New research shows that combining hypnotherapy and mindfulness training can have a significant positive effect on stress levels.
Mindfulness is an ancient mental technique.
A new study from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, finds that combining mindfulness and hypnotherapy may make the benefits more accessible.
The researchers concluded that hypnosis may help people achieve their mindfulness goals more easily and quickly.
“Mindfulness is a type of meditation that focuses attention on awareness of the present moment. It can help people deal with stress, but it may require months of practice and training. Hypnosis This includes focusing your attention, but also includes mental imagery, relaxation, and suggestions for symptom relief.”
– Study co-author Gary Elkins, Ph.D.
The new research features: International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.
Researchers are calling the new mind-body therapy “mindful hypnotherapy.”
This represents a new use for hypnotherapy, more commonly serving as a treatment for pain and symptom management. The study authors claim that applying hypnosis to a mindfulness practice can speed up the acquisition of mindfulness skills.
They wanted to address concerns that learning how to deal with stress and anxiety with mindfulness can be an prohibitively time-consuming and expensive process, requiring more than 24 hours of training. I am.
Corresponding author Elkins lists a mindfulness curriculum that includes eight 2- to 2.5-hour sessions per week and full-day retreats that can last eight hours or more. Elkins said such training can take up a lot of time and money, and research has not clearly shown it to be more effective than standard cognitive therapy.
According to the authors, it is as follows.
“Therefore, it would be advantageous and valuable as a treatment option for anxiety and stress reduction if we could develop mindfulness treatments that produce results comparable to or better than existing treatments, but in shorter or fewer sessions.” This could be a significant contribution.”
To confirm the effectiveness of mindful hypnotherapy, researchers analyzed its effects in a study of 42 college-age participants who self-reported high levels of stress. Half of the participants served as a control group and received neither hypnosis nor mindfulness training.
The other half participated in eight weekly one-hour hypnosis interventions that incorporated hypnotic induction and mindfulness suggestions. Over 8 weeks, the intervention progressed through a series of topics.
- awareness of the present moment
- Nonjudgmental sensory awareness
- Recognize thoughts and feelings without judgment
- self hypnosis
- compassion for yourself and others
- Personal values and recognition of the meaning of life
- integrated mindfulness
- Termination/transition to long-term practice.
The intervention group also received a 20-minute self-hypnosis audio CD designed to promote daily mindfulness and were required to record their practice.
Participants in this group reported continuing to practice almost every day and rated their satisfaction with the process as 8.9 out of 10.
Participants reported significantly reduced perceptions of distress and increased mindfulness, supporting the value of mindful hypnotherapy. In contrast, no such benefit was reported in the control group.
Elkin summarizes: “Combining mindfulness and hypnotherapy in a single session is a new intervention that is as good or better than existing treatments, with the advantages of being more time efficient, less challenging, and easier to use. , may be a useful option for treating anxiety and reducing stress.”
Elkins noted that one of the study’s limitations was the relatively small sample size, and looks forward to research with larger participant cohorts.
He also suggests there is a need for more targeted research examining the effectiveness of mindful therapy in reducing specific symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.
