Experiences of Mental and Medical Health Professionals in Utilizing Hypnotherapy

Abstract

There is a prolific amount of research which supports the effectiveness of hypnosis for treating a wide range of medical and psychological ailments. Regardless of decades worth of research demonstrating the efficacy of this approach, only a small portion of health care professionals use it. Despite its effectiveness, hypnotherapy is not a part of standard medical and mental health care. It is often treated as an alternative treatment. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of licensed mental health professionals and medical professionals who use hypnotherapy in their clinical practice. A qualitative approach was used to conduct this study. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used to explore how hypnosis is used in mental and medical health care. The results uncovered six-strong recurrent themes which directly inform the experience of medical and mental health professionals in using hypnosis. These themes were: hypnosis is a process, discovering hypnosis, barriers to using hypnosis, power differential in hypnosis, hypnosis being a client-centered approach, and hypnosis being versatile and effective. The results have important implications since they highlight areas of improvement in hypnosis education and barriers to using hypnosis.