Learn more about the placebo effect of both hypnotherapy and regular pharmaceuticals in the article underneath…
---
One of the main misunderstandings about hypnosis and hypnotherapy is that the only reason clients experience improvement is due to a placebo effect and not from any real power in the techniques used in hypnotherapy.
In other words, just sitting in a chair and hearing someone say out loud that you will feel better would produce the same results. This is not true. First, let's see what the placebo effect really is and how it plays a role in other forms of treatment--such as medication.
Any form of treatment or intervention works better when the client believes it will help. The improvement caused by this belief is called "the placebo effect." It can be shown in the following formula:
Actual Treatment Effect + Placebo Effect = Total Treatment Effect
Sometimes people feel better even when they have been given no drug at all (a placebo treatment, sometimes called "a sugar pill"). This is 100% placebo effect because there is no chemical in the pill which causes changes to the body. Just paying attention and doing something can make change happen.
In psychology this is called "The Hawthorne Effect." A Harvard research study (1927-1932) at the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois found that a number of changes they made improved workers' productivity. But then they saw that what was done was not as important as just paying attention to the workers' conditions! It was knowing that someone was doing something for them and that improved their performance. This is similar to the "Self-Fulfilling Prophesy" where a person expects something will occur and then (often times unconsciously) makes it happen.
Most common medicines and other treatments such as psychotherapy, physical therapy, radiation, etc. have a combined effect, i.e. actual effect + placebo effect. You might be surprised how strong the placebo effect can be.
Example: Antidepressants such as Prozac® and Paxil® have a total therapeutic effect of 75%. (This means on average, symptoms improve by 75%.) This effect is 40% chemical and 35% placebo!
Example: Psychiatric drugs such as Haldol® also have a total therapeutic effect of 75%. This effect is 50% chemical and 25% placebo!
Example: Morphine-one of the strongest pain medications used in hospitals-has a 35% placebo effect. In fact, it loses 25% of its effect if the patient does not know it has been given!
How a clinician (doctor, nurse, therapist, etc.) acts is very important, too. If he or she is perceived as empathic, confident and warm, this increases the success of the intervention or treatment.
Example: When psychiatric patients are treated with the drug, Thorazine, the 77% efficacy decreases to only 10% when the psychiatrist expresses doubt to the patient that it will work.
Sometimes we think of a placebo effect as something negative. "Hey, I feel better but you didn't really do anything!" Even though we really do feel better, we may feel as if we were cheated in some way.
The fact of the matter is, if there is change, that change is real. If a person quits smoking with a nicotine patch, by going "cold turkey," by taking Wellbutrin®, with hypnosis or any other method, there is no more smoke going into the lungs and causing damage. It doesn't matter how people quit smoking; when they do, their health improves!
Studies of hypnosis used for various conditions such as weight loss and stress management compare two groups of people: those who get hypnosis (the "experimental group") and those who get something else such as supportive discussion (the "control group"). These studies show that there is something more than a placebo effect which causes real change. They show hypnosis is more than just a placebo!
Like any other intervention, clients who have faith that it works and who are optimistic about positive change will have even better results from hypnotherapy.
Is there a placebo effect in hypnotherapy? Yes.
Is that all it is? No way!
References:
McGlashan, T.H., Evans, F.J. & Orne, M.T. (1969) The nature of hypnotic analgesia and placebo response to experimental pain. Psychosomatic Medicine, 227-246.
Spanos, N.P., Perlini, A.H. & Robertson, L.A. (1989) Hypnosis, suggestion, and placebo in the reduction of experimental pain. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 285-293.
Author's Bio
Scott G. Shelp, PhD RN CEN is a registered nurse, personal coach and hypnotherapist in Los Angeles. More information can be found at www.HypnoRN.com.
comments
0 Responses to "Is Hypnotherapy Just a Placebo?"Post a Comment