Hypnosis and trauma have been linked for more than a century. It was used for “shell shock” in the First World War, and many of the ideas behind it grew out of work with traumatised patients. Today the picture is mixed: there is promising evidence, and there are well-founded warnings.
What the research shows
A meta-analysis. A 2016 review found 47 articles on hypnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which only six were controlled experiments. Across those, hypnosis-based treatment showed a large effect on PTSD symptoms, and the benefit held at follow-up.
Six studies is a small base. The results are encouraging, not conclusive.
A controlled trial. In an Australian study, 87 civilians with acute stress disorder after a trauma were randomly given six sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), CBT with hypnosis, or supportive counselling. In the combined version, each session of imaginal exposure was preceded by a hypnotic induction, with suggestions to engage fully.
Among those who completed treatment, fewer people in both CBT groups went on to meet criteria for PTSD than in the counselling group, after treatment and six months later. A three-year follow-up was also published.
The lesson from that study is that hypnosis was used to support an established trauma therapy, not to replace it.
What guidelines recommend
The treatments recommended for PTSD in UK guidance are trauma-focused CBT and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing). Hypnotherapy is not listed as a first-line treatment. Start with the recommended options.
How hypnosis may help
Used by a trauma-trained clinician, hypnosis is mainly a supporting skill:
- Stabilisation. A “safe place” image and a way to calm the body when distress rises.
- Grounding. Returning attention to the present when memories intrude.
- Sleep. Easing the hyperarousal that keeps people awake.
- Controlled distance. Viewing a memory as if on a screen, with the ability to pause, shrink or turn it off.
- Supporting exposure. Helping a person stay with a memory long enough for the fear to subside.
- Rebuilding control. Trauma takes control away. Self-hypnosis gives some back.
People with PTSD tend, on average, to be more hypnotizable than others. That may be one reason hypnosis can help. It is also a reason for care.
The risks
False memories. Hypnosis increases suggestibility and confidence in what is recalled. Using it to search for forgotten trauma can create detailed, convincing memories of things that never happened. This is the most serious danger, and it has caused great harm in the past.
Being overwhelmed. Reliving a trauma vividly without preparation can make things worse. “Abreaction,” an intense emotional release, is sometimes presented as healing. Without proper containment it can simply be a second injury.
Dissociation. Many trauma survivors already dissociate. Hypnosis is a dissociative technique, and with complex trauma or a dissociative disorder it needs specialist handling.
Untrained practitioners. A general hypnotherapy diploma does not qualify someone to treat PTSD.
Choosing help
- See your GP first and ask about trauma-focused therapy.
- If you want hypnosis included, look for a registered mental health professional — a psychologist, psychiatrist or accredited psychotherapist — with trauma training who also uses hypnosis.
- Ask how they will keep you stable, and what happens if you become distressed.
- Ask whether they treat what emerges as fact or as imagery.
Walk away if a practitioner
- Says your symptoms must come from a forgotten event
- Offers to recover memories
- Pushes you to relive trauma in the first session
- Promises a cure in one or two sessions
- Discourages you from seeing a doctor or other therapist
Safe things to try yourself
Self-help for trauma should stay with calming and grounding, never with revisiting memories.
- Grounding: name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste.
- Slow breathing, with a longer out-breath.
- A safe-place image, practised when you are calm so it is ready when you are not.
If you need help now
If you feel unsafe or are having thoughts of harming yourself, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line. In the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time, or NHS 111.
The bottom line
Hypnosis can support trauma treatment, particularly for calming and stabilising. It is not a stand-alone cure, and it should never be used to hunt for memories. Who delivers it matters more here than almost anywhere else.
Next in the series: Hypnosis for Nail Biting, Hair Pulling and Skin Picking
This article is for general information and is not medical advice.