Credited Research Articles
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This month: Hypnotherapy helps patients and clients who suffer with Addiction and their symptoms. Families and friends are also covered. Here are some research articles proving Hypnosis works with Addiction.
Study: Hypnosis and Marijuana, Cocaine and Alcohol
Intensive Therapy: Utilizing Hypnosis in the Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders.
https://bscw.rediris.es/pub/bscw.cgi/d4584094/Potter
Results: All subjects were given 20 daily hypnosis sessions and then followed up a
year later where it was found that using hypnosis in this fashion led to a 77% success
rate.
Notes: This paper reports on 18 cases over a 7-year period where hypnosis was used
to treat a variety of addictions. Fifteen cases involved alcohol, two involved cocaine and one involved marijuana. All subjects were given 20 daily hypnosis sessions and then followed up a year later where it was found that using hypnosis in this fashion led to a 77% success rate.
Tools: The following tools and suggestions are given for use in hypnosis; (A) Direct
Suggestion. Direct suggestion can be used for creating a positive expectancy. The
therapist can also use direct suggestion to inspire confidence, commitment, motivation, and perseverance in the client to achieve the stated goals, as well as encourage the proper behavioral changes. (B) Anchors. In hypnosis, anchoring happens when a posthypnotic suggestion is paired to a feeling state. Therefore, when an individual has a craving for the drug, the posthypnotic suggestion is used to bring about the anchored feelings (C) Metaphors A metaphor used in therapy usually consists of a story that has a short metaphor embedded within. The whole story is not metaphoric but captures the client’s attention so the metaphoric message can be subconsciously embedded. For example, Wallas’s (1985) “The Boy Who Lost His Way.” All metaphors are altered, paraphrased, and structured to fit the individual’s situation in order to make a therapeutic impact. For example, for female clients “the boy” in the metaphor becomes a girl. (D) Reframes. There may be many issues that arise while working with addictions that can be reframed. For example, the way a person views New Year’s Eve; or what it means to go fishing or boating. Any situation in which the client has consumed alcohol
or used their drug of choice can be reframed to exclude the substance. (E) Affect
Bridge. The affect bridge (Watkins, 1971) is used with clients who have particular
emotions associated with the use of drugs. By following the emotion through the affect bridge to the first time the client felt that particular emotion before using the drug, the client can become more aware of and break the connection with that emotion and the drug. (F) Self-hypnosis is routinely taught to all clients. It is left up to the clients as to how they use it.
American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jul 2004 vol.47(1):21-28
By: G. Potter
Heroin & Hypnosis
The use of hypnosis with an injecting heroin user: brief clinical description of a single
case
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ch.69
Notes: This paper describes the use of hypnosis with an injecting heroin user. This
client was finding it very difficult to keep to his methadone prescription and was frequently using heroin ‘on top’. He received three sessions of hypnosis in order to
facilitate relaxation and visualization, and resolution of ambivalence concerning his drug use. The results suggest the client has responded well to treatment. Details both of the
client and of the three hypnosis sessions are given and the outcome is discussed.
Contemporary Hypnosis, Volume 13, Issue 3, pages 198-201, October 1996
By: Bill Drysdale, Clinical Psychologist, Barnet Drug and Alcohol Service, Woodlands, Colindale Hospital,
Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 SHG
Hypnotherapy to Decrease Depression of Patients at
Addiction Recovery Centers
The Effectiveness of Group Cognitive Hypnotherapy on Major Depression Referred to
Residential and Semi-residential Addiction Recovery Centers
http://armaghanj.yums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=1541
Results: The results revealed that cognitive hypnotherapy treatment significantly
reduced depression in the hypnosis group at addiction recovery centers. The
researchers concluded that cognitive hypnotherapy can be used as adjunctive therapy
in reducing major depression in addiction recovery centers.
Notes: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of group cognitive hypnotherapy on major depression in residential and semi-residential addiction recovery
centers. The study was conducted using a pre-test, post-test, and control group. The population included all patients drug dependent as residential and semi-residential
referred to addiction recovery centers in the city of Yasuj, Iran. 40 patients were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental (i.e.,
hypnosis) and control groups. Group cognitive hypnotherapy was carried out on the experimental hypnosis group for 8 sessions for one hour once a week, but there was no
intervention on control group. After the intervention, both experimental and control groups were assessed. Collected data was analyzed using covariance analysis.
Armaghane Danesh. 2016; 21 (9):914-923
By: S. Haghighi (Master of Clinical Psychology Young Researchers and Elite Club,Yasouj Branch, Islamic
Azad University, Yasouj, Iran), B. Movahedzadeh (Assistant Professor Department of Psychology,
Payame Noor University, Iran, Tehran) and M. Malekazdeh (Assistant Professor Department of
Psychology, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran)
Hypnosis for Pain Relief (Instead of Opioids)
The effectiveness of hypnosis for pain relief: A systematic review and meta-analysis of
85 controlled experimental trials
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331185359
Results: These findings suggest that hypnotic intervention can deliver meaningful pain
relief for most people and therefore may be an effective and safe alternative to
pharmaceutical intervention.
Notes: The addictive properties and costs of opioid medications for pain has led to an
urgent need to identify non-pharmacological interventions for pain. The current meta
analysis aimed to quantify the effectiveness of hypnosis for reducing pain and identify
factors that influence efficacy. Six major databases were systematically searched for
trials comparing hypnotic inductions with no-intervention control conditions on pain
ratings, threshold and tolerance using experimentally evoked pain models in healthy
participants. Eighty-five eligible studies (primarily crossover trials) were identified,
consisting of 3632 participants (hypnosis nö=ö2892, control nö=ö2646). Random effects
meta-analysis found analgesic effects of hypnosis for all pain outcomes (gö=ö0.54-0.76,
p’s<.001). Efficacy was strongly influenced by hypnotic suggestibility and use of direct
analgesic suggestion. Specifically, optimal pain relief was obtained for hypnosis with
direct analgesic suggestion administered to high and medium suggestibles, who
respectively demonstrated 42% (pö<ö.001) and 29% (pö<ö.001) clinically meaningful
reductions in pain.
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 99, February 2019
By: Trevor Thompson at University of Greenwich, Devin Blair Terhune at Goldsmiths, University of
London
10
Four Cases Studies – Hypnosis for Marijuana and
Methamphetamine Addiction
Recovering from the lost years: Four cases of instant cessation of drug addiction
utilizing the Clinical Hypnotherapy Stop Drugs and Alcohol 6 Step Program
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=256699203059684;res=IELHEA
Results: This paper examines four case studies of long-term drug abuse where all
patients ceased their addiction after one two-hour session of the Clinical Hypnotherapy
Stop Drugs and Alcohol 6 Step Program (6 Step Program) created by the author, with
the patients transitioning from drug and alcohol dependency to becoming clean and
sober.
Notes: The first case was a long-term methamphetamine user. The second case is a
daily cannabis (also known as and referred to in this paper as 'marijuana') user who
imbibed through a pipe for 36 years. The third and fourth cases are two brothers who
used marijuana three or four times a day for five years and enabled each other in their
co-joint addiction. In all four cases, the clients attended one initial session, as well as
follow-up sessions.
Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 39, Issue 1 (Autumn 2017)
By: Dr Tracie O’Keefe, Director at the Australian Health & Education Centre
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