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Update on hypnotherapy for psychiatrists

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2021

Natalie A. Chan
Affiliation:
Research assistant in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the National University of Singapore. She is pursuing her medical studies in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health at the University of Sheffield, UK.
Zhisong Zhang
Affiliation:
Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Huaibei Normal University, China. He is a hypnotherapist.
Guoxing Yin
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Huaibei Normal University, China. He has special interest in hypnotherapy.
Zhimeng Li
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Huaibei Normal University, China. He has special interest in hypnotherapy.
Roger C. Ho*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the National University of Singapore. He is an academic psychiatrist and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
*
Correspondence Roger C. Ho. Email: pcmrhcm@nus.edu.sg

Summary

Although hypnosis has played a part in psychotherapy for a long time, it is not yet seen as an evidence-based therapy and is absent from many practice guidelines when it comes to the treatment of psychiatric disorders. At present, the applications and methods of hypnotherapy are poorly understood and other methods of psychotherapy tend to be favoured. This review article aims to introduce the role of hypnotherapy and its application for certain common psychiatric presentations, as well as examine its efficacy by summarising recent evidence from high-quality outcome studies and meta-analyses.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

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