2018
Leonard S. Milling, Mary C. Gover, Caitlin L. Moriarty
Abstract
Two meta-analyses were performed quantifying the effectiveness of hypnosis as an intervention for obesity and the impact of adding hypnosis to cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) in producing weight loss.
The primary meta-analysis comparing hypnosis with a control condition produced large effect sizes of 1.58 (p ≤ .001) for 14 trials at the end of active treatment and 0.88 (p ≤ .001) for 6 trials at the longest follow-up.
The average participant receiving some form of hypnosis lost more weight than about 94% of control participants at the end of treatment and about 81% of controls at follow-up. The secondary meta-analysis comparing CBT with the same intervention augmented by hypnosis generated a small effect size of 0.25 (p ≤ .05) for 11 trials at the end of active treatment and a large effect size of 0.80 (p ≤ .001) for 12 trials at the longest follow-up in favor of the blended intervention.
The average participant receiving CBT plus hypnosis lost more weight than about 60% of participants receiving only CBT at the end of treatment and about 79% of participants receiving only CBT at follow-up.
Our findings suggest hypnosis is very effective in producing weight loss over a relatively short span of time, but more research is needed on the long-term benefits in follow-up periods of 1 to 5 years. Clinicians should view hypnosis as a promising treatment option for obesity, especially when used in conjunction with CBT techniques for weight loss.
