催眠治療可被視為一種心理介入方法或一種替代治療，已有很長歷史。催眠治療可被用來處理各種心理或行為問題（例如：焦慮、體重控制、戒煙、失眠、心理創傷、痛症處理、壓力問題）。催眠治療是在催眠狀態下進行，這是一種意識狀態，催眠狀態下人會變得注意力更集中，而且對暗示更敏感。一般認為催眠治療可以在潛意識層面發揮作用，故可使介入成效更有力。儘管關於催眠之爭議猶在，目前已有一些證據，支持用催眠治療作某些目的。譬如，Richardson et al. (2007) 發現催眠治療能有效改善癌症兒童接受代療後出現的噁心和嘔吐；Hansen (2016) 也表明，催眠技巧是安全的，並在身心醫學上有其作用；另一回顧研究也認為催眠治療可以用來緩解創傷後症狀 (Rotaru & Rusu, 2016)。雖然催眠長久以來一直被用於臨床用途，在過去幾十年來也有很多精神健康工作者提到催眠何其有用（e.g., Milton Erickson, Josef Breuer, Jeffrey Zeig, Onno Van der Hart, Rickard Kluft），實證證據仍然有限，其有效性仍需要更進一步的科學檢驗。
Hypnotherapy can be seen as a type of psychological interventions or an alternative medicine with a long history. Hypnotherapy may be used to treat a variety of psychological or behavioral problems (e.g., anxiety, weight management, quitting smoking, insomnia, psychological trauma, pain management, stress). Hypnotherapy is conducted under the state of hypnosis, which is a state of consciousness in which a person is more focused and sensitive to suggestions. It is believed that hypnotherapy can have effects in the unconscious level so that the interventions can be more powerful. While debates regarding hypnotherapy still exist, there are some evidences for the use of hypnotherapy for various purposes. For example, Richardson et al. (2007) found that hypnotherapy is effective for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in children with cancer; Häuser, Hagl, Schmierer, and Hansen (2016) showed that hypnotic techniques are safe and useful in somatic medicine; another review study also suggests that hypnotherapy can be used to alleviate posttraumatic symptoms (Rotaru & Rusu, 2016). Although hypnosis has long been used for clinical purposes and its usefulness has been reported by many mental health practitioners in the past decades (e.g., Milton Erickson, Josef Breuer, Jeffrey Zeig, Onno Van der Hart, Rickard Kluft), empirical evidence is still limited and further scientific evaluation on its effectiveness is necessary.
Psych Central, . (2017). An Introduction to Clinical Hypnosis.
This resource was adopted from materials compiled by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), which is an authoritative professional organization dedicated to the use of hypnosis in clinical practice. It provides an introduction to the definition of hypnosis, what hypnosis can do in clinical settings, how hypnotherapy works and myths about hypnosis. 引文
星島日報. (2013, 2013-11-25, January 01). 葛院催眠治療助「無痛離世」. 星島日報.
Many people use hypnotherapy for various purposes (e.g., treating phobia or addiction, or even breast enlargement) every year. This documentary tries to examine the science behind hypnotherapy. 引文
Häuser, W. et al. (2016). The efficacy, safety and applications of medical hypnosis: A systematic review of meta-analyses. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 113(17), 289.
This paper provides a review of the use of hypnosis for medical purposes. It was suggested that medical hypnosis is safe and could be effective for use in clinical practice. 引文
Richardson, J. et al. (2007). Hypnosis for nausea and vomiting in cancer chemotherapy: A systematic review of the research evidence. European Journal of Cancer Care, 16(5), 402–412.
This paper provides a systematic review of the use of hypnosis for cancer chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. This meta-analysis demonstrated that hypnosis could be clinically valuable to treat children after cancer chemotherapy. 引文
Rotaru, T. & Rusu, A. (2016). A meta-analysis for the efficacy of hypnotherapy in alleviating PTSD symptoms. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 64(1), 116–136.
This systematic review and meta-analysis showed the efficacy of hypnotherapy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 引文
Burrows, G. D. et al. (2002). International handbook of clinical hypnosis. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
This edited book provides comprehensive information about the use of hypnosis in clinical practice. This includes contributions from well-known experts (e.g., Jeffrey Zeig, David Spiegel and Rickard Kluft) in the field. In addition to general clinical considerations (e.g., assessment, preparation, use for psychotherapy purposes), this book also covers many specific clinical topics, such as hypnosis and depression, hypnosis and eating disorders, and hypnosis in pain management. 引文
Rosen, S. (1991). My Voice Will Go with You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson (催眠之聲伴隨你). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Milton H. Erickson is probably the most well-known hypnotherapist in the world. In this book, Rosen collects Erickson's teaching tales. This book is a classic in the field of hypnotherapy. 引文
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