A Brief History Of Hypnotherapy

In the past, there have been some mixed reactions in the medical industry towards the validity of ‘hypnotherapy’ (referred to as ‘hypnotism’).

However, the process of hypnotherapy proved to be so effective that in 1892, the British Medical Association (BMA) having completed extensive research and investigation of ‘hypnotism’ (ironically, in the hope of disproving it), officially acknowledged the ‘genuineness of the hypnotic state’ and approved it as a form of ‘orthodox’ practice, as opposed to complementary or alternative medicine.

(British Medical Journal, 1892)

In 1955, further thorough and extensive research by the BMA led the committee to conclude and officially proclaim that ‘psychological and physiological changes could be proved by hypnotism’.

In 1958, the American Medical Association (AMA) commissioned a similar report which endorsed the BMA (1955) report.

In 1955 the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the US, upon completing their extensive research into hypnotherapy, compiled an official statement supporting the effectiveness of hypnosis in alleviating chronic pain conditions.

(NIH, 1955)

A recent survey (Alfred A. Barrios) reveals that:

• Through psychoanalysis, patients are likely to have 38 % recovery after 600 sessions
• Through behaviour therapy, patients are likely to have 72 % recovery after 22 sessions
• Through hypnotherapy, patients are likely to have 93 % recovery after 6 sessions

(American Health Magazine)