pharmacological treatments. It is of note that the
sample size of this study was 12 which makes it difficult to place much
confidence in the results. Further study with a larger sample size would
be in order.
Hypnotherapy has also been proven useful for
treating chronic noncardiac chest pain. A 2006 study analyzed
patients who had experienced angina-like pain, had normal coronary
angiography, and in whom GERD was non-contributory to the chest pain.
The patients were randomized to groups with the treatment group
receiving hypnotherapy and the control group receiving supportive
therapy and placebo medication. The hypnotherapy group had a
significant global improvement in pain, decreased pain intensity, better
overall well-being, and decreased use of pain medication. The
prevalence of anxiety and depression were also analyzed, but there was
no significant difference in these symptoms between the two groups.
The authors cautioned that more study was needed but concluded that
hypnotherapy showed promise for treating noncardiac chest pain.
There is a plethora of personal websites extolling the
virtues of hypnotherapy in various modalities of treatment, however, these sites
provide no empirical evidence to back their conclusions. Multiple
testimonials are provided but the need for well-designed randomized control
trials is great in order to characterize just how useful hypnotherapy is in
treating various conditions.
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