Does hypnotherapy seriously cure agoraphobia?
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In short, I think it can help some people, but it depends on the person's individual brain characteristics if it will help much.
People vary in their ability to be hypnotized ("hypnotizability".) There is a scale that goes from 0 to 12 which is a score of how much a person can be hypnotized. Zero is not at all and twelve is for a highly hypnotizable person. I read this on the Scientific American magazine article called "The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis", and include a link in the references to a freely provided online copy.
It says: "Several studies have also shown that hypnotizability is unrelated to personality characteristics such as gullibility, hysteria, psychopathology, trust, aggressiveness, submissiveness, imagination or social compliance. The trait has, however, been linked tantalizingly with an individual's ability to become absorbed in activities such as reading, listening to music or daydreaming."
There is a subtitled section of that article, "What Its Good For" (on page 4 of the web version.) Also there is a "sidebar" which describes what its like to get hypnotized.
I don't think the article specifically mentions arachnophobia, but it does say it can help with anxiety (for those who are hypnotizable.) Also the studies it mentions include a combination of hypnosis and psychotherapy.
It can also be very helpful with pain relief for some people.
Also there is an interesting follow up letter and response regarding whether hypnosis even exists. The letter is from a magician who claims there is no such thing as hypnosis, and the response is from the article authors who explain why he is misleading in his claim. I'll include it here as it's in the middle of a bunch of other letters on the web site:
GETTING SLEEPY--BUT NOT RICH
Those who question hypnosis ["The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis," by Michael R. Nash] do so because any behavior that has supposedly been produced in a hypnotic state has also been produced outside of such a state. Indeed, my offer of $100,000 to anyone who could prove the existence of a hypnotic state has been challenged only once, unsuccessfully, in a court of law. There is no such thing as hypnosis, but there is the power of suggestion, a phenomenon that exists in many aspects of our waking life. The time involved and the interaction between hypnotist and subject are the key factors in generating belief.
THE AMAZING KRESKIN
West Caldwell, N.J.
NASH REPLIES: As is often the case with the seemingly grand gestures of entertainers such as Kreskin, there is less to his offer than meets the eye. Empirically based models of hypnotic response long ago abandoned the notion of hypnosis as a state that uniquely enables people to perform feats that are otherwise impossible. Among the scientific community, terms like "state" and "trance" are no longer current as explanatory constructs. Kreskin's money is secure.
Similarly, it is perfectly fine to construe hypnosis as a type of suggestion as long as one understands that there are many other types of suggestion and suggestibility (for example, gullibility, persuadability, interpersonal dependence and placebo response) that are distinct and apparently unrelated to hypnotic response and hypnotizability.
Hey hypnotherapy it really good.I don't know about Agoraphobia but i was TERRIFIED of the dentist.I got hypnotherapy for a while and i was eased into and now i can go to the dentist fairly easy.
I know the dentist and agoraphobia are totally different,but it's still and overwhelming fear so i assume it would more than likely work in the same way.
Good Luck!
It helped a friend of mine.She swears by it. Good Luck.
Yes, my sister had some treatments and now she is able to touch/use foil.
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