Hypnosis applications to the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.
The American journal of clinical hypnosis – February 05, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
Hypnosis shows promise as a powerful adjunct for treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), enhancing established therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). In combining hypnosis with CBT approaches, patients may experience heightened calmness and reduced emotional reactivity, addressing PTSD's mind-body nature effectively. Techniques tailored to specific PTSD symptoms have demonstrated potential in improving treatment outcomes. Incorporating hypnosis can significantly boost the efficacy of therapies such as Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), ultimately enriching the therapeutic toolkit for practitioners.
Abstract
Current evidence-based therapies considered efficacious for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), and medication treatments. Hypnosis, one of the first mind-body therapies known to Western medicine, has been used for mind-body problems such as conversion reactions, medication-less anesthesia, and wound healing. Because PTSD is a mind-body problem, hypnosis seems especially suited for its treatment. Hypnosis is a state-based treatment that can move PTSD patients into a state of calm, downregulate their emotional reactivity, and facilitate altering maladaptive beliefs. Combined with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approaches, hypnosis may magnify their effects. In this article, we present hypnotic techniques applicable to PTSD based on the PTSD symptom clusters they treat. We describe the goals, similarities, and differences between hypnosis and mindfulness, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. We describe how adding hypnosis to PTSD treatment protocols such as PE and CPT boosts their impact. We encourage the use of hypnotic techniques which can enhance the therapeutic palette of the CBT practitioner treating PTSD.