Clinical hypnosis: application of suggestion techniques in Clinical and Health Psychology

This article presents an overview of the rationale, procedures, and applications of hypnosis to clinical and health psychology. A four-step working framework is delineated, including pre-inductive phase (with two main goals: restructuring myths and misconceptions of hypnosis and assessment of hypnotizability), application of induction techniques, administration of specific suggestions that facilitates behavior change, and posthypnotic phase which ensures that the subjects learn how to apply suggestions by themselves in daily life situations. Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioural therapy proved additive benefits in the treatment of different disorders: (1) acute pain and chronic pain; (2) psychophysiological and health problems (headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, skin disorders, eating disorders, and smoking cessation), and psychopathological disorders (anxiety and stress reactions, phobias, acute and posttraumatic stress disorders, depression, conversion and dissociative disorders).