A chronological summary of notable Hypnosis studies.
British Medical Association (BMA), 1892
British Medical Association (BMA) Psychological Medicine Group, 1955
Considered the uses of hypnotism as it relates to present day [circa 1955] medical practice and the advisability of continuing research into its nature and application concluded:
The statement of proceedings noting the British Medical Association's (BMA) official 'approval' goes on to say:
American Medical Association (AMA), 1958
The US National Institute for Health (NIH), 1995
Technology Assessment Conference compiled an extensive report of the existing research in relation to hypnotherapy for chronic pain. Its official statement entitled "Integration of Behavioral & Relaxation Approaches into the Treatment of Chronic Pain & Insomnia"concludes:
The British Medical Journal (BMJ), 1999
Published a Clinical Review of current medical research on hypnotherapy and relaxation therapies, concluding:
The British Psychological Society (BPS) Professional Affairs Board, 2001
Charged a panel of expert psychologists to report on The Nature of Hypnosis. '...to provide a considered statement about hypnosis and important issues concerning its application and practice in a range of contexts, notably for clinical purposes, forensic investigation, academic research, entertainment and training.' The group's report includes a summary of the current scientific research on hypnosis and opens with the following remark:
Regarding the therapeutic uses of hypnosis, it states:
These experts provided an overview of the most important contemporary research on the efficacy of clinical hypnosis, summarizing:
Flammer and Bongartz, University of Konstanz, Germany, 2003
Conducted a meta-analysis on the efficacy of hypnotherapy, related to psychosomatic illness, test anxiety, smoking cessation and pain control in conjunction with orthodox medical treatment. Selecting the best research for meta-analysis they narrowed 444 studies conducted prior to 2002 down to focus on 57 rigorously controlled trials . These showed that on average hypnotherapy achieved at least 64% success compared to 37% improvement among untreated control groups. The professed aim of this meta-analysis was to ascertain whether hypnotherapy was demonstrably effective even in light of the most skeptical interpretation of the evidence. It was.
References:
- T., F.; Outterson (July 23, 1892). "Report of the committee appointed to investigate the nature of the phenomena of hypnotism". British Medical Journal 2 (1647): 190–1.
- "BMA Council Proceedings". BMJ: 1019. April 23, 1955.
- Kennedy, Alexander (June 8, 1957). "The Medical Use of Hypnotism". British Medical Journal 1 (5031): 1317–1319.doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5031.1317. PMC 1973771.
- AMA Proceedings, JAMA, September 1958, p. 57
- Vickers, V.; Zollman, Z. (1999). "Hypnosis and relaxation therapies". British Medical Journal 319 (7221): 1346–1349.doi:10.1136/bmj.319.7221.1346. PMC 1117083. PMID 10567143.
- "The Nature of Hypnosis". The British Psychological Society. March 2001. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- Flammer; Bongartz (2003). "On the efficacy of hypnosis: a meta-analytic study.". Contemporary Hypnosis: pp179–197.
- Abbot NC, Stead LF, White AR, Barnes J. Hypnotherapy for smoking cessation" Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2005, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD001008. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001008
- Webb AN, Kukuruzovic R, Catto-Smith AG, Sawyer SM. Hypnotherapy for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome" Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD005110. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005110.pub2