Hypnosis for health-compromising behaviors

This article significances the importance of the process of hypnosis in health-compromising behaviors as they represent a major source of preventable disease, and for this reason they have been the focus of increased attention among health care professionals. Hypnosis is frequently sought, and has been applied to two significant health risk behaviors: nicotine dependence and obesity. There is a great need for interventions to modify the behaviors associated with nicotine dependency and obesity, and effective hypnosis treatments have the potential both to save lives and to improve the health care of many individuals who are at risk. This chapter underscores that the quality of evidence supporting the use of hypnosis interventions for health-compromising behaviors has been varied. It states that rigorous clinical trials need to be conducted to examine the effects of multimodal interventions, where hypnosis is one of many components.