Aloha,
One of my favorite questions asked by my students is, “Are hypnosis and NLP validated by science?”
As I’ve stated in previous articles, we at The Empowerment Partnership don’t teach any techniques unless research has been done. That’s why our graduates are so successful. In fact, our QS60 (Quit Smoking in 60) Specialists are so successful they’re averaging a 95% success rate!
Hypnosis works, and we have proof to back it up. Here are 5 scientific studies on the effectiveness of using hypnosis to quit smoking.
Unfortunately I can’t post the scientific studies online because the information is copyrighted by their journal publications. Instead, I created a table that gives you information on what’s in the study, where to view the abstract, and how to purchase the journals for your own records:
[table id=2 /]
Here are a few interesting notes about the content in these journals. Remember, these are not the abstracts, instead these are my reviews:
Performance by gender in a stop-smoking program combining hypnosis and aversion:
A field study of 93 male and 93 female CMHC outpatients examined the facilitation of smoking cessation by combining hypnosis and aversion treatments. At a 3-month follow up, 86% of the men and 87% of the women reported continued abstinence from smoking. Click here to read the abstract.
A Meta-Analytic Comparison of the Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Methods:
Meta-analysis was used to cumulate the results from 633 studies of smoking cessation. This involved 71,806 smokers who reported whether or not they were able to quit.
The effectiveness of hypnosis effectiveness was:
- More than 2 times greater than self-care methods (self-care involved quitting by themselves, reading self-help books, and more)
- More than 2 times greater than nicotine gum
- And 3 times greater than physician interventions where the physician offered more than counseling. Click here to read the abstract.
Guided Health Imagery for Smoking Cessation and Long-Term Abstinence:
A study of 71 smokers showed that, after a 2-year follow up, people who quit smoking using guided imagery were twice as likely to remain smoke-free than those who quit using counseling and educational sessions. Click here to read the abstract.
Freedom from smoking: Integrating hypnotic methods and rapid smoking to facilitate smoking cessation:
Of 43 smokers undergoing this treatment, 39 reported remaining abstinent from smoking at follow-up (6 months to 3 years post-treatment). This represents a 90.6% success rate using hypnosis and a Rapid Smoking (RS) protocol. Click here to read the abstract.
Clinical Hypnosis for Smoking Cessation: Preliminary Results of a Three-Session Intervention:
Thirty smokers enrolled in an HMO were referred by their primary physician for treatment. Twenty-one patients returned after an initial consultation and received hypnosis for smoking cessation. At the end of treatment, 81% of those patients reported that they had quit smoking. Click here to read the abstract.
Mahalo,
Dr. Matt
