Hypnotherapy
What is hypnotherapy for PTSD?
Hypnosis may be experienced as an altered state of consciousness or as a state of relaxation. There is no agreed framework for administering hypnosis, but the procedure often involves induction (such as eye fixation), muscular and/or breathing relaxation, guided imagery, and orientation to the surroundings.
What is the evidence for hypnotherapy for PTSD?
Moderate to low quality evidence found a large effect of improved PTSD symptoms following treatment with hypnotherapy compared to control conditions. These effects were maintained for up to 4 weeks.
August 2021
Image: ©Igor Normann – Fotolia – stock.adobe.com
Last updated at: 4:14 am, 12th October 2021
To view documentation related to this topic download the files below
Fact Sheet Technical Commentary
Fact Sheet Technical Commentary
NeuRA Libraries
-
Bipolar Disorders Library
- Diagnosis and assessment
-
Signs and symptoms
- General signs and symptoms
-
Cognition
- Attention
- Cognition and bipolar disorder symptoms
- Cognition and bipolar disorder type
- Cognition and functioning
- Cognition in bipolar disorder and major depression
- Cognition in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
- Cognition in children with bipolar disorder
- Cognition in first-episode bipolar disorder
- Cognition in late-life bipolar disorder
- Cognition in relatives
- Decision making
- Episodic future thinking
- Executive functioning
- Insight
- IQ and global cognition
- Language
- Learning
- Memory
- Metacognition
- Processing speed
- Reasoning and problem solving
- Social cognition
- Visuospatial ability
-
Treatments
-
Physical
- Non-pharmaceutical
-
Pharmaceutical
- Mood stabilisers
- Antidepressants
- Antipsychotics
- Adjunctive and alternative treatments
-
Medications for specific symptoms and populations
- Medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Medication for aggression and agitation
- Medication for bipolar II disorder
- Medication for bipolar versus unipolar depression
- Medication for children
- Medication for cognitive symptoms
- Medication for dual diagnosis
- Medication for elderly people
- Medication for first-episode bipolar disorder
- Medication for high-risk groups
- Medication for mixed states
- Medication for rapid cycling
- Medication for relapse prevention
- Medication for suicide and self-harm prevention
- Medication for treatment resistance
- Other pharmaceutical topics
-
Psychotherapy
- Therapies
-
Therapies for specific symptoms and populations
- Therapies for children
- Therapies for cognition
- Therapies for dual diagnosis
- Therapies for first-episode bipolar disorder
- Therapies for high-risk groups
- Therapies for internalised stigma
- Therapies for parents with bipolar disorder
- Therapies for trauma-related symptoms
- Therapies for treatment non-adherence
- Therapies for weight gain
-
Physical
-
Risk factors and antecedents
- Antecedents
-
Environmental risk factors
- Adult life events
- Childbirth
- Childhood adversity
- Environmental toxins
- Ethnicity
- Familial factors
- Infectious agents
- Maternal diet during pregnancy
- Maternal illness during pregnancy
- Migration
- Obstetric complications
- Parental age at birth
- Parental education
- Parental psychological factors
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sibship
- Socioeconomic status
- Substance use
- Traumatic brain injury
- Urbanicity
- Winter birth
-
Illness course and outcomes
- Absconding
- Age at onset
- Attitudes to medication
- Creativity
- Criminal offending, aggression and violence
- Criminal victimisation
- Cultural differences
- Dietary intake
- Drug and alcohol use
- Employment
- First-episode bipolar disorder
- Functional outcomes
- Homelessness
- Hope
- Menopause
- Mortality
- Parenthood
- Pathways to care
- Pediatric bipolar disorder
- Physical activity
- Physical health monitoring
- Quality of care
- Quality of life
- Recovery
- Relapse
- Relationships
- Religiosity
- Smoking
- Stigma
- Suicide and self-harm
- Treatment non-adherence
- Treatment resistance
- Insights for families
-
Physical features
-
Functional changes
- Body functioning
-
Biochemical changes
- Brain pH and lactate
- Calcium
- Complex I and IV
- Dopamine
- GABA
- Gut microbiota
- Homocysteine
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
- Infectious agents
- Inflammation and immune system dysfunction
- Insulin-like growth factor
- Lipids
- Neurometabolites
- Neuropeptides
- Neurotrophins
- NMDA receptor function
- Oxidative stress
- S100 proteins
- Serotonin
- Vitamin B
- Cerebral blood flow and metabolism
- Electrophysiology
- Structural changes
-
Functional changes
-
Co-occurring conditions
- Mental disorders
-
Physical disorders
- Asthma
- Autoimmune disease
- Blood disorders
- Cancer
- Cerebrovascular disease
- Dementia
- Diabetes
- Digestive disorders
- Epilepsy
- Fibromyalgia
- Heart disease
- Infectious diseases
- Metabolic syndrome
- Musculoskeletal and connective tissues
- Obesity
- Optical alterations
- Osteoporosis
- Pain and migraine
- Parkinson’s disease
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Respiratory disease
- Skin disorders
- Sleep apnea
- Thyroid disorders
- Venous thromboembolism
- Visual impairment
- Wilson’s disease
- Substance use
-
Incidence and prevalence
- General
- Incidence
-
Prevalence
- Prevalence in children
- Prevalence in elderly people
- Prevalence in forensic settings
- Prevalence in homeless populations
- Prevalence in indigenous populations
- Prevalence in males vs. females
- Prevalence in migrants
- Prevalence in primary care settings
- Prevalence in problem gamblers
- Prevalence in veterans
- Spatial variation in prevalence
- Worldwide prevalence
- General information
-
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Library
- Diagnosis and assessment
- Signs and symptoms
-
Treatments
- Physical
-
Psychotherapy
-
Therapies
- Acceptance and commitment therapy
- All psychological therapies for PTSD
- Animal-assisted psychotherapy
- Brief eclectic psychotherapy
- Cognitive behavioural therapy
- Cognitive therapies
- Creative arts therapy
- Emotion-focussed therapies
- Emotional freedom techniques
- Exposure therapies
- Expressive writing
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
- Family therapies
- Group therapies
- Hypnotherapy
- ICU diaries
- Imagery rehearsal therapy
- Interpersonal psychotherapy
- Memory specificity training
- Metacognitive therapy
- Mindfulness and meditation
- Narrative exposure therapy
- Present-centred therapy
- Psychoeducation
- Self-help treatment
- Stress inoculation training
- Stress management
- Structured approach therapy
- Supportive counselling
- Telemental health
- Trauma affect regulation
-
Therapies for specific symptoms and populations
- Therapies for adults with a history of childhood abuse
- Therapies for children and adolescents
- Therapies for complex PTSD
- Therapies for dual diagnosis
- Therapies for people living in low- and middle-income countries
- Therapies for prevention of PTSD
- Therapies for refugees and asylum seekers
- Therapies for soldiers and veterans
-
Therapies
-
Risk factors
- Personal characteristics
-
Trauma characteristics
- Abuse and violence
- Bereavement
- Direct vs. indirect exposure
- Disasters
- Epidemics and pandemics
- Imprisonment
- Intentional vs. unintentional traumas
- Interpersonal vs. non-interpersonal traumas
- Migration and displacement
- Moral injury
- Physical injury and illness
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Road traffic accidents
- Time post-trauma
- Trauma severity
- War and terrorism
- Illness course and outcomes
- Insights for families
- Physical features
- Co-occurring conditions
-
Incidence and prevalence
-
Incidence
- Incidence in abuse and violence survivors
- Incidence in bereaved people
- Incidence in caregivers
- Incidence in children and adolescents
- Incidence in criminal offenders
- Incidence in disaster survivors
- Incidence in elderly people
- Incidence in epidemic and pandemic survivors
- Incidence in firefighters
- Incidence in healthcare workers
- Incidence in homeless populations
- Incidence in humanitarians
- Incidence in indigenous people
- Incidence in journalists
- Incidence in jurors
- Incidence in males vs. females
- Incidence in medical patients
- Incidence in police officers
- Incidence in problem gamblers
- Incidence in psychiatric inpatients
- Incidence in public transport drivers
- Incidence in refugees and asylum seekers
- Incidence in rescue teams
- Incidence in road traffic accident survivors
- Incidence in soldiers and veterans
- Incidence in war and terrorism survivors
- Worldwide incidence
-
Prevalence
- Prevalence in abuse and violence survivors
- Prevalence in bereaved people
- Prevalence in caregivers
- Prevalence in children and adolescents
- Prevalence in disaster survivors
- Prevalence in elderly people
- Prevalence in epidemic and pandemic survivors
- Prevalence in firefighters
- Prevalence in forensic settings
- Prevalence in healthcare workers
- Prevalence in homeless populations
- Prevalence in humanitarians
- Prevalence in indigenous people
- Prevalence in journalists
- Prevalence in jurors
- Prevalence in males vs. females
- Prevalence in medical patients
- Prevalence in police officers
- Prevalence in problem gamblers
- Prevalence in psychiatric patients
- Prevalence in refugees
- Prevalence in rescue teams
- Prevalence in road traffic accident survivors
- Prevalence in soldiers and veterans
- Prevalence in train drivers
- Prevalence in war and terrorism survivors
- Spatial variation in prevalence
- Worldwide prevalence
-
Incidence
- General information
-
Schizophrenia Library
- Diagnosis and assessment
-
Signs and symptoms
-
General signs and symptoms
- Attachment styles
- Dermatoglyphics
- Disorganised symptoms
- Dissociation
- Early detection
- Functional laterality
- Minor physical anomalies
- Morphometrics
- Movement disorders
- Negative symptoms
- Neurological soft signs
- Olfactory functioning
- Pain sensitivity
- Personality and temperament
- Positive symptoms
- Psychotic relapse
- Sleep disturbance
- Temperature regulation
-
Cognition
- Attention
- Cognition in high-risk groups
- Cognition in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
- Cognitive functioning related to symptoms
- Decision making
- Defeatist performance beliefs
- Episodic future thinking
- Executive functioning
- Information processing
- Insight
- IQ and global cognition
- Language
- Learning
- Memory
- Metacognition
- Psychomotor ability
- Reasoning and problem solving
- Rigidity
- Social cognition
- Time perception
- Tone perception
- Visuospatial ability
- Voice patterns
-
General signs and symptoms
-
Treatments
-
Physical
-
Pharmaceutical
-
First-generation antipsychotics
- All antipsychotics versus placebo
- Benperidol
- Bromperidol
- Chlorpromazine
- Droperidol
- First versus second generation
- Flupentixol
- Fluphenazine
- Fluspirilene
- Haloperidol
- Levomepromazine
- Loxapine
- Metiapine
- Molindone
- Penfluridol
- Perazine
- Perphenazine
- Pimozide
- Piperacetazine
- Pipotiazine
- Sulpiride
- Thioridazine
- Trifluoperazine
- Zuclopenthixol
-
Second-generation antipsychotics
- All antipsychotics versus placebo
- Amisulpride
- Aripiprazole
- Asenapine
- Blonanserin
- Brexpiprazole
- Cariprazine
- Carpipramine
- Clocapramine
- Clotiapine
- Clozapine
- First versus second generation
- Iloperidone
- Lurasidone
- Mosapramine
- Olanzapine
- Paliperidone
- Perospirone
- Quetiapine
- Remoxipride
- Risperidone
- Second versus second generation
- Sertindole
- Ziprasidone
- Zotepine
-
Adjunctive medications
- Adenosine modulators
- Amphetamines
- Analeptics
- Anti-inflammatory
- Anticholinergic
- Anticonvulsants
- Anticraving agents
- Antidepressants
- Benzodiazepines
- Beta blockers
- Calcium channel blockers
- Catecholamines
- Cholinergic medications
- Cholinesterase inhibitors
- Erythropoietin
- Essential fatty acids
- Estrogen
- GABA agonists
- GHB
- Glutamate receptor modulators
- Herbal medicines
- Medicinal cannabis
- Mood stabilisers
- Oxytocin
- Promethazine
- Serotonin modulators
- Sodium nitroprusside
- Statins
- Testosterone
- Alternative medications
-
Medications for specific symptoms and populations
- Medications during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Medications for aggression and agitation
- Medications for best adherence
- Medications for childhood and early-onset schizophrenia
- Medications for cognitive symptoms
- Medications for constipation
- Medications for depressive symptoms
- Medications for dual diagnosis
- Medications for elderly people and people with late-onset schizophrenia
- Medications for first-episode psychosis
- Medications for hyperprolactinemia
- Medications for hypersalivation
- Medications for movement disorders
- Medications for negative symptoms
- Medications for relapse prevention
- Medications for schizoaffective disorder
- Medications for sexual dysfunction
- Medications for sleep disturbance
- Medications for smoking cessation
- Medications for social functioning
- Medications for treatment-resistant schizophrenia
- Medications for weight gain
- Therapies and medications for high-risk groups
- Other
-
Side effects
- Blood disorders
- Bone density
- Cancer
- Cardiometabolic changes and weight gain
- Constipation
- Dysphagia
- Extrapyramidal
- Hyperprolactinaemia
- Hypersalivation
- Hyponatraemia
- Mortality
- Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
- Neutropenia
- Oculogyric crisis
- Pancreatitis
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
- Sedation
- Seizures
- Sexual dysfunction
- Thyroid dysfunction
-
First-generation antipsychotics
- Non-pharmaceutical
-
Pharmaceutical
-
Psychotherapy
-
Therapies
- Acceptance and commitment therapy
- Animal-assisted therapy
- Art and drama therapies
- Case management
- Cognitive behavioural therapy
- Community care
- Cost
- Crisis intervention
- Crisis planning
- Dance therapy
- Day centres and day hospitals
- Dialectical behavioural therapy
- Distraction techniques
- Educational therapies
- Enriched intervention
- Family intervention
- Genetics counselling
- Group therapy
- Home-based care
- Hypnosis
- Inpatient and outpatient care
- Integrated care
- Life skills programs
- Metacognitive training
- Mindfulness
- Monetary incentives
- Morita therapy
- Music therapy
- Nidotherapy
- Open dialogue approach
- Peer support
- Physical restraint
- Prevention programs
- Problem solving skills training
- Psychodynamic psychotherapy
- Shared decision making
- Strengths-based delivery
- Supported housing
- Supportive therapy
- Telemental health
- Therapeutic relationship
- Token economies
- Trauma-focused therapies
- User-held records
- Virtual reality and avatar therapy
-
Therapies for specific symptoms and populations
- Therapies and medications for high-risk groups
- Therapies for childhood onset and early onset schizophrenia
- Therapies for cognition
- Therapies for dual diagnosis
- Therapies for fathers with schizophrenia
- Therapies for first-episode psychosis
- Therapies for insight
- Therapies for internalised stigma
- Therapies for mothers with schizophrenia
- Therapies for negative symptoms
- Therapies for positive symptoms
- Therapies for PTSD symptoms
- Therapies for quality of life
- Therapies for schizoaffective disorder
- Therapies for smoking
- Therapies for social functioning
- Therapies for treatment non-adherence
- Therapies for treatment resistance
- Therapies for unemployment
- Therapies for weight gain
-
Therapies
-
Physical
-
Risk factors and antecedents
-
Antecedents
- Autonomic nervous system anomalies
- Behavioural disturbances and psychopathology
- Dermatoglyphic anomalies
- Eye tracking anomalies
- Face emotion processing anomalies
- Height and body mass index
- IQ and academic performance
- Minor physical anomalies
- Motor dysfunction
- Olfactory identification deficits
- Sleep disturbance
- Speech and hearing deficits
- Stress responsivity anomalies
-
Environmental risk factors
- Adult life events
- Childhood adversity
- Environmental toxins
- Ethnicity
- Family relationships
- Famine
- Genetic and non-genetic risk
- Infectious agents
- Latitude, climate and winter birth
- Marital status
- Maternal diet and body mass index
- Maternal illness during pregnancy
- Migration
- Obstetric complications
- Parental age at birth
- Parental education
- Parental psychological factors
- Sex differences
- Sibship
- Social capital
- Socioeconomic status
- Substance use
- Traumatic brain injury
- Urban environment
- Genetic risk factors
-
Antecedents
-
Illness course and outcomes
- Absconding
- Age at onset
- Childhood and early-onset schizophrenia
- Creativity
- Criminal offending, aggression and violence
- Criminal victimisation
- Cultural differences
- Diet
- Drug and alcohol use
- Duration of untreated psychosis
- Duration of untreated psychosis and outcomes
- Electronic device use
- Employment
- First-episode psychosis
- Functional outcomes
- Homelessness
- Hope
- Late-onset schizophrenia
- Loneliness
- Mortality
- Parenthood
- Pathways to care
- Physical activity
- Physical health monitoring
- Psychotic relapse
- Quality of care
- Quality of life
- Relationships
- Religiosity
- Remission and recovery
- Sex differences
- Smoking
- Stigma and attitudes towards mental health
- Suicide and self-harm
- Treatment adherence
- Treatment-resistance
- Insights for families
-
Physical features
-
Functional changes
- Body functioning
-
Biochemical changes
- Brain pH and lactate
- cAMP
- Cholesterol
- Dopamine
- Endocannabinoids
- GABA
- Hormonal changes
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
- Infectious agents
- Inflammation and the immune system
- Lipids
- Neurometabolites
- Neurotrophins
- Nitric oxide
- NMDA receptor function
- Oxidative stress
- S100 Proteins
- Serotonin
- Synaptic proteins
- Trace elements
- Vascular endothelial growth factor
- Vitamin B
- Vitamin D
- Cerebral blood flow and metabolism
- Electrophysiology
- Structural changes
- Brain regions
-
Functional changes
-
Co-occurring conditions
- Mental disorders
-
Physical disorders
- Auditory system dysfunction
- Autoimmune diseases
- Blood disorders
- Cancer
- Cerebrovascular disease
- Dementia
- Dental disease
- Diabetes
- Digestive disorders
- Epilepsy
- Heart disease
- Infectious diseases
- Metabolic syndrome
- Musculoskeletal and connective tissues
- Obesity
- Optical alterations
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Polycistic ovary syndrome
- Postoperative complications
- Reproductive and urological disorders
- Respiratory system dysfunction
- Sexual dysfunction
- Skin disorders
- Sleep apnea
- Thyroid disorders
- Underweight
- Venous thromboembolism
- Substance use
-
Incidence and prevalence
- General
- Incidence
-
Prevalence
- Prevalence in children
- Prevalence in elderly people
- Prevalence in forensic settings
- Prevalence in homeless populations
- Prevalence in indigenous populations
- Prevalence in inpatients
- Prevalence in males vs. females
- Prevalence in migrants
- Prevalence in refugees
- Prevalence in veterans and conflict settings
- Spatial variation in prevalence
- Worldwide prevalence
- General information
-
Podcast Library
Title Colour Legend:
Green - Topic summary is available.
Orange - Topic summary is being compiled.
Red - Topic summary has no current systematic review available.
Green - Topic summary is available.
Orange - Topic summary is being compiled.
Red - Topic summary has no current systematic review available.