Hypnotherapy is a form of psychotherapy used to create unconscious change in the patient in the form of new responses, thoughts, attitudes, behaviors or feelings. It is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.[1]
A person who is hypnotized displays certain unusual characteristics and propensities, compared with a non-hypnotized subject, most notably heightened suggestibility and responsiveness.
Hypnosis in childbirth
Hypnotherapy has long been used in relation to childbirth. It is sometimes used during pregnancy to prepare a mother for birth, and during childbirth to reduce anxiety, discomfort and pain.[14][15]
Psychotherapy
Hypnosis was originally used to treat the condition known in the Victorian era as hysteria.[16] Modern hypnotherapy is widely accepted for the treatment of anxiety,[17] subclinical depression,[18] certain habit disorders, to control irrational fears,[19][20] as well as in the treatment of conditions such as insomnia[21] and addiction.[22] Hypnosis has also been used to enhance recovery from non-psychological conditions such as after surgical procedures[23] and even with gastro-intestinal problems,[24] including IBS.[25][26]
Cognitive hypnotherapy and bulimia
Scientific literature suggests a wide variety of hypnotic interventions can be used to treat bulimia nervosa.[27] Similar studies have shown that groups suffering from bulimia nervosa, undergoing hypnotherapy, were more exceptional to no treatment, placebos, or other alternative treatments.[27]