Clinical Hypnosis: The Power to Heal or Harm
Clinical hypnosis has remarkable potential to aid mind-body healing. It is widely used ethically in conjunction with psychological therapy for managing anxiety, alleviating pain, and even speeding recovery processes. However, as with any powerful tool, its potential for harm is real. This underscores an important principle in health care: Anything with the power to heal has the power to harm. However, ethical guidelines must ensure these benefits do not cross into undue influence. Following the Influence Continuum©, practitioners should strive to empower individuals to be more functional and exit therapy rather than exploit vulnerability or foster dependency .
Risks and Ethical Concerns of Hypnosis
Despite its benefits, clinical hypnosis can and does pose significant risks. Further, patients are often not told that their therapy includes inherent risks, raising significant informed consent issues. Hypnosis can bypass or even be used to suppress critical thinking and raise suggestibility, which increases the risk of manipulation. This susceptibility makes non-mental health practitioners, untrained practitioners or unethical individuals dangerous. Clinical hypnosis can open up clients to uncritically accept the therapist's views and opinions. Further, covert hypnosis including Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and other informal techniques exploit individuals' openness during trance states, raising concerns about misuse in therapeutic settings.
